The Elementary Montessori Material - English Restoration ## Chapter 09 - Pronouns ## IX **PRONOUNS** Analyses Material:—The box has seven compartments marked with the colored title slips; tan for the article, black for the noun, brown for the adjective, red for the verb, violet for the preposition, pink for the adverb, and *green* for the *pronoun*. In the rear space are the slips for the sentences to be analyzed. There are, as usual, fewer cards than words. The exercise is to substitute the pronouns for nouns. **GROUP A\ (Personal Pronouns)** —George's sister was weeping. George soothed his sister with a kiss.\ George's sister was weeping. *He* soothed *her* with a kiss.\ \ —The book fell to the floor. Emma replaced the book on the table. The book fell to the floor. *She* replaced *it* on the table.\ \ —The children gave their mother a surprise. The children wrote a letter to their mother.\ The children gave their mother a surprise. *They* wrote *her* a letter.\ \ —The teacher said: The drawing is beautiful! Will *you* give the drawing to the teacher?\ \[99\]The teacher said: *It* is beautiful! Will *you* give *it* to *me?*\ \ —Charles has gone into the other room. Can you find Charles?\ Charles has gone into the other room. Can you find *him?* **GROUP B\ (Demonstratives (questo, cotesto, quello) "this, that, these, those, this one, that one)** (As already noted for the adjective English lacks the demonstrative of the second person: that *near you*.) —Show a child the prisms of the brown stair; *this* prism is thicker than *that* prism; *that* prism is thinner than *these* prisms.\ Show a child the prisms of the brown stair; *this* is thicker than *that;* *that* is thinner than *these*.\ \ —Let us look at the children: *this* child is taller than *that* child; *that* child is shorter than *this* child.\ Let us look at the children: *this one* is taller than *that one;* *that one* is shorter than *this one*.\ \ —Here is a cone on top of a cylinder: try to put the cylinder on top of the cone.\ Here is a cone on top of a cylinder: try to put *this* on top of *that*.\ \ —Let us show the cubes of the pink tower to a little girl: *this* cube is the largest; *those* cubes are the smallest of the series.\ Let us show the cubes of the pink tower to a little girl: *this one* is the largest; *those* are the smallest of the series. **GROUP C** (Relatives and Interrogatives: (che, il quale, cui, chi? quale?) who, whom, whose, which, that, who? whose? whom? what? which? where, when?) > Note: The situation with the relatives is different in English: *who* refers to persons; *which* to things; *that* to either persons or things; whereas *che* and *il quale* are interchangeable referring to both\[100\] persons and things, *il quale* having special rhetorical advantages over *che*, in addition to showing gender and number. *Cui* is used after prepositions; and, for the possessive Italian has *il cui*, *la cui*, etc., "whose". —Ask the children: Which child wants to see my drawing?\ Ask the children: *Who* wants to see my drawing?\ \ —Ask Charles for the pencil; Charles put the pencil into the drawer.\ Ask Charles for the pencil *which* Charles put into the drawer.\ Ask Charles for the pencil *that* he put into the drawer.\ \ —Thank Charles. Charles gave you the pencil.\ Thank Charles *who* gave you the pencil.\ \ —Look at the children. You hear the children in the next room.\ Look at the children *whom* you hear in the next room.\ \ —Yesterday you put the flowers into a vase: change the water in the vase.\ Change the water in the vase into *which* you put the flowers yesterday.\ Change the water in the vase *where* you put the flowers yesterday.\ Change the water in the vase *that* you put the flowers into yesterday.\ \ —Choose among the pieces of cloth the cloth most like your dress.\ Choose among the pieces of cloth *the one which* is most like your dress.\ Choose among the pieces of cloth *the one that* is most like your dress.\ \ —Here is the little girl. We found her pocketbook.\ Here is the little girl *whose* pocketbook we found.\ \ —Here is the boy. We saw him yesterday.\ \[101\]Here is the boy *whom* we saw yesterday.\ \ —Select an inset from the insets used for drawing.\ Select an inset from *those which* are used for drawing.