The word a pronoun refers to

This article is about a word which is used instead of a noun. For other uses, see Pronoun (disambiguation).

In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated PRO) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.

Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not consider them to form a single class, in view of the variety of functions they perform cross-linguistically. An example of a pronoun is «you», which can be either singular or plural. Subtypes include personal and possessive pronouns, reflexive and reciprocal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative and interrogative pronouns, and indefinite pronouns.^{[1]: 1–34 [2]}

The use of pronouns often involves anaphora, where the meaning of the pronoun is dependent on an antecedent. For example, in the sentence That poor man looks as if he needs a new coat, the meaning of the pronoun he is dependent on its antecedent, that poor man.

The name of the adjective that belongs with a «pronoun» is called a «pronominal«.^[A] A pronominal is also a word or phrase that acts as a pronoun. For example, in That’s not the one I wanted, the phrase the one (containing the prop-word one) is a pronominal.^[3]

Theory[edit]

Pronoun versus pro-form[edit]

Pronoun is a category of words. A pro-form is a type of function word or expression that stands in for (expresses the same content as) another word, phrase, clause or sentence where the meaning is recoverable from the context.^[4] In English, pronouns mostly function as pro-forms, but there are pronouns that are not pro-forms and pro-forms that are not pronouns.^{[5][p. 239]}

Pronouns versus Pro-forms

	Example	Pronoun	Pro-form
1	It is a good idea.	✓	✓
2	I know the people who work there.	✓	✓
3	Who works there?	✓
4	It is raining.	✓
5	I asked her to help, and she did so right away.		✓
6	JJ and Petra helped, but the others didn’t.		✓

Examples [1 & 2] are pronouns and pro-forms. In [1], the pronoun it «stands in» for whatever was mentioned and is a good idea. In [2], the relative pronoun who stands in for «the people».

Examples [3 & 4] are pronouns but not pro-forms. In [3], the interrogative pronoun who does not stand in for anything. Similarly, in [4], it is a dummy pronoun, one that does not stand in for anything. No other word can function there with the same meaning; we do not say «the sky is raining» or «the weather is raining».

Finally, in [5 & 6], there are pro-forms that are not pronouns. In [5], did so is a verb phrase that stands in for «helped», inflected from to help stated earlier in the sentence. Similarly, in [6], others is a common noun, not a pronoun, but the others probably stands in for the names of other people involved (e.g., Sho, Alana, and Ali), all proper nouns.

Grammar[edit]

Pronouns (antōnymía) are listed as one of eight parts of speech in The Art of Grammar, a treatise on Greek grammar attributed to Dionysius Thrax and dating from the 2nd century BC. The pronoun is described there as «a part of speech substitutable for a noun and marked for a person.» Pronouns continued to be regarded as a part of speech in Latin grammar (the Latin term being pronomen, from which the English name – through Middle French – ultimately derives), and thus in the European tradition generally.

Because of the many different syntactic roles that they play, pronouns are less likely to be a single word class in more modern approaches to grammar.^[6]

Linguistics[edit]

Linguists in particular have trouble classifying pronouns in a single category, and some do not agree that pronouns substitute nouns or noun categories.^[1] Certain types of pronouns are often identical or similar in form to determiners with related meaning; some English examples are given in the table.

	Pronoun	Determiner
Possessive	ours	our freedom
Demonstrative	this	this gentleman
Indefinite	some	some frogs
Negative	none	no information
Interrogative	which	which option

This observation has led some linguists, such as Paul Postal, to regard pronouns as determiners that have had their following noun or noun phrase deleted.^[7] (Such patterning can even be claimed for certain personal pronouns; for example, we and you might be analyzed as determiners in phrases like we Brits and you tennis players.) Other linguists have taken a similar view, uniting pronouns and determiners into a single class, sometimes called «determiner-pronoun», or regarding determiners as a subclass of pronouns or vice versa. The distinction may be considered to be one of subcategorization or valency, rather like the distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs – determiners take a noun phrase complement like transitive verbs do, while pronouns do not.^[8] This is consistent with the determiner phrase viewpoint, whereby a determiner, rather than the noun that follows it, is taken to be the head of the phrase. Cross-linguistically, it seems as though pronouns share 3 distinct categories: point of view, person, and number. The breadth of each subcategory however tends to differ among languages.^[9]

