What is this skill?
A pronoun takes the place of a noun, so we do not have to say the same name again and again. In fourth grade children meet two groups beyond he, she and it. Possessive pronouns show who owns something: my, her, his, its, our, their, and the ones that stand alone, mine and yours. Relative pronouns connect extra information to a noun: who and whom for people, which and that for things, whose for belonging, and where and when for places and times.
In this practice the child fills a blank with the pronoun that fits, such as "The girl ___ won the race is my cousin" (who), "That is the dog ___ tail is very fluffy" (whose) or "Zoe lost ___ jacket at the park" (her). The easy ones use who, that, her, his, their, our, mine and yours. The middle ones add its, which, where and when, as in "This is the park ___ we play soccer." The hardest ones ask for whom ("To ___ should I give this letter?") and for which versus that in "The museum, ___ opened last year, is huge." One sorting game puts my, who, their, which, our and whom into possessive and relative groups.
Why it matters
Pronouns are how writers avoid sounding like a robot. "Leo lost Leo's jacket and Leo cried" is a list of Leos, and "Leo lost his jacket, which he loved" sounds natural. Relative pronouns, in particular, let a child pack two ideas into one smooth sentence.
Choosing the right pronoun means thinking about who or what is being described. That small thinking step is the same one needed to read a hard sentence, and it is why this skill helps in both writing and reading.
It also clears up the confusing look-alikes. Its and it's, their and they're and who and whose each look close, and the practice asks children to look at the job of the word, which is the only way to tell them apart.
Common mistakes
- Using who for things or which for people. A good rule of thumb is who for people, which and that for things, as in "The book that I borrowed" and "The man who fixed our sink."
- Mixing up its and it's. Its has no apostrophe when it shows ownership ("The dog wagged its tail"), and the one with an apostrophe means "it is." Try saying it is in the sentence. If it does not work, use its.
- Using who where the sentence needs whom. Whom is the form after a word like "to" ("To whom should I give this letter?"). It is the hardest question in the practice, and it is fine for a child to miss it at first.
- Writing a stand-alone pronoun with an apostrophe, such as "your's." Yours and mine have none.
How to help at home
- Play the "swap the noun" game. Say a sentence with a name, and have your child replace the name with a pronoun, then check that it still makes sense.
- For who or which, ask whether you are talking about a person. Say it out loud with each choice, and a child can usually hear the right one.
- Ask "whose is it?" around the house. "Whose backpack?" gets the answer "It's mine" or "That backpack is hers," a real use of possessive pronouns.
- Print the free worksheet to practice away from a screen, and read the explanations in the answer key.
Worked examples
These are real questions from the Tutorsaurus pronouns: who, whose, which practice, with the answers worked out.
Example 1
Which word fills the blank? The students finished (blank) projects.
The students finished ___ projects.
Choices: their, there, they're
Answer: their. Their shows the projects belong to the students.
Example 2
Sort the pronouns: possessive or relative?
To sort: my, who, their, which, our, whom
Answer: Possessive: my, their, our · Relative: who, which, whom. My, their, and our show ownership. Who, which, and whom connect a describing part to a noun.
Example 3
Which word fills the blank? The museum, (blank) opened last year, is huge.
The museum, ___ opened last year, is huge.
Choices: that, who, which
Answer: which. Use which, not that, when the extra information is set off by commas.
Printable worksheet (PDF) — one page of questions from this practice that work on paper, easier ones first, with an answer key on page 2. Free to print, no sign-up.