\ Select an inset from *those that* are used for drawing. **GROUP D\ (Possessives: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs)** —This book is my book\ This book is *mine*\ \ —This book is your book\ This book is *yours*\ \ —Those pencils are his pencils\ Those pencils are *his*\ \ —Those pencils are her pencils\ Those pencils are *hers*\ \ —That house is our house\ That house is *ours*\ \ —This money is your money\ This money is *yours*\ \ —Those seats are their seats\ Those seats are *theirs*\ \ —This place is its place\ This place is *its* ### Permutations The function of the pronoun as a substitute for a noun has been made clear in the analysis of the above sentences. After the children themselves have composed the first sentence with the colored cards they form the second sentence by taking away the noun card and substituting the corresponding pronoun. In the work done by the teacher to give the child an idea of the normal position of the pronoun, let her remember that in Italian personal pronouns precede the verb except in interrogation (where the subject may follow) and in cases where the subject is specially emphasized and where the pronouns appear as a suffix (infinitive, participle and imperative). He soothed her with a kiss.\ He her soothed with a kiss, etc., etc. \[It will become apparent that in English the personal pronoun takes the position of the noun, whereas for Italian the pronoun shifts to a position in front of the verb.\[102\] Considerable variety develops in English when the noun is replaced by a relative pronoun. However, the different problems arising in connection with pronouns generally are so complex that we return to this subject, especially to the question of subject and object forms, in dealing with sentence-analysis later.\] ### Lessons and Commands on the Pronoun Subject: Subjective Personal Pronouns: I, you, he, she, we, you, they (io, tu, egli, essa, noi, voi, loro, etc.). Explain these pronouns as briefly and practically as possible from the point of view of speaker and listener, etc., one child commanding the others while they *execute* the command along with him. Example: The teacher, named for instance Anna Fedeli, explains in this way: "I don't say *Anna Fedeli;* I say *I*." "To Carlino here I don't say Carlino; I say, *you*." "Of Gigino, over there, I don't say Gigino; I say *he*," etc., etc. Command:— > The command is given by a child; but he himself executes the first personal form along with the other children: —*I* walk around the table\ —*You* walk around the table\ —*She* walks around the table\ —*He* walks around the table\ —*We* walk around the table\ —*You* walk around the table\ —*They* walk around the table\ \ —*I* raise my arms\ —*You* raise your arms\ —*She* raises her arms\ —*He* raises his arms\ —*We* raise our arms\ —*You* raise your arms\ —*They* raise their arms\ \ —*I* lift the chair\ —*You* lift the chair\ —*He* lifts the chair, etc., etc.\ \ —*I* take the ink-stand\ —*You* take the ink-stand\ —*He* takes the ink-stand, etc., etc.\ \ —*I* wave my handkerchief\ —*You* wave your handkerchief, etc., etc. \[103\] From these exercises the notion gradually develops that: the *first person* is the one who *speaks;*\ the *second person* is the one who *listens;*\ the *third person* is the one spoken of. Other commands may be dramatized by small groups as follows: > —The first person must put a question the second must answer, and the third from a distance must try to hear both of them. > > —Let the first one write, the second one watch, and the third one say "That is not right." The following commands may be read aloud by the child: > —*I* ask you a question very softly. *You* answer *me;* and *he*, over there, must try to hear both of us. > > —*I* shall write; *you* must act as if you were trying to read what I am writing; and then *he*, over there, will call out: "That is not right." Subject: > Direct Objective Personal Pronouns: me, you, him, her, us, you, them (mi, ti, si, lo, la, ci, vi, si, li, le). > > Reflexives and reciprocals: myself, yourself, etc., each other. Command:— > (Here too one child commands executing the first personal forms, while the others act out the second and third): > > —I touch the oil-cloth on the table; I touch *myself;* I touch *you;* you touch *yourself;* I touch *him;* you touch *her;* let us touch *each other;* you touch *me*. > > —Charles, take the whisk-broom and brush the table; Charles, brush *me;* Charles, brush *him;* Charles, brush *her;* Charles, brush *yourself*. > > —Mary and I bow to the teacher; now we bow to *you;* now we bow to *him;* now we bow to *her;* now we bow to *each other*. > > \[104\] > > —I lead George by the hand to the window; I lead *you* by