Binding theory and antecedents[edit]

The use of pronouns often involves anaphora, where the meaning of the pronoun is dependent on another referential element. The referent of the pronoun is often the same as that of a preceding (or sometimes following) noun phrase, called the antecedent of the pronoun. The grammatical behavior of certain types of pronouns, and in particular their possible relationship with their antecedents, has been the focus of studies in binding, notably in the Chomskyan government and binding theory. In this binding context, reflexive and reciprocal pronouns in English (such as himself and each other) are referred to as anaphors (in a specialized restricted sense) rather than as pronominal elements. Under binding theory, specific principles apply to different sets of pronouns.

In English, reflexive and reciprocal pronouns must adhere to Principle A: an anaphor (reflexive or reciprocal, such as «each other») must be bound in its governing category (roughly, the clause). Therefore, in syntactic structure it must be lower in structure (it must have an antecedent) and have a direct relationship with its referent. This is called a C-command relationship. For instance, we see that John cut himself is grammatical, but Himself cut John is not, despite having identical arguments, since himself, the reflexive, must be lower in structure to John, its referent. Additionally, we see examples like John said that Mary cut himself are not grammatical because there is an intermediary noun, Mary, that disallows the two referents from having a direct relationship.

On the other hand, personal pronouns (such as him or them) must adhere to Principle B: a pronoun must be free (i.e., not bound) within its governing category (roughly, the clause). This means that although the pronouns can have a referent, they cannot have a direct relationship with the referent where the referent selects the pronoun. For instance, John said Mary cut him is grammatical because the two co-referents, John and him are separated structurally by Mary. This is why a sentence like John cut him where him refers to John is ungrammatical.

Binding cross-linguistically[edit]

The type of binding that applies to subsets of pronouns varies cross-linguistically. For instance, in German linguistics, pronouns can be split into two distinct categories — personal pronouns and d-pronouns. Although personal pronouns act identically to English personal pronouns (i.e. follow Principle B), d-pronouns follow yet another principle, Principle C, and function similarly to nouns in that they cannot have a direct relationship to an antecedent.^[9]

Antecedents[edit]

The following sentences give examples of particular types of pronouns used with antecedents:

• Third-person personal pronouns:
  • That poor man looks as if he needs a new coat. (the noun phrase that poor man is the antecedent of he)
  • Julia arrived yesterday. I met her at the station. (Julia is the antecedent of her)
  • When they saw us, the lions began roaring (the lions is the antecedent of they; as it comes after the pronoun it may be called a postcedent)
• Other personal pronouns in some circumstances:
  • Terry and I were hoping no one would find us. (Terry and I is the antecedent of us)
  • You and Alice can come if you like. (you and Alice is the antecedent of the second – plural – you)
• Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns:
  • Jack hurt himself. (Jack is the antecedent of himself)
  • We were teasing each other. (we is the antecedent of each other)
• Relative pronouns:
  • The woman who looked at you is my sister. (the woman is the antecedent of who)

Some other types, such as indefinite pronouns, are usually used without antecedents. Relative pronouns are used without antecedents in free relative clauses. Even third-person personal pronouns are sometimes used without antecedents («unprecursed») – this applies to special uses such as dummy pronouns and generic they, as well as cases where the referent is implied by the context.

English pronouns[edit]

English personal pronouns have a number of different syntactic contexts (Subject, Object, Possessive, Reflexive) and many features:

• person (1st, 2nd, 3rd);
• number (singular, plural);
• gender (masculine, feminine, neuter or inanimate, epicene)

Personal pronouns in standard Modern English

Person	Number & Gender	Subject	Object	Dependent possessive (determiner)	Independent possessive	Reflexive
First	Singular	I	me	my	mine	myself
Plural	we	us	our	ours	ourselves
Second	Singular	you	your	yours	yourself
Plural	yourselves
Third	Masculine	he	him	his	himself
Feminine	she	her	hers	herself
Neuter/Inanimate	it	its	itself
Epicene	they	them	their	theirs	themself
Plural	themselves

