Pronouns

Contents

Pronouns
Types of pronouns

Pronouns

It is a word that takes the place of one or more nouns.

It must match the noun it refers to.
It matches the noun or nouns they replace.
Singular pronoun are I, you, he, she, it, me, him, and her.
Plural pronoun are we, you, they, us, and them
e.g – Reena plays ball. She plays ball.
Use ‘I’ and ‘we’ to tell about yourself and others in the subject of a sentence.
Use ‘me’ and ‘us’ after an action verb.
e.g.- Lil and I play outside. Bob gives us the ball.

Types of pronouns

Personal Pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns
Object Pronouns

Personal Pronoun

	Who is being discussed?	People involved
1^stperson	speaker	The speaker is referring to himself or a group
2^nd person	at least one listener	The speaker is talking directly to another person
3^rd person	person or thing the speaker is discussing	The speaker is talking to another person or group of people about a third person or thing—not the speaker, not the listener, but someone or something else.

A subject pronoun indicates who or what acts as a sentence. I, you, he, she, it, they, and we are subject pronouns. This, that, these, and those can also sometimes serve as subject pronouns.

Read also: Pronoun Worksheets

Singular	Plural
I	we
you	you
he	they
she
it

Singular = one person or thing

Plural thing = more than one person

Key points to remember

The subject pronoun I is always a capital letter. (I not i).
A person is he or she.
A thing or a place is it.
An animal is it. An animal with a name is he or she

Example:

Joe bought a gift last week.
He gave it to Maggie yesterday.
He = Joe it = gift

Many people are in line, waiting to buy this book.
They have been waiting to buy it all afternoon.
They= Many people it= This book

Read also: Pronoun Worksheets

Demonstrative Pronoun

Singular	this (near)	this shirt
	that (far)	that shirt
Plural	these (near)	these shirts
	those (far)	those shirts

1. This is my book.

(Refers to something close.)

2. That was a great movie.

(Refers to something farther away.)

3. These are my shoes.

(Refers to multiple things close by.)

4. Those belong to my sister.

(Refers to multiple things farther away.)

Possessive Pronoun

Adjectives	Pronoun
my	mine
your	yours
his	his
her	hers
our	ours
your	Yours
their	theirs

Examples:

It’s my book. OR It’s mine.
They’re her books. OR They’re hers.
These are ours and those are yours.
Is that Nick and Jenny’s dog? Yes, it’s theirs.

Reflexive Pronoun

Use a Reflexive Pronoun instead of an object pronoun if the subject of the sentence is doing the action to himself or herself.

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves, and yourselves are reflexive pronouns.

Subject	Object	Possessive	Reflexive
I	Me	My, mine	Myself
We	Us	Our, ours	Ourselves
You	You	Your, yours	Yourself, Yourselves
He	Him	His	Himself
She	Her	Her, Hers	Herself
They	Them	Their, theirs	themselves

Read also: Pronoun Worksheets

When to use Reflexive Pronoun:

To Show Emphasis

Example: You should do it yourself! (Adds emphasis, but “yourself” can be removed without changing the meaning.)

2. When the Subject and Object are the Same

Example: He introduced himself to the Manager.

3. With Certain Verbs (some verbs often take reflexive pronouns)

Enjoy yourself, hurt yourself, teach yourself, introduce yourself, prepare yourself.

Examples:

The cat cleaned itself after eating. (“Itself” refers to “The cat.”)
She prepared herself for the exam. (“Herself” refers to “She.”)
I taught myself how to play the guitar. (“Myself” refers to “I.”)

Object Pronoun

An object pronoun indicates who or what receives the action. Me, you, him, her, it, us, and them are object pronouns. This, that, these, and those can also sometimes serve as object pronouns.

List of Object Pronouns

Subject Pronoun	Object Pronoun
I	me
You	you
He	him
She	her
It	it
We	us
They	them

Examples

They invited us to their party. (“Us” is the object of the verb “invited.”)
Can you help them with the homework? (“Them” is the object of the verb “help.”)
The teacher gave her a certificate. (“Her” is the object of the verb “gave.”)