Pronoun

Pronouns
LanguageUndefined

Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. We often use them to avoid repeating the nouns
that they refer to. Pronouns have different forms for the different ways we use them. 

Read clear grammar explanations and example sentences to help you understand how pronouns
are used. Then, put your grammar knowledge into practice by doing the exercises.  
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 Personal pronouns
 'it' and 'there' as dummy subjects
 Possessive pronouns
 Demonstratives
 'one' and 'ones'
 Pronouns in questions
 Reflexive pronouns
 Reciprocal pronouns
 Indefinite pronouns
 Relative pronouns and relative clauses
Personal pronouns
LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

We have both subject pronouns and object pronouns:

Subjec
Object
t

I me

you you

he him

she her

it it

we us

you you

they them
We use subject pronouns as the subject of a verb:

I like your dress.
You  are late.
He is my friend.
It  is raining.
She  is on holiday.
We  live in England.
They come from London.

Be careful!

English clauses always have a subject.

His father has just retired.  > He was a teacher. (NOT Was a teacher.)
I'm waiting for my wife. > She is late. (NOT Is late.)
The imperative, which is used for orders, invitations and requests, is an exception:
Stop!
Go away.
Please  come to dinner tomorrow.
Play  it again, please.
If there is no other subject, we use it or there. We call this a dummy subject.

We use object pronouns as the object of a verb:

Can you help me, please?

I can see you.
She doesn't like him.
I  saw her  in town today.
We saw them in town yesterday, but they didn't  see us.

and after prepositions:

She is waiting for me.
I'll get it for you.
Give it to him.
Why are you looking at her?
Don't take it from us.
I'll speak to them.
Subject and object pronouns 1
 Subject and object pronouns 2

he, she and they

We use he/him  to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women. When we are not sure if we are
talking about a man or a woman, we use they/them:

This is  Jack. He's my brother. I don't think you have met him.
This is  Angela. She's my sister. Have you met her before?
You could go to a doctor. They might help you.
Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.
he, she and they 1
he, she and they 2

you and they

We use you to talk about people in general, including the speaker and the hearer:

You can buy this book everywhere. = This book is on sale everywhere.

You  can't park here. = Parking is not allowed here.

We use they/them to talk about institutions and organisations:

They serve good food here. (they = the restaurant)

Ask them for a cheaper ticket. (them = the airline)

especially the government and the authorities:

They don't let you smoke in here. 

They are going to increase taxes.
They are building a new motorway. 
They say it’s going to rain tomorrow.
you and they 1
you and they 2

it

We use it to talk about ourselves:

 on the telephone:

Hello. It's George.

 when other people cannot see us:

 It's me. It's Mary. (Mary is knocking on the door.)

We also use it to talk about other people:

 when we point people out for the first time:

Look.  It's Paul McCartney.

Who's that? I think it's John's brother.

 when we cannot see someone and we ask them for their name:

Hello. Who is it? (someone answering the phone)

Who is  it? (someone about to answer the door)

'it' and 'there' as dummy subjects

LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired.  > He was a teacher. (NOT Was a teacher.)

I'm waiting for my wife. > She is late. (NOT Is late.)

... except for the imperative:

Go away.
Play  it again, please.

there

If there is no other subject, we use there to talk about:

 where or when something is:

There's an interesting book on the shelf.

There'll be an eclipse of the moon tonight.

 a number or amount:

There is plenty of bread left.

There were twenty people at the meeting.

 something existing or happening:

 There's a small problem.
There was  a nasty fight.

it

We use it to talk about:

 times and dates:               

It's  nearly one o'clock.

It's  my birthday.

 the weather:

It's  raining.
It's  a lovely day.
It was getting cold.
We use it with the verb be and an –ing form or to-infinitive to express opinions:

It's  great living here.

It's  nice to meet you.

Possessives: pronouns
LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

Subjec
Object Possessive adjective Possessive pronoun
t

I me  my mine

you you your yours

he him  his his

Subjec
Object Possessive adjective Possessive pronoun
t

she her  her hers

it it its -

we us  our ours

they them  their theirs

Be careful!

Possessive pronouns do not have an
apostrophe:
Is that car yours/hers/ours/theirs?
(NOT Is that car  your's/her's/our's/their's?)