English also has other pronoun types, including demonstrative, relative, indefinite, and interrogative pronouns:

Demonstrative	Relative	Indefinite	Interrogative
this	who / whom / whose	one / one’s / oneself	who / whom / whose
these	what	something / anything / nothing (things)	what
that	which	someone / anyone / no one (people)	which
those	that	somebody / anybody / nobody (people)
former / latter

Personal and possessive[edit]

Personal[edit]

English personal pronouns^[2]: 52

Person	Number	Case
Subject	Object
First	Singular	I	me
Plural	we	us
Second	Singular	you
Plural
Third	Singular	he	him
she	her
it
they	them
Plural/Epicene	they	them

Personal pronouns may be classified by person, number, gender and case. English has three persons (first, second and third) and two numbers (singular and plural); in the third person singular there are also distinct pronoun forms for male, female and neuter gender.^{[2]: 52–53} Principal forms are shown in the adjacent table.

English personal pronouns have two cases, subject and object. Subject pronouns are used in subject position (I like to eat chips, but she does not). Object pronouns are used for the object of a verb or preposition (John likes me but not her).^{[2]: 52–53}

Other distinct forms found in some languages include:

• Second person informal and formal pronouns (the T–V distinction), like tu and vous in French. Formal second person pronouns can also signify plurality in many languages. There is no such distinction in standard modern English, though Elizabethan English marked the distinction with thou (singular informal) and you (plural or singular formal). Some dialects of English have developed informal plural second person pronouns, for instance, y’all (Southern American English) and you guys (American English).
• Inclusive and exclusive first person plural pronouns, which indicate whether or not the audience is included, that is, whether we means «you and I» or «they and I». There is no such distinction in English.
• Intensive (emphatic) pronouns, which re-emphasize a noun or pronoun that has already been mentioned. English uses the same forms as the reflexive pronouns; for example: I did it myself (contrast reflexive use, I did it to myself).
• Direct and indirect object pronouns, such as le and lui in French. English uses the same form for both; for example: Mary loves him (direct object); Mary sent him a letter (indirect object).
• Prepositional pronouns, used after a preposition. English uses ordinary object pronouns here: Mary looked at him.
• Disjunctive pronouns, used in isolation or in certain other special grammatical contexts, like moi in French. No distinct forms exist in English; for example: Who does this belong to? Me.
• Strong and weak forms of certain pronouns, found in some languages such as Polish.
• Pronoun avoidance, where personal pronouns are substituted by titles or kinship terms (particularly common in South-East Asia).

Possessive[edit]

Possessive pronouns are used to indicate possession (in a broad sense). Some occur as independent noun phrases: mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs. An example is: Those clothes are mine. Others act as a determiner and must accompany a noun: my, your, her, our, your, their, as in: I lost my wallet. (His and its can fall into either category, although its is nearly always found in the second.) Those of the second type have traditionally also been described as possessive adjectives, and in more modern terminology as possessive determiners. The term «possessive pronoun» is sometimes restricted to the first type. Both types replace possessive noun phrases. As an example, Their crusade to capture our attention could replace The advertisers’ crusade to capture our attention.^{[2]: 55–56}

Reflexive and reciprocal[edit]

Reflexive pronouns are used when a person or thing acts on itself, for example, John cut himself. In English they all end in -self or -selves and must refer to a noun phrase elsewhere in the same clause.^[2]: 55

Reciprocal pronouns refer to a reciprocal relationship (each other, one another). They must refer to a noun phrase in the same clause.^[2]: 55 An example in English is: They do not like each other. In some languages, the same forms can be used as both reflexive and reciprocal pronouns.

