Pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns. A different pronoun is required depending on two elements: the noun being
replaced and the function that noun has in the sentence. In English, pronouns only take the gender of
the noun they replace in the 3rd person singular form. The 2nd person plural pronouns are identical to
the 2nd person singular pronouns except for the reflexive pronoun.

  Subject Object Possessive Possessive Reflexive or

Pronoun Pronoun Adjective Pronoun Intensive

(Determiner) Pronoun

1st person I me my mine myself

singular

2nd person you you your yours yourself

singular

3rd person he him his his himself

singular,
  Subject Object Possessive Possessive Reflexive or

Pronoun Pronoun Adjective Pronoun Intensive

(Determiner) Pronoun

male

3rd person she her her hers herself

singular,

female

3rd person it it its   itself

singular,

neutral
  Subject Object Possessive Possessive Reflexive or

Pronoun Pronoun Adjective Pronoun Intensive

(Determiner) Pronoun

1st person we us our ours ourselves

plural

2nd person you you your yours yourselves

plural

3rd person they them their theirs themselves

plural

Subject Pronouns
Subject pronouns replace nouns that are the subject of their
clause. In the 3rd person, subject pronouns are often used to
avoid repetition of the subject's name.

Examples
 I am 16.
 You seem lost.
 Jim is angry, and he wants Sally to apologize.
 This table is old. It needs to be repainted.
 We aren't coming.
 They don't like pancakes.

Object Pronouns
Object pronouns are used to replace nouns that are the direct or
indirect object of a clause.

Examples
 Give the book to me.
 The teacher wants to talk to you.
 Jake is hurt because Bill hit him.
 Rachid recieved a letter from her last week.
 Mark can't find it.
 Don't be angry with us.
 Tell them to hurry up!

Possessive Adjectives (Determiners)

Possessive adjectives are not pronouns, but rather determiners.
It is useful to learn them at the same time as pronouns,
however, because they are similar in form to the possessive
pronouns. Possessive adjectives function as adjectives, so they
appear before the noun they modify. They do not replace a
noun as pronouns do.

Examples
 Did mother find my shoes?
 Mrs. Baker wants to see your homework.
 Can Jake bring over his baseball cards?
 Samantha will fix her bike tomorrow.
 The cat broke its leg.
 This is our house.
 Where is their school?

Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns replace possessive nouns as either the
subject or the object of a clause. Because the noun being
replaced doesn't appear in the sentence, it must be clear from
the context.
Examples
 This bag is mine.
 Yours is not blue.
 That bag looks like his.
 These shoes are not hers.
 That car is ours.
 Theirs is parked in the garage.

Reflexive & Intensive Pronouns

Reflexive and intensive pronouns are the same set of words
but they have different functions in a sentence.

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the clause

because the subject of the action is also the direct or indirect
object. Only certain types of verbs can be reflexive. You
cannot remove a reflexive pronoun from a sentence because
the remaining sentence would be grammatically incorrect.

Examples
 I told myself to calm down.
 You cut yourself on this nail?
 He hurt himself on the stairs.
 She found herself in a dangerous part of town.
 The cat threw itself under my car!
 We blame ourselves for the fire.
 The children can take care of themselves.
Intensive pronouns emphasize the subject of a clause. They are
not the object of the action. The intensive pronoun can always
be removed from a sentence without changing the meaning
significantly, although the emphasis on the subject will be
removed. Intensive pronouns can be placed immediately after
the subject of the clause, or at the end of the clause.
Examples
 I made these cookies myself.
 You yourself asked Jake to come.
 The Pope himself pardoned Mr. Brown.
 My teacher didn't know the answer herself.
 The test itself wasn't scary, but my teacher certainly is.
 We would like to finish the renovation before
Christmas ourselves.
 They themselves told me the lost shoe wasn't a problem.

Pronouns
 Grammarly

GRAMMAR TIPS

What Is a Pronoun?

Pronouns make up a small subcategory of nouns. The

distinguishing characteristic of pronouns is that they can
be substituted for other nouns. For instance, if you’re
telling a story about your sister Sarah, the story will
begin to sound repetitive if you keep repeating “Sarah”
over and over again.

Sarah has always loved fashion. Sarah announced that Sarah

wants to go to fashion school.
You could try to mix it up by sometimes referring to
Sarah as “my sister,” but then it sounds like you’re
referring to two different people.

Sarah has always loved fashion. My sister announced that

Sarah wants to go to fashion school.

Instead, you can use the pronouns she and her to refer to

Sarah.

Sarah has always loved fashion. She announced that she wants
to go to fashion school.

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Personal Pronouns

There are a few different types of pronouns, and some

pronouns belong to more than one
category. She and her are known as personal pronouns.
The other personal pronouns
are I and me, you, he and him, it, we and us,
and they and them. If you learned about pronouns in
school, these are probably the words your teacher
focused on. We’ll get to the other types of pronouns in a
moment.

Antecedents

Pronouns are versatile. The pronoun it can refer to just

about anything: a bike, a tree, a movie, a feeling. That’s
why you need an antecedent. An antecedent is a noun
or noun phrase that you mention at the beginning of a
sentence or story and later replace with a pronoun. In the
examples below, the antecedent is highlighted and the
pronoun that replaces it is bolded.

My family drives me nuts, but I love them. The sign was too

far away for Henry to read it. Sarah said she is almost finished
with the application.

