Middle School Moment

One of the things I enjoy most about my new job is teaching grammar. It really is fascinating and one of the few things about English that is finite.

So today we were learning about pronouns and the pronoun's antecedent (the noun the pn replaces). We were working on the following sentence to identify the pronouns and antecedents:

John dropped the ball. He dropped it.

The rest of the conversation went like this:

ME: What is the pronoun in this sentence?

Kids: He.

ME: And what is its antecedent?

Kids: John.

Bri: Mrs. R. - isn't there another pronoun?

ME: There sure is - what is it?

Bri: It.

ME: Excellent. It is a neuter pronoun - it has no gender. And what is is antecedent?

Kids: Ball!

Wild, hysterical laughter over the fact that the neuter pronoun's antecedent was ball fills the room.

ME: See - this is why you come to my class ... never a dull moment. Class dismissed.