Demonstrative[edit]

Demonstrative pronouns (in English, this, that and their plurals these, those) often distinguish their targets by pointing or some other indication of position; for example, I’ll take these. They may also be anaphoric, depending on an earlier expression for context, for example, A kid actor would try to be all sweet, and who needs that?^[2]: 56

Indefinite[edit]

Indefinite pronouns, the largest group of pronouns, refer to one or more unspecified persons or things. One group in English includes compounds of some-, any-, every- and no- with -thing, -one and -body, for example: Anyone can do that. Another group, including many, more, both, and most, can appear alone or followed by of.^{[2]: 54–55} In addition,

• Distributive pronouns are used to refer to members of a group separately rather than collectively. (To each his own.)
• Negative pronouns indicate the non-existence of people or things. (Nobody thinks that.)
• Impersonal pronouns normally refer to a person but are not specific as to first, second or third person in the way that the personal pronouns are. (One does not clean one’s own windows.)

Relative and interrogative[edit]

Relative[edit]

Relative pronouns in English include who, whom, whose, what, which and that. They rely on an antecedent, and refer back to people or things previously mentioned: People who smoke should quit now. They are used in relative clauses.^[2]: 56 Relative pronouns can also be used as complementizers.

Interrogative[edit]

Relative pronouns can be used in an interrogative setting as interrogative pronouns. Interrogative pronouns ask which person or thing is meant. In reference to a person, one may use who (subject), whom (object) or whose (possessive); for example, Who did that? In colloquial speech, whom is generally replaced by who. English non-personal interrogative pronouns (which and what) have only one form.^{[2]: 56–57}

In English and many other languages (e.g. French and Czech), the sets of relative and interrogative pronouns are nearly identical. Compare English: Who is that? (interrogative) and I know the woman who came (relative). In some other languages, interrogative pronouns and indefinite pronouns are frequently identical; for example, Standard Chinese 什么 shénme means «what?» as well as «something» or «anything».

Archaic forms[edit]

Archaic personal pronouns^[2]: 52

Person	Number	Case
Subject	Object
Second	Singular	thou	thee
Plural	ye	you

Though the personal pronouns described above are the current English pronouns, Early Modern English (as used by Shakespeare, for example) use a slightly different set of personal pronouns, shown in the table. The difference is entirely in the second person. Though one would rarely find these older forms used in recent literature, they are nevertheless considered part of Modern English.

Kinship[edit]

In English, kin terms like «mother,» «uncle,» «cousin» are a distinct word class from pronouns; however many Australian Aboriginal languages have more elaborated systems of encoding kinship in language including special kin forms of pronouns. In Murrinh-patha, for example, when selecting a nonsingular exclusive pronoun to refer to a group, the speaker will assess whether or not the members of the group belong to a common class of gender or kinship. If all of the members of the referent group are male, the MASCULINE form will be selected; if at least one is female, the FEMININE is selected, but if all the members are in a sibling-like kinship relation, a third SIBLING form is selected.^[10] In Arabana-Wangkangurru, the speaker will use entirely different sets of pronouns depending on whether the speaker and the referent are or are not in a common moiety. See the following example:

See Australian Aboriginal kinship for more details.

Special uses[edit]

Some special uses of personal pronouns include:

• Generic you, where second person pronouns are used in an indefinite sense: You can’t buy good old-fashioned bulbs these days.
• Generic they: In China they drive on the right.
• Gender non-specific uses, where a pronoun refers to a non-specific person or a person whose gender is not specified: English usage and acceptance varies (and has varied) regarding generic he and singular they, among others.
  • A closely related usage is the singular they to refer to a person whose gender is specified as non-binary, genderqueer, or other, which has gained popularity in LGBTQ+ culture in particular.
• Vernacular usage of «yo» as a gender neutral pronoun has also been recorded among school students in Baltimore.^[12][13]
• Preferred gender pronoun selected to reflect gender identity
• Dummy pronouns (expletive pronouns), used to satisfy a grammatical requirement for a noun or pronoun, but contributing nothing to its meaning: It is raining.
• Royal we, used to refer to a single person who is a monarch: We are not amused.
• Nosism: The use of the pronoun we to refer to oneself.
• Resumptive pronouns, «intrusive» personal pronouns found (for example) in some relative clauses where a gap (trace) might be expected: This is the girl that I don’t know what she said.

