Primary 3 · English · Pronouns & Reference
Pronouns & Reference questions for Primary 3 English
10 questions to work through online. Answer and you get the working straight away, then a score at the end. No sign-up, and you can retake it as often as you like.
- What a pronoun refers to
- What a phrase refers to
- Subject and object pronouns
- Possessive pronouns
- Matching a pronoun to its noun
- Reflexive pronouns
- Who and which
- Avoiding an unclear pronoun
Answers and explanations for all 10 questions
Every answer with the reasoning behind it. Worth reading after you have tried the set — or on its own, if you are a parent marking it.
What does "they" refer to? The prefects collected the reply slips from the classrooms and counted them in the staff room before the teachers arrived, because they wanted the numbers ready.
Answer: the prefects
The prefects are doing the collecting and counting, and they are the ones who wanted the numbers ready.
What does "it" refer to? Nenek keeps her sewing machine under a cloth on the back table, and she has never let anyone move it.
Answer: the sewing machine
The sewing machine is the thing being kept and protected, so it stands for the machine.
What does "this" refer to? Ravi practised his spelling every night for a fortnight. This was why he was not worried on the morning of the test.
Answer: practising every night for a fortnight
This points back to the whole first sentence: the fortnight of practice is what made him calm.
Choose the correct pronouns: Nadia and ______ carried the boxes, and the caretaker thanked ______ .
Answer: I ... us
Take the other person out to test it: I carried the boxes, and the caretaker thanked us.
Choose the correct word: That blue umbrella by the gate is ______ .
Answer: ours
Ours stands on its own at the end of a sentence and takes no apostrophe.
Choose the correct word: Each of the girls brought ______ own water bottle.
Answer: her
Each means one at a time, so it takes a singular pronoun — and the girls take her.
What does "them" refer to? Mr Devan planted four saplings along the fence and asked the P3 pupils to water them every afternoon.
Answer: the four saplings
The saplings are the things being watered, so them stands for the four saplings.
Choose the correct word: The twins painted the backdrop all by ______ .
Answer: themselves
The doers and the ones described are the same people, so it takes the plural themselves.
Choose the correct word: The librarian ______ helped me find the atlas has retired.
Answer: who
Who stands for a person who is doing something — here, the helping.
Which sentence makes it clear who dropped the tray?
Answer: When Jia Wen bumped into Kamal, Kamal dropped the tray.
When a pronoun could point at two people, naming the person again is what makes the sentence clear.