pro·noun
/ˈprōˌnoun/
a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase and that refers either to the participants in the discourse (e.g., I, you) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse (e.g., she, it, this) — From Oxford.
A pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns refer to either a noun that has already been mentioned or to a noun that does not need to be named specifically.
The most common pronouns are the personal pronouns, which refer to the person or people speaking or writing (first person), the person or people being spoken to (second person), or other people or things (third person). Like nouns, personal pronouns can function as either the subject of a verb or the object of a verb or preposition: "She likes him, but he loves her." Most of the personal pronouns have different subject and object forms.
A pronoun can act as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, and more and takes the place of any person, place, animal or thing. Without pronouns, we’d constantly have to repeat nouns, and that would make our speech and writing repetitive, not to mention cumbersome.
Types of Pronouns
Pronouns can be divided into numerous categories including:
1) Indefinite pronouns – those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places, such as someone, anybody, nothing. Notice in the examples below that there is no set position for where an indefinite pronoun will appear in a sentence.
Indefinite pronoun examples:
1. Anyone
2. Somebody
3. Whichever
4. Whoever
5. Other
6. Something
7. Nobody
Examples:
Would anyone like a coffee?
Take whatever you like. Jamie took one cookie and Ben took the other.
Whoever owns this is in big trouble! I want someone to move this now.
Indefinite pronouns can also be used to create sentences that are almost abstract. Examples could include: this, all, such and something.
All was not lost.
Such is life.
Something tells me this won’t end well.
2) Personal pronouns – those associated with a certain person, thing, or group; all except you have distinct forms that indicate singular or plural number. Personal pronouns are always specific and are often used to replace a proper noun (someone’s name) or a collective group of people or things. Personal pronouns have two main groups, one referring to the subject of the sentence and one to the object.
The first is used to replace the subject of the sentence: I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they. Notice that you is repeated as you can be singular, addressing one person, or plural, addressing a group of people.
Jack and David are friends. They play basketball together.
I have more money than him
We will be late if you don’t hurry up.
The second group of pronouns replaces the object of the sentence: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them. Consider the sentence again:
We will be late if you don’t hurry up.
In the above example, we is the subject of the sentence, but you is the object. Other examples of pronouns replacing the object:
Peter sang the song to me.
Missing the train will cause us to be late.
She packed them tightly in the suitcase.
3) Reflexive pronouns – those preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which they refer, and ending in –self or –selves. Reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject or clause of a sentence. The list of reflexive pronouns includes: Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
Count yourselves
Annie only had herself to blame.
Peter and Paul had baked themselves cakes.
4) Demonstrative pronouns – those used to point to something specific within a sentence. There are only four demonstrative pronouns – this, that, these, those – but the usage can be a bit tricky at times. This and that are singular, whereas these and those are plural. As you may have noticed, there can be some crossover with indefinite pronouns when using this and that.
I prefer this.
These are beautiful, but those belong to Danny.
Did you see that?
While it can be confusing, this, that, these and those can sometimes be used as demonstrative adjectives. The difference between the two is that a demonstrative pronoun replaces the noun and a demonstrative adjective qualifies the noun.
I prefer this photo. These flowers are beautiful, but those vases belong to Danny. Did you see that rainbow?
It should be clear that this, that, these and those in the example above are not pronouns because they are being used to qualify the noun, but not replace it. A good trick for remembering the difference is that a demonstrative pronoun would still make sense if the word one or ones followed it in the sentence.
I prefer this (one). These (ones) are beautiful. Did you see that (one)? Those (ones) belong to Danny.
5) Possessive pronouns – those designating possession or ownership. Examples include: mine, its, hers, his, yours, ours, theirs, whose. Consider the example:
This cat is mine.
Mine is indicating possession, that the cat belongs to me.
Incidentally, this in the sentence is not a pronoun but demonstrative adjective as it qualifies the noun cat. You will find that possessive pronouns often follow phrases that contain demonstrative adjectives.
Are these bananas yours?
This money is ours.
Is the fault theirs or yours?
6) Relative pronouns – those which refer to nouns mentioned previously, acting to introduce an adjective (relative) clause. They will usually appear after a noun to help clarify the sentence or give extra information. Examples include: who, which, that, whom, whose.
Consider the following sentence:
The man who stole the car went to jail. The relative pronoun who acts to refer back to the noun man. It acts to open a clause by identifying the man as not just any man, but the one who stole the car.
The table, which sits in the hallway, is used for correspondence.
The car that crashed into the wall was blue.
This is the woman, whose key you found.
7) Interrogative pronouns – those which introduce a question. Examples include: who, whom, whose, what, which. We can usually identify an interrogative pronoun by the fact that they often appear at the beginning of a question.
Who will come to the party?
Which do you prefer?
What do you need?
Whose clothes are on the floor?
Whom did you tell?
Whom and who are often confused, and even native speakers will use them incorrectly. Who will replace the subject of a sentence, whereas whom will replace the direct or indirect object. A good tip for deciding which to use is that you can replace who in the sentence with a personal pronoun and it will still make sense.
Who will come to the party? I will come to the party.
The same system would not work for Whom did you tell? I did you tell.
8) Reciprocal pronouns – those expressing mutual actions or relationship; i.e. one another. There are just two reciprocal pronouns in English: one another and each other. They are mainly used to stop unnecessary repetition in a sentence, but also to reinforce the idea that collective and reciprocal actions are happening to more than one person or thing.
John and Mary gave each other gifts.
Using each other allows us the sentence to be more efficient than: John gave Mary a gift and Mary gave a gift to John.
The countries worked with one another on national security.
In this example, one another works to suggest that the action of working is being reciprocated back and forth by more than one country.
The boxers punched each other
The couple love one another deeply
9) Intensive pronouns – those ending in –self or –selves and that serve to emphasize their antecedents. These are almost identical to reflexive pronouns, but rather than just referring back to the subject of the sentence they work to reinforce the action. In many cases, the sentence would still make sense without the intensive pronoun.
I will do it myself.
We made this pie ourselves.
A nation speaks for itself through elections.
Notice how the intensive pronoun is working to emphasize the statement. The sentence would still technically be correct without the intensive pronoun, but it adds some important context to its meaning.
Pronoun Rules
- Subject pronouns may be used to begin sentences. For example: We did a great job.
- Subject pronouns may also be used to rename the subject. For example: It was she who decided we should go to Hawaii.
- Indefinite pronouns don’t have antecedents. They are capable of standing on their own. For example: No one likes the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard.
- Object pronouns are used as direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions. These include: you, me, him, her, us, them, and it. For example: David talked to her about the mistake.
- Possessive pronouns show ownership. They do not need apostrophes. For example: The cat washed its.
NOTE
• In informal English, most people tend to follow to be verbs with object pronouns like me, her, them. Many English scholars tolerate this distinction between formal and casual English.
Example: It could have been them.
Technically correct: It could have been they.
Example: It is just me at the door.
Technically correct: It is just I at the door.
• Do not combine a subject pronoun and an object pronoun in phrases like her and I or he and me. Whenever and or or links an object pronoun (her, me) and a subject pronoun (he, I), one of those pronouns will always be wrong.
Incorrect: Her and I went home.
Correct: She and I went home. (She went and I went.)