See also[edit]

[edit]

In English[edit]

• Old English pronouns

In other languages[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

• English pronouns exercises, by Jennifer Frost
• «Pronoun» . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

2.5 Pronouns

If there were no pronouns, all types of writing would be quite tedious to read. We would soon be frustrated by reading sentences like Bob said that Bob was tired or Christina told the class that Christina received an A. Pronouns help a writer avoid constant repetition. Knowing just how pronouns work is an important aspect of clear and concise writing.

Possessive pronoun

Possessive pronouns are the pronouns that show ownership and possession in a sentence. We categorize possessive pronoun into two types: 

(1) Strong possessive pronoun

The strong possessive pronouns include yours, mine, his, hers, its, theirs, yours, and ours. They refer back to a noun or noun phrase already used, replacing it to avoid repetition: “I said that pen was mine.” Strong possessive pronouns are sometime called absolute possessive pronoun.

(2) Weak possessive pronoun.

The weak possessive pronouns include your, my, her, his, its, their, our, and, your. Their function is as a determiner in front of a noun to express whom something belongs to: “I said that’s my pen.” Sometime we call them possessive adjectives.

Indefinite Pronoun

Indefinite pronouns refer to something that in not definite in a sentence, they do not refer to particular thing or person. We use them when an object does not need to be specifically identified. There are two main types of indefinite pronoun: Singular indefinite pronoun and plural indefinite pronoun.

1. Singular Indefinite Pronoun: We use singular indefinite pronouns for the singular objects and not for plural.

Singular indefinite pronouns include: someone, somebody, something, no one, nobody, nothing, everyone, everybody, everything, anybody, another, anyone, each, anything, either, other, one, neither, and much

2. Plural Indefinite Pronoun: Plural indefinite pronouns are used for the plural objects and not for singular.

Plural indefinite pronouns include many, several, few, others, and both.

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun is a pronoun that relates the relative clause to another clause within a sentence. In addition, introduces the relative clause or an adjective clause. In mostly cases it acts as a subject of the relative clause. The most commonly used relative pronouns are mentioned below.

Whom, whoever, whomever, who, that, which and whose

Example in a sentence:

She does not know which pack of pencil you want.

“Which pack of pencil you want” is a relative clause, and the relative pronoun “which” has linked it to the main clause.

Intensive Pronouns

Intensive pronouns emphasize, or intensify nouns and pronouns and we define it as a pronoun that ends in self or selves. Intensive pronouns place emphasis on its antecedent by referring back to another noun or pronoun used earlier in the sentence. An intensive pronoun is approximately identical to a reflexive pronoun. Intensive pronouns are also sometimes called emphatic pronouns.

 Intensive pronouns are himself, myself, themselves, itself, herself, yourselves, ourselves, and yourself,

Example in a sentence:

I myself like to sing.

Jerry herself is her worst critic.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are the nouns that take place of a noun that’s already been mentioned in a sentence. Demonstrative pronouns can be singular or plural. Five main demonstrative pronouns are: these, those, such, this, that,

Example in a sentence:

These are beautiful.

Do not eat that.

Interrogative Pronouns

An interrogative pronoun often stands for something that we are not aware of yet, because we are asking about it. We use these pronouns specifically to ask questions. These pronouns are special because they all start with “Wh”, which is quite easy to remember.

Most commonly used interrogative pronouns are whose, what, whom, which, and who.

The other words like “whichever” and “whatsoever” are the words that we use as interrogative pronouns.

Words with ‘wh’ that are not interrogative pronouns. There are many other words that start with Wh but they are not interrogative pronouns. Because they are just words that start with ‘wh’ and are in questions!. “When” is not an interrogative pronoun neither is “where” nor “why”. Moreover, unlike other pronouns, sometime interrogative pronouns do not have antecedents because you are not yet sure what they really are!

Example in a sentence:

What is your nickname?

Whose pen is this?

Whatsoever do you suggest by that?

Whom were you talking with last night?

Which of these three do you like?

Sentence in which ‘wh’ words are not interrogative pronoun:

When do you have to go to gymnasium?

He doesn’t know where Ali was living last week.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns and intensive pronouns are a bit complex types of pronoun and are similar, but the difference between them is that intensive pronouns are not essential to a sentence’s meaning. Meanwhile, reflexive pronouns are. In addition, they are used when the subject and the object of a sentence refer to the same person or thing. Reflexive pronouns end in -selves or -self.

