Pronouns

Pronouns

Pronouns are words used to replace nouns or noun phrases.

For example, if you want to talk about a person named “Mary,” you say “Mary is a nice person. She always greets me in the morning.”  . In that sentence, “she”  is used to refer to “Mary.” Otherwise, your description will sound repetitive and awkward, like “Mary is a nice person. Mary always greets me in the morning.” 

Here are some of the most common pronouns you should know.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to specific people or things and can change based on person, number and gender.

English Personal Pronouns	How It's Used	Example Sentence
I	Used when you are talking about yourself. Instead of saying your name, you can use the word I.	I am happy today.
you	Refers to another person you are talking to directly	What do you think?
he	Used when you are talking about a male, but not talking to the male directly	My dad is funny. He tells me jokes.
she	Used when you are talking about a female, but not talking to the female directly	She is reading a book.
it	Refers to a thing or animal with no gender	Our house is new. It is small and white.
we	Refers to a group of people you are part of	We like going to the movies.
they	Refers to a group of people or things not included in the conversation	The students in the class are tired. They need a break.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns talk about specific people, things or ideas.

English Demonstrative Pronouns	Meaning and Usage	Example Sentence
this	Refers to a single thing that is near	This is a beautiful ring.
that	Refers to a single thing that is far	Look at that! It's a wonderful fireworks display.
these	Refers to multiple things nearby	These are the flowers my beloved gave me yesterday.
those	Refers to multiple things farther away	Those are called ravens.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions about people or things.

English Interrogative Pronouns	What It Asks About	Example Sentence
what	things or actions	What is your favorite color?
which	choices or options	Which book do you want to read?
who	people	Who is coming to the party tonight?
whom	object of a sentence	Whom did you invite to the event?
whose	possession or ownership	Whose car is parked outside?

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership or possession of something.

English Possessive Pronouns	Who the Pronoun Indicates Is the Owner	Example Sentence
mine	you	The  black jacket  is mine.
yours	the person you are talking to	The blue bike is yours.
his	a male person being talked about	His black coat looks good.
hers	a female person being talked about	The red bag is hers.
ours	a group you are part of	The big house is ours.
theirs	a group you are talking about	The white boat is theirs.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object of a sentence are the same. They are also used to show that something is being done by the subject without any help.

English Reflexive Pronouns	Type	Example Sentence
myself	First person singular	I will do the dishes myself.
yourself	Second person singular or plural	You should be proud of yourself.
himself	Third person singular masculine	He taught himself to play the guitar.
herself	Third person singular feminine	She bought the dress herself.
itself	Third person singular neutral or no gender	The cat can clean itself.
ourselves	First person plural	We prepared the dinner ourselves.
yourselves	Second person plural	You can fix the problem yourselves.
themselves	Third person plural	The students organized the event themselves.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to non-specific people or things.

English Indefinite Pronouns	Meaning and Usage	Example Sentence
anyone	Refers to any person or people	Anyone can join the club.
anything	Refers to any thing or things	We can eat anything for dinner.
anywhere	Refers to any place or places	We can go anywhere for vacation.
someone	Refers to a specific unknown person or people	Someone is waiting for you at the door.
something	Refers to a specific unknown thing or things	I saw something strange in the woods.
somewhere	Refers to a specific unknown place or places	Let's go somewhere new this weekend.
everyone	Refers to every person	Everyone enjoyed the party.
everything	Refers to every thing	She knows everything about computers.
everywhere	Refers to every place	The festival attracts visitors from everywhere.
nobody	Refers to no person	Nobody was present at the meeting.
nothing	Refers to no thing	He said nothing during the entire class.
nowhere	Refers to no place	The lost keys are nowhere to be found.
somebody	Refers to a specific unknown person or people (more casual than "someone")	Somebody left their umbrella in the café.
anybody	Refers to any person or people (more casual than "anyone")	Anybody can participate in the talent show.