PRONOUNS

DEFINITION
a pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun or noun
phrase
TYPES OF PRONOUNS
Personal pronoun
Relative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns
Reflexive pronouns
Indefinite pronouns
Reciprocal pronouns
Intensive pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Devided into three parts
a. Subject pronouns
We use subject pronouns as a subject of the verb
Ex : I always bring a dictionary in English class.
She gave some books for the children.
Person number subject

First Singular I

Plural We

second singular
you
plural

third singular She, he, it

plural they
b. Object pronouns
We use object pronouns as an object of the sentence
Ex : the cat is cute. I like it very much.
John asked me where Rina lives.
Person number Object

First Singular Me

Plural us

second singular you

plural

third singular her, him, it

plural them
c. Possessive Pronouns
When the possessive is used in place of the possessive
word and the noun it modifies, the noun is omitted
Stand alone
Not followed by a noun
Example : that book is mine
Hers are in the box
Person number possession

First Singular mine

Plural ours

second singular yours

plural

third singular hers, his, its

plural theirs
Possesive modifies a noun (possesive adjective
Followed by a noun
Cannot stand alone
Example : my book is on the table
her books are in the box
Person number Possessive
adjective
First Singular my

Plural our

second singular
your
plural

third singular her, his, its

plural their
Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to combine two sentences that

contain identical nouns or pronouns.
The sentence in which the noun is replaced by a relative
pronoun becomes a subordinating clause.
The English relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which,
that
Examples :
1. He met the mayor, who was elected in a landslide.
2. She approached the officer, whom her brother knew from
college.
3. I opened the ledger, which had two large ink stains on it.
4. Tim liked the girl, whose eyes were following him wherever
he went.
5. Heres the jacket that was made in France.
Demonstrative pronouns
The singular demonstrative pronouns are this and that. This
refers to someone or something nearby or part of the present
topic of conversation. That points to someone or something in
the distance or referred to in the past. Their plural forms are
these and those and refer, respectively, to something nearby
or in the distance. These pronouns also function as adjectives.
located nearby this/these
located in the distance that/those
This fellow is in a lot of trouble. He is nearby. Were talking
about him now.
That fellow was rather arrogant. He is in the distance. We
talked about him earlier.
These people are friends of mine. They are nearby. Were
talking about them now.
Those people work for Mr. Paine. They are in the distance. We
talked about them earlier.
Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used only as objects and never as

subjects of a sentence. They can be direct objects,
indirect objects, or the objects of prepositions.
Examples:
1. He cut himself shaving. direct object
2. He bought himself some new ties. indirect object
3. He was talking to himself. object of preposition
 When the subject and object are diff erent persons or
things, the object is a personal pronoun.
For example:
The man asked her what happened.
When the subject and object are the same person or thing
that a reflexive pronoun is used.
The man asked himself what happened.
Indefinite pronouns

The indefinite pronouns have a unique function. They act

in a sentence like other pronounsthat is, they are
substitutions for nouns; however, the indefinite pronouns
are not a replacement for aspecific noun. Instead, they
refer to anyone, everyone, or no one in particular. Here
are some of the most commonly used indefinite pronouns
that are always singular:
anyone/anybody neither
each no one/nobody
either one
everyone/everybody someone/somebody
much
Reciprocal pronouns

There are only two reciprocal pronouns: one another and

each other. Either one is correct, and each can replace
the other in a sentence. They are used to combine two
sentences that say that two
persons or things are carrying out the same action.
For example:
1.John loves Mary. Mary loves John. John and Mary
love one another.
2.The dog glares at the cat. The cat glares at the dog.
The dog and cat glare at each other..
3.She kissed me. I kissed her. We kissed each other.
.
 When pronouns are used in pairs of sentences as in the
last example (She kissed me. I kissed her.), the pronoun
I indicates that a second-person-plural pronoun (we) will
be used witha reciprocal pronoun.
If the pronoun is in the third person, a third-person-plural
pronoun (they)will be used with a reciprocal pronoun.
He sees her. She sees him. They see one another.
 We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one
another when two or more people do the same thing.
Traditionally, each other refers to two people and one
another refers to more than two people, but this distinction is
disappearing in modern English.
Peter and Mary helped one another.
= Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter.
We sent each other Christmas cards.
= We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas
card.
They didnt look at one another.
= He didn't look at her and she didn't look at him.
We also use the possessive forms each others and one
anothers:
They helped to look after each others children.
We often stayed in one anothers houses.
NOTE: We do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a
clause.
Intensive pronouns

Intensive pronouns are often mistaken as reflexive

pronouns because they look like reflexive pronouns.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS INTENSIVE PRONOUNS
I myself
you yourself
he himself
she herself
it itself
 I believe that war with them can be avoided.
I myself believe that war with them can be avoided.
You said that you could afford it.
You yourself said that you could afford it.
They are the ones to blame.
They themselves are the ones to blame.