Reflexive pronouns are: yourself, himself, ourselves, itself, themselves, herself, myself, yourselves.

Example in a sentence:

She told herself to spend all vacations at home.

He bought himself a new phone.

Intensive pronoun vs Reflexive pronouns

What is the difference between intensive pronouns and reflexive pronouns?

Here is easy way to differentiate an intensive pronouns and reflexive pronouns.  Just remove pronoun from the sentence; if it is an intensive pronoun, the sentence will still make sense. If the sentence no longer makes sense when the pronoun is removed, it’s a reflexive pronoun.

Reciprocal pronouns

A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun that we use to identify a feeling or any kind of action that is reciprocated among two or more than two. That is why; it always refers to two or more than two persons. For example, Jane is laughing at Lizzy and Lizzy is laughing at Jane. So we say:

Jane and Lizzy are laughing at each other.

Each other and One another are the two reciprocal pronouns are not individual words but they are phrases. While using them, there must be two or more things, persons, or groups involved. Moreover, they all must be acting the same action. 

Some more examples are:

Paul and Jam help each other.

Both teams fought hard against each other.

Why do you laugh at each other?

All the students gave presents to one another.

 Distributive Pronouns

Distributive pronoun is a pronoun that describes a member of a group separately from the group and not collectively or including in that group. It refers to a thing or a person in a group. We use this pronoun to describe all the individual members of a particular group. Distributive pronoun are commonly used with plural noun and singular verb

Distributive pronouns that are commonly used are each, either, every, neither, none, everyone, and any.

Example in a sentence:

Each of the boys writes a poem 

Neither of the pens is black.

In this article you learned general definition of pronoun, examples of pronoun, definition of pronoun in major dictionaries, and types of pronoun.

What Are Pronouns?

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun. It’s what you use in a sentence when you want to avoid repetition and make it easier for your readers to understand what you’re trying to say.

There are over 100 pronouns. The most common ones are it, I, you, he, they, we, and she.

A pronoun is an important part of speech. If you use it well, your writing will be richer and more concise.

Pronouns still confuse many people, especially those who don’t understand the different types and the correct grammar rules. So, in this easy-to-understand guide, we’ll discuss what pronouns are and how they work.

Let’s roll!

Pronouns: A Fun Overview

Pronouns substitute nouns to make sentences concise and easy to read. There are nine different types of pronouns that we’ll discuss in this guide.

Sentences without pronouns are awkward and repetitive. Here’s an example:

• John stared at John’s dirty car. John’s car needed a thorough clean. So, John took John’s car to John’s favorite car wash.

Boring, right? Let pronouns come to the rescue. Here’s the concise and more interesting version of the same paragraph with the pronouns in bold:

• John stared at his dirty car. It needed a thorough clean. So, he took it to his favorite car wash.

Lo and behold! See what those little superhero pronouns have done. They’ve made the paragraph so juicy and snackable. With a swift karate kick, pronouns have knocked down the characters in the paragraph from 128 to 104. In addition, the pronouns have punched boredom in the face by removing the weird repetition of the words John and John’s car.

Yes, pronouns make paragraphs short and sweet. You can call them noun substitutes or dummy subjects. They replace what would otherwise be the subject, object, or indirect object of what we are talking about—just as we’ve replaced John with he.

Now, let’s check out the different types of pronouns.

Different Types of Pronouns

1. Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns denote space and time. They replace nouns that have already been mentioned and identify something specific. Here’s the list of demonstrative pronouns:

1. This
2. That
3. Those
4. These
5. Such
6. None
7. Neither

Let’s check out some sentences with demonstrative pronouns:

• Thank you for the Black Forest birthday cake. This is my favorite flavor.
• George is a talented footballer. That man blows my mind.
• I always listen to old speeches by Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill. Those were my favorite orators.
• Press the red and blue buttons. These will take you to paradise.
• Are you looking for perfection? Such doesn’t exist.
• Please do not bring me any food. I’m fasting, so I’ll eat none today.
• Cynthia doesn’t want a cat or a dog. Neither entertains her.