We can use a possessive pronoun instead of a full noun phrase to avoid repeating words:

Is that John's car?

     No, it's mine. (NOT No, it's [my car].)

Whose coat is this?

     Is it yours? (NOT Is it [your coat]?)

Her coat is grey.

     Mine  is brown. (NOT [My coat] is brown.)

 
Possessives: pronouns 1

Level: intermediate

We can use possessive pronouns and nouns after of. We can say:

Susan is one of my friends. > Susan is a friend of mine.

(NOT Susan is a friend  of me.)

I am one of Susan's friends. > I am a friend of Susan's.

(NOT I am a friend  of Susan.)

Possessives: nouns
LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner
We add 's to singular nouns to show possession:

We are having a party at John's house.

Michael drove his friend's car.
We add ' to plural nouns ending in -s:

This is my parents' house.
Those are ladies' shoes.
But we use 's with irregular plural nouns:

me wome childre peopl

n n n e

These are  men's  shoes.

Children's  clothes are very expensive.
We can use a possessive instead of a full noun phrase to avoid repeating words:

Is that John's car?

     No, it's Mary's. (NOT No, it's Mary's [car].)

Whose coat is this?

     It's my wife's. (NOT It's my wife's [coat].)

Possessives: adjectives
 LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

Subjec
Object Possessive adjective
t

I me my 

you you your

he him his

she her her

it it its

we us our

they them their

We use possessive adjectives:

 to show something belongs to somebody:

That's our house.
My car  is very old.

 for relations and friends:
 My mother is a doctor.
How old is  your sister?

 for parts of the body:

He's broken his arm.

She's washing her hair.
I need to clean my teeth.
Possessives: adjectives

Be careful!

The possessive adjective its does not have an apostrophe ('):

That bird has broken  its  (NOT it's) wing.
(it's always means it is or it has.)

Possessives: questions
LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

We use whose to ask questions about possession:

Pattern A   Pattern B

Whose coat  is this? or Whose  is this  coat?

Whose book  is that? or Whose  is that  book?

Whose pens  are Whose  are

or
those? those  pens?
 Pattern A   Pattern B

Whose bags  are Whose  are

or
those? those  bags?

Be careful!

Be careful not to confuse whose and who's (= who is). They are pronounced in the same way
but spelled differently:
Whose coat is this?
Who's (= Who is) Stefan?

Possessives: reciprocal pronouns

LanguageUndefined

Level: intermediate
When two or more people do the same thing, we can use the possessive forms of the reciprocal
pronouns each other’s and one another’s:

They helped to look after each other’s children.

Demonstratives
LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

this and these

We use this (singular) and these (plural) as pronouns:

 to talk about people or things near us:

 This  is a nice cup of tea.
Whose shoes are these?

 to introduce people:

This  is Janet.
These are my friends John and Michael.

Be careful!

We say, This is John and this is Michael. (NOT These are John and

Michael.)

 to begin a conversation on the phone:

Hello, this is David. Can I speak to Sally?

that and those

We use that (singular) and those  (plural) as pronouns to talk about things that are not near us:

What's that?
Those  are very expensive shoes.
This is our house, and that's Rebecca's house over there.
Demonstratives

We also use that to reply to something someone has said:

'Shall we go to the cinema?'  'Yes, that’s a good idea.'

'I've got a new job.'  'That's great.'
'I'm very tired.'  'Why is that?'

'one' and 'ones'

LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

We use one (singular) and ones (plural):

 after an adjective:
 See those two girls? Helen is the  tall one and Jane is the short one.
Which is your car, the red one or the blue one?
My trousers are torn. I need some new ones.

 after the:

See those two girls? Helen is the one on the left.

Let's look at the photographs – the ones you took in Paris.
after which in questions:

You can borrow a book. Which one  do you want?

Which ones are yours?

Pronouns in questions
LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

We use who to ask questions about people:

Who is that?
Who lives here?
Who did you see?

We use whose to ask about possession:

Whose  coat is this? or Whose  is this coat?

Whose  book is that?    or Whose  is that book?

Whose  bags are Whose are those

or
those? bags?

We use what to ask questions about things:

What  is that?
What  do you want?
We use which to ask someone to choose something:

Which  came first, the chicken or the egg?

