PRONOUNS
Relative pronouns
PRONOUN MEANS “FOR A NOUN,” AND A These link one part of a sentence to another by
PRONOUN IS A WORD THAT TAKES THE PLACE introducing a relative clause that describes an earlier
OF A NOUN. noun or pronoun.
who, whom, whose, which, that, what
Without pronouns, spoken and written English would
be very repetitive. Once a noun has been referred to Rita is the person who plays the guitar.
by its actual name once, another word–a pronoun– This pronoun is
can be used to stand for his name. describing Rita,
the subject.
I is the only pronoun that is spelled with a
capital letter. Possessive pronouns
These show ownership and replace possessive noun
phrases. Don’t get these confused with possessive
Using pronouns determiners such as my and your, which precede
If the full name of a noun were used each time it but do not replace the noun.
had to be referred to, sentences would be long mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs
and confusing. Pronouns are useful because they This pronoun replaces
make sentences shorter and therefore clearer. the possessive noun
phrase Rita’s guitar.
The noun is still required when someone or
something is referred to for the first time. The guitar is hers.
noun noun
Rita loves playing the guitar. Interrogative pronouns
She finds it interesting. These are used to ask questions and represent an
This personal This personal unknown subject or object.
pronoun represents pronoun who, whom, what, which, whose
represents This pronoun represents
Rita, the subject. playing the guitar, the subject, an unknown
the object. musician.
Who is playing?
Types of pronouns
There are seven types of pronouns, which are used Indefinite pronouns
for different purposes. Do not confuse these with These are do not refer to any specific person or
determiners or adjectives, which they modify thing, but take the place of nouns in a sentence.
rather than replace nouns. somebody, someone, something, anybody, anyone,
anything, nobody, no one, nothing, all, another, both,
each, many, most, other, some, few, none, such
Personal pronouns This represents an
These represent people, places, or things. They vary unknown person, the
according to whether the noun being replaced is object of the
the subject of the sentence (performing the sentence.
action) or the object (receiving the action). I haven’t seen anyone.
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they (subject) As a rule, a pronoun cannot be modified by an
me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them (object) adjective or adverb in the way that a noun can be:
“the sad I” does not make sense. Some exceptions
This pronoun represents include “what else” and “somebody nice.”
the singular subject.
She gave them a guitar lesson. Talking about myself
Many people wrongly opt for the reflexive form
This pronoun represents myself because they are unsure whether to use I or
the plural object. me. Reflexive pronouns should only be used to refer
back to a specific noun or pronoun that has already
been mentioned in the sentence. This noun or
pronoun is usually (but not always) the subject.
I imagined myself
on the stage. This reflexive
pronoun refers
Somebody and someone mean the same thing, as do back to the
anybody and anyone, everybody and everyone, and subject I.
nobody and no one. Rita performed for
Ben and myself. This wrongly used
reflexive pronoun has no noun
to refer back to–there is no I in
the sentence.
Identifying when to use I or me
People often make mistakes when deciding whether to use the personal pronouns I or me. To figure
out which to use, split the sentence into two short sentences. It should then become clear which one is
right. Remember to put others first in a sentence.
Me and Ben enjoyed the concert.
Me enjoyed the concert.
This doesn’t make sense, so me is wrong.
Ben enjoyed the concert.
This makes sense, so I is the correct pronoun.
I enjoyed the concert.
Ben and I enjoyed the concert.
Always place others first.
If the pronoun follows a preposition, the object personal pronoun me should be used.
It was late night for Ben and I.
This is a preposition, so the subject pronoun I is wrong.
It was late night for Ben and me.
The object pronoun me now correctly follows the preposition for.
