PRONOUNS

DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES

Pronouns are words used in place of nouns.

The purpose of pronouns is to avoid repetition and make sentences easier to understand.

EXAMPLES OF PRONOUNS

Examples of pronouns are: he, she, it, they, and this.

TYPES OF PRONOUNS

The following are the types of pronouns:

(1) the personal pronoun,

(2) the demonstrative pronoun,

(3) the interrogative pronoun,

(4) the relative pronoun,

(5) the indefinite pronoun,

(6) the reflexive pronoun, and

(7) the intensive pronoun.

(1) PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Personal pronouns refer to a specific person or thing. These kinds of pronouns change their form to indicate a person, number, gender, or case.

Examples of sentences:

He is my friend.
They are my friends.

(Here, 'He' and 'They' change to indicate person, number and gender).

Categories of Personal Pronouns

There are two categories of Personal pronouns. These are:

(i) Subjective personal pronouns.

These are pronouns that act as the subject of a sentence.

Examples of subjective personal pronouns are: I, you, she, he, it, you, and they.

Examples of sentences:

We know everything about you.

He is living in the same place with me.

She is married to a rich man.

It can cause a lot of problems.

(ii) Objective personal pronouns.

These are pronouns that act as the object of a sentence. Examples of objective personal pronouns are: me, you, her, him, it, us, you, and them.

Examples of sentences:

He told me a nice story.
They have bought him a nice house.
Tell her I won't disappoint her.
If you ask us, we have no answers.
Ask them if they know anything about him.

(iii) Possessive personal pronouns

These are pronouns that show possession. They define a person (or a number of people) who owns a particular object. Examples of possessive personal pronouns are: mine, yours, hers, his, its, ours, and theirs.

Examples of sentences:

Give me mine and take yours.
This is her handbag.
All these things are mine.
Their house is near the town.

(2) Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point to and identify a noun or pronoun in a sentence. 

Examples: This, these, that, those.

'This' and 'these' refer to things that are nearby in space or time.

'That'  and 'those' refer to things that are farther away in space or further away in time.

Examples of sentences:

This is my house.
That is the only shirt I wear everyday.
These are my friends.
Please bring me those cups.

(3) Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions.

Examples of interrogative pronouns are: who, whom, which, and what.

'Who' and 'whom'  are used to refer to people.

'Who'  acts as the subject.

'Whom acts as the object.

'Which' is used to refer to things and animals. 

Examples of sentences:

Who is in charge here?
What is your name?
Which way should we take?
Whose house is that?
Whom should we invite for our party?
Which is the best colour?

(4) Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to join one phrase to another or one clause to another. Relative pronouns are like interrogative pronouns, but these act as connectors of parts of the sentence.

Examples of relative pronouns are: who, whom, that, and which, whoever, whomever, and whichever.

Examples of sentences:

Whatever you want say is true.
Tell whoever you find in the house.
The lady who is wearing a black gown is my landlady.
The person who won the lottery is now very popular.

(5) Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to an identifiable, but not specified, person or thing. An indefinite pronoun conveys the idea of all, any, none, or some.

Examples of common indefinite pronouns are: all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody, and someone.

Examples of sentences:

All of you must obey the rules.
Anyone can be somebody.
Someone has forgotten the keys.
Some people are coward.

(6) Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the sentence.

Examples of  reflexive pronouns are: myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

Examples of sentences:

I did it myself.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
She finished it herself.
We decided ourselves.

(7) Intensive pronouns

Intensive pronouns are used to emphasize their antecedent. Intensive pronouns are similar to reflexive pronouns, but their function is to emphasize the antecedents.

Examples of intensive pronouns:

He himself did not attend.
I myself find out that I was wrong.
They themselves don't care about the rules.
Amina herself was not there.

(8) Reciprocal pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns express mutual relationships or actions.

Examples of reciprocal pronouns:

each other, one another

Examples of sentences:

My sister and I love each other.
These children love each other.
The members of this SACCOS support one another.
The two footballers love to compete with each other.

(9) Singular pronouns

Singular pronouns refer to a single person or thing. Singular pronouns are like singular nouns, and they must use singular verbs as well.

Examples of singular pronouns are:

I, he, she, it, one, this, someone, something, anyone, nobody

Examples of sentences:

Something is wrong with you.
He is my best friend.
Someone is waiting for you at the gate.
This is your chance to enjoy.
I am not sure if she is good at English or not.

(10) Plural pronouns

Plural pronouns refer to multiple people or things. Like plural nouns, plural pronouns must use plural verbs.

Examples of plural pronouns are: they, us, them, ourselves, themselves, those, these, many, several, others

Examples of sentences:

We go to gym every day.
These poems are very good.
Several people have started the small businesses.
They are my friends.
Those kids are very excited.

REFERENCES

Sinclair, John (2006) Collins COBUILD Intermediate English Grammar, HarperCollins Publishers, Westerhill Road.

https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/parts_of_speech_pronouns.en.html

11-03-222

https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/what-are-the-types-of-pronouns/

11-03-22

https://www.wallstreetenglish.com/exercises/pronouns

11-03-2022

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