I've got two books. Which do you want?
We can also use what and which with nouns:

What subjects  did you study at school?

What newspaper do you read?
Which newspaper do you read – The Times or The Guardian?
Which book do you want?
Which one is yours?
Pronouns in questions 1

We often have a preposition at the end of a question:

Who does this book belong to?

What  are you looking for?
Which  university did you go to?

Reflexive pronouns
LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

The reflexive pronouns are:

singular hersel itsel

myself yourself himself
: f f

ourselve yourselve themselve

plural:
s s s

We use a reflexive pronoun as a direct object when the object is the same as the subject of the
verb:

I am teaching myself to play the piano.

Be careful with that knife. You might cut yourself.

We can use a reflexive pronoun as direct object with most transitive verbs, but these are the
most common:
amus enjoy kill
e help prepar
blame hurt e
cut introduc satisfy
dry e teach

Reflexive pronouns 1

Be careful!

We do not use a reflexive pronoun after verbs which describe things people usually do for
themselves:
He  washed in cold water.
He always shaved before going out in the evening.
Michael dressed  and got ready for the party.
We only use reflexives with these verbs for emphasis:
He  dressed himself in spite of his injuries.
She’s old enough to  wash herself.

Level: intermediate

We use reflexive pronouns as an indirect object when the indirect object is the same as the
subject of the verb:

Would you  like to pour yourself  a drink?

We’ve brought ourselves something to eat.

We use reflexive pronouns as the object of a preposition when the object is the same as the
subject of the verb:

They had to cook for  themselves.

He was feeling very sorry  for himself.      

but we use object pronouns, not reflexives, after prepositions of place:

He had a suitcase beside him. (NOT himself)

and after with when it means accompanied by:

She had a few friends with her. (NOT herself)

We use reflexives with the preposition by:

 to show that someone did something without any help:

The children got dressed by themselves.

I prepared the whole meal by myself.

 to show that someone was alone:

He lived by himself in an enormous house.

She walked home by herself.

We use reflexive pronouns to emphasise the person or thing we are referring to:

Kendal itself is quite a small town.

 especially if we are talking about someone very famous:

Sir Paul McCartney himself  sang the final song.

We often put the reflexive pronoun at the end of the clause when we are using it for emphasis:

I baked the bread myself.

She mended the car herself.
Reflexive pronouns 2
Reflexive pronouns 3

Level: advanced

Some verbs change their meaning slightly when they have a reflexive pronoun as direct object:

Would you like to help yourself to another drink?

     = Would you like to take another drink?
I wish the children would  behave themselves.
     = I wish the children would behave well.
He  found himself lying by the side of the road.
     = He was surprised when he realised that he was lying by the side of the road.
I  saw myself as a famous actor.
     = I imagined that I was a famous actor.
She applied herself  to the job of mending the lights.
     = She worked very hard to mend the lights.
He  busied himself in the kitchen.
     = He worked busily in the kitchen.
I had to content myself with a few euros.
     = I had to be satisfied with a few euros.

Reciprocal pronouns
LanguageUndefined

Level: intermediate

We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another when two or more people do the
same thing.

Peter and Mary helped each other.

     = Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter.
We sent one another  Christmas cards.
     = We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas card.
They didn't look at each other.
     = X didn't look at Y and Y didn't look at X.

We also use the possessive forms each other's and one another's:

They helped to look after each other's children.

The group of students often stayed in one another's houses.

Note that we do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.

Reciprocal pronouns 1

Be careful!

Reciprocal pronouns and plural reflexive pronouns (ourselves, yourselves, themselves)

have different meanings:
John and Fred killed each other.
      = John killed Fred and Fred killed John.
John and Fred killed themselves.
      = John killed himself and Fred killed himself.

Indefinite pronouns
LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

The indefinite pronouns are:

anybody everybody nobody somebody

anyone everyone no one someone

anythin everythin nothin somethin

g g g g

We use indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things without saying exactly who or what they
are. We use pronouns ending in -body or -one for people, and pronouns ending in -thing for
things:

Everybody enjoyed the concert.

I opened the door but there was no one at home.
It was a very clear day. We could see everything.
Indefinite pronouns 1

We use a singular verb after an indefinite pronoun:

Everybody loves  Sally.
Everything was ready for the party.