2. Personal Pronouns

You use personal pronouns when you are talking about people or things. Personal pronouns refer to the person speaking, what they want, what they do, what is going on around them, and what’s being addressed.

The personal pronoun “I” refers to the speaker, while the word “you” can be used as both a subject pronoun (referring to someone else) and an object pronoun. The personal pronoun “you” is both singular and plural.

Let’s analyze this sentence:

• Do I have time for lunch?

You use the first-person singular here since you’re referring specifically to yourself. Next, check this out:

• Can you help Jane with her math problem?

This uses the second-person pronoun, because it’s referring to someone else.

The word “my” denotes what belongs to the speaker or what they are talking about, for example:

• My mom bought me this book last year.

Here’s a list of personal pronouns:

I	He	We
Me	She	Us
You	It	They

3. Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns include mine, yours, and his. They show what belongs to or relates to a particular person. The thing with pronouns is they can belong to several categories. Possessive pronouns include some personal pronouns.

Here are some examples:

• I am her mum. (This sentence shows that the first word, “I,” belongs to what follows.)
• Your pen is black. (The second word, “pen,” belongs with what precedes it in this sentence.)
• You had better give me my bag back now! (In this example, the pronoun refers to what I have already mentioned—my bag.)

Here’s a list of possessive pronouns:

My	Their	Mine
Our	Your	Yours
His	Its	Ours
Her	Hers	Theirs

4. Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are not specific to what the pronoun is referring to. They don’t have an antecedent. Don’t worry; we’ll talk more about antecedents shortly.

Indefinite pronouns ending with -body represent people. And those ending with -thing denote things.

Examples:

• Everybody hates Chris.
• Something is bugging me.
• Everything looks awesome today.
• Is anybody home?

In negative clauses, use pronouns with no- and not any-.

• Nobody likes Chris.
• There’s nobody home.

Don’t use another negative when using clauses with no-.

• Nobody likes this weather. (NOT ~~Nobody doesn’t like this weather~~.)
• No one comes here. (NOT ~~No one does not come here~~.)

Here’s a list of indefinite pronouns:

You	Somebody	None	More	Everything	Both
They	Some	Nobody	Many	Everyone	Anywhere
The other	Several	No one	Little	Everybody	Anything
Such	Other	Neither	Less	Enough	Anyone
Something	One	Much	Fewer	Either	Anybody
Someone	Nothing	Most	Few	Each	Any

Here are more examples of indefinite pronouns in a sentence:

• Many are called, but few are chosen.
• All have sinned.
• Somebody has to pay for this.
• Everyone deserves to be happy.
• Everybody wants heaven, but nobody wants to die.

5. Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns emphasize what is being talked about in a sentence. They include words like who, which, and that. These introduce relative clauses—clauses that tell us more about things and people.

Let’s check out a few relative pronouns.

• Who is often used with people’s names or titles
• Which refers to a place, animal, or thing that has already been mentioned in the sentence
• That denotes the person, thing, or animal just mentioned before this relative pronoun came into play
• What refers to a thing

Here’s a list of relative pronouns:

That	Who
What	Whoever
Whatever	Whom
Which	Whomever
Whichever	Whose

A few examples of sentences with relative pronouns include:

• The student who walks past my desk every day doesn’t say hi anymore.
• I was walking down the street when I saw what looked like a shooting star.
• The pen that you left on my desk yesterday isn’t there anymore!
• There goes the beautiful lady whom he loves.
• Peter seemed happy, which was unusual.
• Whoever created this formula is a genius.
• Whose phone is this?
• Whatever you do, don’t be afraid.

Fun fact:

In informal writing, you can leave out the relative pronoun when you’re using it as the verb’s object.

• Example with a relative pronoun: Paul is the person who I saw on TV.
• Example with no relative pronoun: Paul is the person I saw on TV.

6. Reflexive Pronouns

These are words that refer to the subject of a sentence. Reflexive pronouns end with -self. Plural forms end with —selves. They’re used when the subject does something to or by itself.

