Pronoun | English Grammar for Junior Classes - Class 1 PDF Download

A pronoun is a type of word that replaces a noun, such as 'she,' 'he,' 'you,' 'them,' and 'this.' We can only use pronouns to replace nouns when we have already referred to the noun at an earlier point. For example, 'Sam hates grapes' would become 'he hates grapes.'

What is a pronoun?

Pronouns are defined as words that can be used as a 'placeholder' for a noun, we can use pronouns instead of a noun.

• They are used so that we don't have to repeat nouns again and again in our writing. Our writing and speech is much smoother when we use pronouns. For example:
• Without pronouns: Julieta carried the books to school, Julieta's books were very heavy, but Julieta put the books in the bag.
• With pronouns: Julieta carried her books to school. Her books were very heavy, but she put them in her bag.
• We use pronouns to avoid repetition, but remember, a pronoun and its antecedent (the thing the pronoun is referring to) have to be co-referential. This means that the two words need to agree in number, gender, and case, or the sentence won't make sense!

What are the seven types of pronouns?

In English grammar, we can split pronouns into seven different categories, depending on which nouns the pronouns refer to. Here is a breakdown of the seven types of pronoun:

1. Personal Pronouns: These refer to specific people or things and include words like "I," "you," "he," "she," "it," "we," and "they."
2. Possessive Pronouns: These show ownership or possession and include words like "mine," "yours," "his," "hers," "its," "ours," and "theirs."
3. Demonstrative Pronouns: These point to specific people or things and include words like "this," "that," "these," and "those."
4. Relative Pronouns: These introduce relative clauses and connect them to nouns. Common relative pronouns include "who," "whom," "whose," "which," and "that."
5. Interrogative Pronouns: These are used to ask questions and include words like "who," "whom," "whose," "which," and "what."
6. Indefinite Pronouns: These do not refer to a specific person or thing and include words like "all," "some," "none," "anyone," "everyone," "everything," "nobody," and "nothing."
7. Reflexive Pronouns: These are used when the subject and object of a sentence are the same, and they end in "-self" or "-selves." Examples include "myself," "yourself," "himself," "herself," "itself," "ourselves," and "themselves."

What is a personal pronoun?

Personal pronouns can be used instead of a person, place or thing.

How many personal pronouns are there?

There are 12 personal pronouns for a person or group, and they are: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us and them.
Personal pronouns help to avoid repetition of the same word used to refer to somebody. If the noun is plural, then the pronoun replacing it is also plural. Using personal pronouns makes our speech sound more natural, too.
For example:

Sally gave Tim a lift to work because Tim needed to repair Tim's bike. Tim was slow getting ready and Sally and Tim were late.

Their names are repeated, making it frustrating to read.

Sally gave Tim a lift to work because he needed to repair his bike. He was slow getting ready and they were late.

What is a possessive pronoun?

A possessive pronoun shows that something belongs to someone - it shows ownership.

• It's used to replace the subject of a sentence. This avoids repetition in a sentence and makes the sentences more concise.
• For example, instead of saying 'Sarah said that the computer was Sarah's,' you would say 'Sarah said that the computer was hers.'
• This sounds more natural, and means you don't have to repeat the name of the person or thing that is being referred to in the sentence, whilst still conveying the same meaning of the sentence.

There are two types of possessive pronouns:

• Independent
• Dependent.

Independent possessive pronouns are stand-alone, which means they don't need to be next to a noun in a sentence for it to make sense. For example:

• 'Those keys are mine.'
• 'That isn't my dog, it's hers.'
• 'Whose bag is this? Is it yours?'
• 'The place is ours for tonight.'
• 'The garden is theirs.'

These kinds of pronouns typically come at the end of a clause or at the end of a sentence.
Dependent possessive pronouns require a noun next to them for the sentence to make sense. These are sometimes called possessive adjectives because they describe how the object is owned by something else. For example:

• 'Those are my keys.'
• 'That isn't mine, it's her dog.'
• 'It was their responsibility.'
• 'The school had its sports day in the summer.'
• 'Is that your coat?'

These possessive pronouns are dependent on the nouns they're next to. Without the noun, the sentence would be unfinished - we don't know what the possessive pronoun is referring to.

Apostrophes and Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns will never have an apostrophe.
For example, 'it's' and 'its' are often mixed up when writing. We might think that "it's" is correct because the apostrophe tends to be used for possession, but in this case, it's not.

'It's' is an abbreviation of 'It is'.

• It's raining outside = It is raining outside
• 'Its' is the possessive of 'it'

The camera is brand new. Its lens is so clean. We use 'its' because the lens belongs to the camera.
For 'ours', 'yours', 'hers', and 'theirs', we simply have to remember that we never use an apostrophe for these possessive pronouns. For example:

• Incorrect: She's taking her's home.
• Correct: She's taking hers home.

It can be confusing because 'she's' does use the apostrophe. But just remember that words such as 'she's' are contractions of 'she is' - and there is no 'her is'!

What is a subject pronoun?

A subject pronoun is exactly what it sounds like. It's a pronoun that takes the place of a noun (or subject).

• Remember, a sentence’s subject is the person or thing that performs the action of a verb. When you take an even closer look, you’ll see that a subject pronoun is used as the subject of a verb, while an object pronoun is usually used as a grammatical object.
• In English, the subject pronouns that are used are I, you, thou, he, she, it, one, we, ye, they, who and what. (Although we rarely, if ever, use 'thou' or 'ye' nowadays).

Subject pronouns with examples

Subject pronouns can be singular or plural. They can also be masculine, feminine, or gender-neutral.
We generally use the pronouns she and her, he and him, and they and them when referring to people. They can be singular or plural.
When referring to an inanimate object or an unspecified animal, we use 'it'.
'It' is also used to talk about the weather, temperature, or time.

• We gave them a head start in the race.
• It's sunny outside today.
• She is eating an apple.
• He is doing his homework.
• They are a nice person.
• They are pleasant people.