When we refer back to an indefinite pronoun, we normally use a plural pronoun:

Everybody enjoyed the concert. They stood up and clapped.

I will tell somebody that dinner is ready. They have been waiting a long time.

Be careful!

In negative clauses, we use pronouns with no-, not pronouns with any-:

Nobody  came. (NOT Anybody didn't come.)
We do not use another negative in a clause with nobody, no
one or nothing:
Nobody  came. (NOT Nobody  didn't come.)
Nothing  happened. (NOT Nothing didn't happen.)

Indefinite pronouns 2

We can add 's to an indefinite pronoun to make a possessive:

 They were staying in somebody's house.
Is this  anybody's  coat?

We use else after indefinite pronouns to refer to other people or things:

All the family came, but no one else.

If Michael can't come, we'll ask somebody else.
I think this is somebody else's coat.

Relative pronouns and relative clauses

LanguageUndefined

Level: beginner

The relative pronouns are:

Subject Object Possessive

who who/whom whose

whic
which whose
h

that that -

We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses. Relative clauses tell us more about

people and things:

Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.

This is the house which Jack built.
Marie Curie is the woman  that discovered radium.

We use:

 who  and whom for people

 which for things
 that for people or things.

Two kinds of relative clause

There are two kinds of relative clause:

1.  We use relative clauses to make clear which person or thing we are talking about:

Marie Curie is the woman  who discovered radium.

This is the house which Jack built.

In this kind of relative clause, we can use that instead of who or which:

Marie Curie is the woman  that discovered radium.

This is the house that Jack built.

We can leave out the pronoun if it is the object of the relative clause:

This is the house that Jack built.  (that is the object of  built)

Relative pronouns 1
Relative pronouns 2

Be careful!

The relative pronoun is the subject/object of the relative clause, so we do not repeat the
subject/object:
Marie Curie is the woman  who she discovered radium.
(who is the subject of discovered, so we don't need she)
This is the house that Jack built it.
(that is the object of built, so we don't need it)

2.  We also use relative clauses to give more information about a person, thing or situation:

Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.

We had fish and chips,  which I always enjoy.
I met Rebecca in town yesterday,  which was a nice surprise.

With this kind of relative clause, we use commas (,) to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
 Be careful!

In this kind of relative clause, we cannot use that:

Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.
(NOT Lord Thompson,  that is 76, has just
retired.)
and we cannot leave out the pronoun:
We had fish and chips,  which I always enjoy.
(NOT We had fish and chips, I always enjoy.)

Relative pronouns 3
Relative pronouns 4

Level: intermediate

whose and whom

We use whose as the possessive form of who:

This is George, whose brother went to school with me.

We sometimes use whom as the object of a verb or preposition:

This is George, whom you met at our house last year.

(whom is the object of met)

This is George’s brother, with whom  I went to school.

(whom is the object of with)

but nowadays we normally use who:

This is George, who  you met at our house last year.

This is George’s brother, who I went to school with.
Relative pronouns 5

Relative pronouns with prepositions

When who(m) or which have a preposition, the preposition can come at the beginning of the

clause:
I had an uncle in Germany, from who(m) I inherited a bit of money.
We bought a chainsaw,  with which  we cut up all the wood.

or at the end of the clause:

I had an uncle in Germany, who(m)  I inherited a bit of money from.

We bought a chainsaw,  which we cut all the wood up with.

But when that has a preposition, the preposition always comes at the end:

I didn't know the uncle that I inherited the money from.

We can't find the chainsaw that we cut all the wood up with.
Relative pronouns 6

when and where

We can use when with times and where with places to make it clear which time or place we are

talking about:

England won the World Cup in 1966. It was the year  when we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was  the day when  the tsunami happened.

Do you remember the place where  we caught the train?

Stratford-upon-Avon is  the town where  Shakespeare was born.

We can leave out when:

England won the World Cup in 1966. It was the  year we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day the tsunami happened.
We often use quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns: 

many of
all of which/whom most of which/whom
which/whom

lots of a few of
none of which/whom
which/whom which/whom

one of
two of which/whom etc.
which/whom
She has three brothers, two of whom are in the army.
I read three books last week, one of which I really enjoyed.
There were some good programmes on the radio,  none of which I listened to.