Here’s a list of reflexive pronouns:

1. Herself
2. Himself
3. Itself
4. Myself
5. Oneself
6. Ourselves
7. Themselves
8. Yourself

Let’s check out some sentences with reflexive pronouns:

• I hurt myself on Tuesday.
• They enjoy themselves on the beach.
• This new car drives itself.

7. Intensive Pronouns

These are similar to reflexive pronouns, but their primary function is to put more focus on a noun or another pronoun.

Use an intensive pronoun when you want to emphasize what the subject or object does, like in these examples

• She herself did it.
• The boss himself called me and said he would be here soon.

How do you tell the difference between a reflexive and intensive pronoun? Simple. A sentence can do fine grammatically without an intensive pronoun. But it won’t make any sense without a reflexive pronoun.

Let’s take away the pronouns from the two examples above:

• She herself did it. → She did it.
• The boss himself called me and said he would be here soon. → The boss called me and said he would be here soon.

We can’t do the same with the examples on reflexive pronouns. Taking these away is incorrect:

• I hurt myself on Tuesday. → I hurt on Tuesday.
• This new car drives itself. → This new car drives.

So, if a sentence can be fine without the emphasizing -self word, then you’re using an intensive pronoun. If not, you’re using a reflexive pronoun.

Here’s a list of intensive pronouns:

1. Herself
2. Himself
3. Myself
4. Ourselves
5. Themselves
6. Yourself
7. Yourselves

8. Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns help you to ask questions. These include words like who, what, and where. It’s easy to identify them since they all have that inquiry aspect.

There are five main interrogative pronouns. Here’s the list:

1. What
2. Which
3. Who
4. Whom
5. Whose

Sometimes, more interrogative pronouns are created by adding the suffix -ever or -soever to the words above, e.g. whomever and whatsoever.

Let’s put interrogative pronouns in sentences:

• What do you want for your anniversary?
• Which phone did you buy?
• Whose book is this?
• Whom did you pay?
• Who won the soccer match?

9. Reciprocal Pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns refer to people or things that are involved in reciprocal action. For example, “I like you” and “You like me too” both imply each person likes the other.

Reciprocal pronouns include:

1. Each other
2. One another

Yes, there are just two reciprocal pronouns that you can use in sentences like:

• If you keep fighting with one another, you’ll destroy each other.
• They loved each other so much that they got married in a spaceship.

Antecedents: What They Are and Why We Need Them

Pronouns can be confusing if you use them on their own. So, you use antecedents to make writing clearer. Antecedents are what pronouns replace. They may be a noun, pronoun, or phrase that precedes the pronoun.

You need to give a bit more context before someone can understand what you want the pronoun to replace—like what gender it is, for example. So, if you say “she” without having said anything else beforehand, people won’t know who exactly you’re talking about.

To avoid this problem, always precede pronouns with what they replace.

For example, Jane drinks too much. She may get into trouble if she keeps doing this. Here, “Jane” is the antecedent. So, if we use pronouns like “she” and “her” after that, it will be clear to readers that we’re all talking about dearest Jane who needs to cut back on drinking.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pronouns

You now have a clearer picture of pronouns and their usage. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions:

What Is a Pronoun?

A pronoun substitutes a noun or noun phrase to avoid repetition. It has an antecedent—what you’re substituting the word with. For example: John entered the coffee shop. He ordered his usual latte.

What Are Some Examples of Pronouns?

There are over 100 pronouns, and they all have slightly different uses. They include he, she, I, its, who, whom, which, somebody, something, myself, etc.

Why Do We Use Pronouns?

The main reason is to avoid wordiness. When you use a pronoun, it helps readers follow your text without unnecessary repetitions.

What’s the History of Pronouns?

Pronouns have been around for a long time. The earliest records come from the 1520s. Pronoun is derived from the Latin word prōnōmen, made from “pro” (substitution) and “nomen” (name).

Get Your Pronouns Right

Pronouns can be an absolute nightmare. They can confuse even some of the brightest minds. Not you, though. This article has broken it all down for you.

Use pronouns to increase your readability and conciseness. Proficient use of pronouns will make you a professional communicator. Yes, I deliberately used pro- thrice in the previous sentence to make the point stick. Here at ProWritingAid, we want you to be a pro.

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