In some cases, the antecedent doesn’t need to be

mentioned explicitly, as long as the context is totally
clear. It’s usually clear who the pronouns I, me,
and you refer to based on who is speaking.

It’s also possible to use a pronoun before you mention

the antecedent, but try to avoid doing it in long or
complex sentences because it can make the sentence
hard to follow.

I love them, but my family drives me nuts.

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns make up another class of pronouns.

They are used to connect relative clauses to independent
clauses. Often, they introduce additional information
about something mentioned in the sentence. Relative
pronouns include that, what, which, who, and whom.
Traditionally, who refers to people,
and which and that refer to animals or things.

The woman who called earlier didn’t leave a message. All

the dogs that got adopted today will be loved.
My car , which is nearly twenty years old, still runs well.

Whether you need commas with who,

which, and that depends on whether the clause is
restrictive or nonrestrictive.
Who vs. Whom—Subject and Object
Pronouns

Now that we’ve talked about relative pronouns, let’s

tackle the one that causes the most
confusion: who vs. whom. Who is a subject pronoun,
like I, he, she, we, and they. Whom is an object pronoun,
like me, him, her, us and them. When the pronoun is the
object of a verb or preposition, the object form is the one
you want. Most people don’t have much trouble with the
objective case of personal pronouns because they
usually come immediately after the verb or preposition
that modifies it.

Please mail it to I.

Please mail it to me.

Ms. Higgins caught they passing notes.

Ms. Higgins caught them passing notes.

Is this cake for we?

Is this cake for us?

Whom is trickier, though, because it usually

comes before the verb or preposition that modifies it.

Whom did you speak to earlier?

A man, whom I have never seen before, was asking about you.

Whom should I say is calling?

One way to test whether you need who or whom is to try

substituting a personal pronoun. Find the place where
the personal pronoun would normally go and see
whether the subject or object form makes more sense.

Who/whom did you speak to earlier? Did you speak

to he/him earlier?

A man, whom I have never seen before, was asking

about you. Have I seen he/him before?
Whom should I say is calling? Should I say she/her is
calling?

If the object pronoun (him or her) sounds right,

use whom. If the subject pronoun (he or she) sounds
right, use who.

Before we move on, there’s one more case where the

choice between subject and object pronouns can be
confusing. Can you spot the problem in the sentences
below?

Henry is meeting Sarah and I this afternoon. There are no

secrets between you and I. It doesn’t matter to him or I.

In each of the sentences above, the pronoun I should

be me. If you remove the other name or pronoun from
the sentence, it becomes obvious.

Henry is meeting I this afternoon. No one keeps secrets from I.

It doesn’t matter to I.
Demonstrative Pronouns

That, this, these and those are demonstrative pronouns.

They take the place of a noun or noun phrase that has
already been mentioned.

This is used for singular items that are nearby. These is

used for multiple items that are nearby. The distance can
be physical or metaphorical.

Here is a letter with no return address. Who could have sent

this? What a fantastic idea! This is the best thing I’ve heard all
day. If you think gardenias smell nice, try smelling these.

That is used for singular items that are far

away. Those is used for multiple items that are far away.
Again, the distance can be physical or metaphorical.

A house like that would be a nice place to live. Some new

flavors of soda came in last week. Why don’t you try some of
those? Those aren’t swans, they’re geese.
Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used when you need to refer to a

person or thing that doesn’t need to be specifically
identified. Some common indefinite pronouns are one,
other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one.

Everybody was late to work because of the traffic jam. It

matters more to some than others. Nobody knows the trouble
I’ve seen.

When indefinite pronouns function as subjects of a

sentence or clause, they usually take singular verbs.

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves: myself,

yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves,
themselves.
Use a reflexive pronoun when both the subject and
object of a verb refer to the same person or thing.

Henry cursed himself for his poor eyesight. They booked

themselves a room at the resort. I told myself it was nothing.

Intensive pronouns look the same as reflexive pronouns,

but their purpose is different. Intensive pronouns add
emphasis.

I built this house myself. Did you yourself see Loretta spill the
coffee?

“I built this house” and “I built this house myself” mean

almost the same thing. But “myself” emphasizes that I
personally built the house—I didn’t hire someone else to
do it for me. Likewise, “Did you see Loretta spill the
coffee?” and “Did you yourself see Loretta spill the
coffee?” have similar meanings. But “yourself” makes it
clear that the person asking wants to know whether you
actually witnessed the incident or whether you only
heard it described by someone else.

Occasionally, people are tempted to use myself where

they should use me because it sounds a little fancier.
Don’t fall into that trap! If you use a -self form of a
pronoun, make sure it matches one of the uses above.

Please call Sarah or myself if you are going to be late. Loretta,

Henry, and myself are pleased to welcome you to the
neighborhood.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns come in two flavors: limiting and

absolute. My, your, its, his, her, our, their and whose are
used to show that something belongs to an antecedent.
Sarah is working on her application. Just put me back
on my bike. The students practiced their presentation after
school.

The absolute possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his,

hers, ours, and theirs. The absolute forms can be
substituted for the thing that belongs to the antecedent.

Are you finished with your application? Sarah already finished

hers. The blue bike is mine. I practiced my speech and the
students practiced theirs.

Some possessive pronouns are easy to mix up

with similar-looking contractions. Remember,
possessive personal pronouns don’t include apostrophes.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions. The

interrogative pronouns are who, what, which, and whose.
Who wants a bag of jelly beans? What is your name? Which
movie do you want to watch? Whose jacket is this?