the hand to the window; I lead *him* by the hand to the window; he leads *us* by the hand to the window; we lead *her* by the hand to the window. Subject: > Indirect object personal pronouns: me, te, se, mi, ti, si, le, gli, lui, lei, noi, voi, ci, vi, loro (the disjunctive pronouns, used after prepositions, etc., do not differ in English from the simple direct object forms). > > (The commands are still executed as above): Commands:— > —I am going to distribute these pencils: one to *you*, one to *him*, one to *her;* one to *myself*. > > —Louis, give *me* a command; give *him* a command; give *her* a command; give *yourself* a command. > > —Attention! Charles, give *her* a blue bead! Mary, give *him* a red bead! > > —Alfred, give a white bead to *me;* give *me* also a yellow bead! Subject: > Demonstratives for persons (questi, costui, colui; the second person, "that one near you," is lacking in English, which also fails to distinguish between persons and things and between genders). When the distinctions in space represented by these pronouns have been taught as above the children read and execute as follows: Commands:— > Distribute the pronouns to different children in the class; *questi*, "this one (near me)," *costei* (feminine); *costui*, "that one (near you)," *costei* (fem.); *colui*, "that one (over there)," *colei* (fem.); when the children are in their proper places, give to each child a different command. > > —Call to you a boy and a girl, and then command: *that one* (*costui*) go and get a case; *that one* (*costei*) go and get a counter; *those* (*costoro*) keep far away and preserve complete silence. > > \[105\] > > —Point to two children, one standing near you and one far away; then command: *that one* (*colui*) go and fetch an armchair for *that one* (fem. *costei*) and a chair for *this one* (*questo*); then have him return to his place. Then have all the children execute the commands which *those* (*costoro*) will now give. In case the class is made up entirely of girls or entirely of boys, the children find considerable amusement in trying to imitate the manners of whichever opposite sex is missing. Subject: > Demonstratives of things (questo, cotesto, quello, ciò, ne); here also English has no pronoun of the second person (*that near you*), nor does it possess the general indefinite *ciò* (referring to a general idea: *that* (ciò) *is true*). > > When the meaning of these words, in terms of space location, has been taught, the children execute as follows: Commands:— > —You children divide into three groups; then go and occupy three different places; change places as follows: you leave *that* (*cotesto*) and occupy *that* over there; the others leave *that* (*quello*) and occupy this (*questo*). Subject: Possessives: mine, yours (thine), his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs. Commands:— > —Point out various objects, saying: This is my slate; that one is *yours*, that is *hers*, and this one is *his*. > > —Point at the different seats, saying: Here are our places, that is *mine* and this is *yours*. Those over there are *theirs*. > > —Pass around little baskets, saying: This is my basket. Whose is that? Is that *yours?* Is this *hers?* Are these *ours?* Is this one *his?* We dealt with the relatives only incidentally in the analyses (Group C above); we do not treat them here,\[106\] postponing the study of them in detail to the chapter on sentence-analysis. ### Paradyms In teaching the declension of the pronouns we use the method employed by us in teaching all inflections: bundles of cards, of which one group is tied separately and serves as a guide. The child arranges the cards on the table, working first on the guiding group and putting the pronouns in order of persons: first, second, third. **GROUP A\ (Personal Pronouns)** |   |   | *Masculine* | *Feminine* | | - | - | --------- | -------- | | I | we | io | noi | io | noi | | you, thou | you | tu | voi | tu | voi | | he | they | egli | loro | ella | loro | | she | they        | esso        | essi        | essa        | esse | | it | they | lo | li | la | le | | me | us | lui | lei | | you, thee        | you | gli | le | | him | them | | her | them | | it | them | **GROUP B\ (Demonstratives of Person)** |   |   | *Masculine*     | *Feminine* | | - | - | ------------- | -------- | | this | these | questi | costei | | that | those | costui | costei | | this one     | these | colui | colei | | that one | those     | costoro     | costoro | |   |   | coloro | coloro | \[107\] **GROUP C\ (Demonstratives of Things)** |   |   | *Masculine* | *Feminine* | | - | - | --------- | -------- | | this | these | questo | questi | questa | queste | | that | those | cotesto | cotesti | cotesta        | coteste | | this one | these        | quel(lo)        | quegli, quei        | quella | quelle | | that one        | those | ciò | ciò | |   |   | ne | ne | **GROUP D\ (Relatives)** | *Persons* | *Persons and Things* | | ------- | ------------------ | | *Masculine* | *Feminine* | | who | il quale    i quali        | la quale     le quali; | | whose | che | che | | whom | chi | chi | | that | cui | cui | | *Things* | | which | chi (compound = "he who") | | that | | what (compound = that which) | **GROUP E\ (Possessives)** | mine | its | | ---- | --- | | yours (thine)        | ours | | his | yours | | hers | theirs | **GROUP F\ (Interrogatives)** | *Persons*           | *Persons* | | ----------------- | ------- | | who? | chi? | | whose? | | whom? | quale? | | which? | \[108\] | *Things*          | *Things* | | --------------- | ------ | |   | che? | | what? | cosa? | |   | che cosa? | | which? | quale? | ### Agreement of Pronoun and Verb The cards given to the child for this work are green for the personal pronoun subjects, and red for the verb forms of the three simple tenses, present, past, and future. There are, for Italian, three groups corresponding to the three conjugations: *amare*, *temere*, *sentire*. The child's work is to place the pronouns in the proper order of person (first, second, third, singular and plural) and to put after each pronoun the corresponding verb form. Each child corrects his work by his own sense of the language; however, the teacher looks it over to verify it. The resulting exercises when correctly performed are as follows: **GROUP A** | io amo ("I love" etc.)         | Io amavo ("I was loving")        | io amerò ("I shall love") | | ------------------------------ | -------------------------------- | ------------------------- | | tu ami | tu amavi | tu amerai | | egli ama | egli amava | egli amerà | | noi amiamo | noi amavamo | noi ameremo | | voi amate | voi amavate | voi amerete | | essi amano | essi amavano | essi ameranno | **GROUP B** | io temo ("I fear")         | io temevo ("I was fearing")         | io temerò ("I shall fear") | | -------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------- | | tu temi | tu temevi | tu temerai | | egli teme | egli temeva | egli temerà | | noi temiamo | noi temevamo | noi temeremo | | voi temete | voi temevate | voi temerete | | essi temono | essi temevano | essi temeranno | \[109\] **GROUP C** | io sento ("I hear")         | io sentivo ("I was hearing")         | io sentirò ("I shall hear") | | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------- | | tu senti | tu sentivi | tu sentirai | | egli sente | egli sentiva | egli sentirà | | noi sentiamo | noi sentivamo | noi sentiremo | | voi sentite | voi sentivate | voi sentirete | | essi sentono | essi sentivano | essi sentiranno | ### FOR ENGLISH **GROUP A\ (Simple Tenses)** | I love | I loved | I shall love | | ------ | ------- | ------------ | | you love | you loved | you will love | | he loves | he loved | he will love | | we love | we loved | we shall love | | you love | you loved | you will love | | they love         | they loved        | they will love | **GROUP B\ (Progressive Forms)** | I am loving | I was loving | I shall be loving | | ----------- | ------------ | ----------------- | | you are loving | you were loving | you will be loving | | he is loving | he was loving | he will be loving | | we are loving | we were loving | we shall be loving | | you are loving | you were loving | you will be loving | | they are loving        | they were loving        | they will be loving | **GROUP C\ (Interrogative Forms)** | do I love? | did I love? | will I love? | | ---------- | ----------- | ------------ | | do you love? | did you love? | shall you love? | | does he love? | did he love? | will he love? | | do we love? | did we love? | will we love? | | do you love? | did you love? | shall you love? | | do they love?        | did they love?        | will they love? | **GROUP D\ (Intensive and Negative Forms)** | I do (not) love etc.        | I did (not) love etc.        | I shall (not) love etc. | | --------------------------- | ---------------------------- | ----------------------- | \[110\] The child can shuffle his cards in various ways, mixing the verb forms of the three different Italian verbs, or the four tense forms of the English verb; passing then to a reconstruction of the different tenses according to the pronouns, the order of which has by this time become familiar to him. The next step is to conjugate properly. ### Conjugations of Verbs MATERIAL In our material we offer (for Italian) the conjugation of the two auxiliary verbs (*essere* "to be," *avere* "to have") and the model verbs of the first, second and third conjugations. The colors used for the five verbs are all different, yellow for *essere* "to be," black for *avere* "to have," pink for *amare* "to love," green for *temere* "to fear," light blue for *sentire* "to hear." Each card has both pronoun and verb form. This is not only to simplify and expedite the exercise but also to make sure of auto-exercise, since the pronoun guides the order of the forms in each tense. These verb forms of a given verb preceded by the pronouns are, accordingly, made into a little package. Here, however, the groups are not so simple as in other cases. For the verb, the cards are kept in a sort of red envelope tied with a ribbon. The infinitive of the verb is written on the outside of the envelope, which, though very simple, is most attractive. When the whole verb is wrapped in its package and tied with the ribbon, it forms a small red prism of the following dimensions: cmm. 35 X 4 X 5.5. On untying the ribbon and opening the envelope the child finds inside ten little "volumes" with red covers. These volumes represent the\[111\] *moods* of the verb and they have the following titles inscribed on the first page: Indicative Mood\ Conditional Mood (for Italian)\ Subjunctive Mood\ Imperative Mood\ Verbals To facilitate replacing these materials in an orderly way and to be sure that this order is recognized, the child finds in the corner of each envelope a Roman numeral (I, II, III, IV, V); and besides that, an Arabic numeral indicating the number of tenses in the given mood. On opening the little volume and taking off the cover we find many other tiny volumes with red covers. These are the tenses. In the middle of each cover is written the name and, to one side, the number indicating the relative position of the tenses in the following manner: the *simple* tense is marked with the letter *S* and the *compound* tense with the letter *C*. The titles, then, of the eight booklets contained in the little volume for a given mood are: Present Tense 1s\ Past Tense 2s\ Future Tense 3s\ Perfect Tense 1c\ Pluperfect Tense 2c\ Future Perfect Tense 3c (For Italian the tenses are: Present, 1s, Imperfect 2s, Remote Past 3s, Future 4s, Perfect 1c, Pluperfect 2c, Past Anterior 3c, Future Perfect 4c.) Finally, on opening each of these little booklets (which, by the way, are 3.5 X 4 cmm. and only a bare millimeter thick) we have the cards with the verb forms preceded by the corresponding pronoun. \[112\] This rather resembles the famous egg in which a number of smaller and smaller eggs were enclosed. For this beautiful package forming as a whole the entire conjugation of the verb contains the booklets of the different moods, which in their turn contain the smaller booklets of the tenses. The orderly enumeration of the moods and tenses, together with the pronouns which serve to show the order of the verb forms, allows the child to conjugate the entire verb by himself and to study the classification of the different forms that make it up. In fact the children need no help in this exercise. Once they have this attractive, complicated, and mysterious little red package, they evolve on their little tables in an orderly way the entire conjugation of the verb. Having learned the verb forms little by little they shuffle the cards of the different tenses in various ways and then try to put them in their regular order. At length they are able to shuffle all the cards in the entire verb as the children in the "Children's House" did with the sixty-four colors; and to reconstruct correctly the whole conjugation by tense and by mood. They themselves finally ask to write the verb and they prepare of their own accord new booklets writing out the new verbs as they meet them. For this purpose we have included in our materials many booklets likewise covered in red and filled with *blank* cards of a variety of colors. The children themselves fill out these cards in conjugating their new verbs. The exercises both of working out the conjugation of the verb and of writing out new verbs may be performed at home.