PRONOUNS

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a common noun or a proper noun. There are different kinds of pronouns. The pronoun is divided as the following:

Personal Pronouns

The words I, you, he, she, it, we and they are called personal pronouns. They take the place of nouns and are used as the subject of the verb in a sentence. For example:

My name is David. I am the youngest in the family.

This is my father. He is a teacher.

This is my mother. She is a lawyer.

I have a brother and two sisters.

They are Peter, Sharon and Jenny.

I have a dog. It is called Lucky.

Lucky, you are a good dog.

Good morning, children! You may sit down now.

My family and I live in a big city. We have an apartment.

The subject of a sentence is the person, animal, place or thing that does the action shown by the verb.

The words me, you, him, her, it, us and them are also personal pronouns. They also take the place of nouns. These pronouns are used as the object of the verb in a sentence.

I am standing on my head. Look at me.

My mother is kind. Everybody likes her.

Lisa, I told you to tidy your bed!

Sharon and Jenny! Dad is waiting for you!

Lucky and I are playing in the park. Dad is watching us.

You must not play with the knife. Give it to me.

Pick up your toys and put them away.

Baby birds cannot fly.

Mother bird has to feed them.

Tom likes riding my bicycle.

I sometimes lend it to him.

NOTE:

The object of a sentence is the person, animal, place or thing that receives the action shown by the verb.

There are three groups of pronouns: first person, second person and third person.

The person speaking is called the first person.

The first-person pronouns are I or me (in the singular) and we or us (in the plural).

The person spoken to is called the second person. The second-person pronoun is you (in both singular and plural).

The person (or animal, or thing) spoken about is called the third person. The third-person pronouns are he or him, she or her, and it (in the singular), and they or them (in the plural).

The word I is always spelled with a capital letter.

The pronoun he is used for men and boys, she for

women and girls, and it for things and animals.

NOTE:

Here is a table to help you.

First person singular: I / me

Second person singular: you / you

Third person singular: he / him, she / her, it / it

First person plural: we / us

Second person plural: you / you

Third person plural: they / them

Reflexive Pronouns

The words myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves are called reflexive pronouns.

They refer to the person or animal that is the subject of the verb.

I made this cake myself.

Be careful with the knife. You’ll cut yourself.

Michael is looking at himself in the mirror.

Susan has hurt herself.

Our cat washes itself after each meal.

We organized the party all by ourselves.

Come in, children, and find yourselves a seat.

Baby birds are too young to look after themselves.

Here is a table to remind you about reflexive pronouns.

Singular Plural

First person (I,me) myself (we,us) ourselves

Second person (you) yourself (you) yourselves

Third person (he, him) himself, (they, them) themselves, (she, her) herself, (they, them) themselves, (it) itself, (they, them) themselves

Interrogative Pronouns

The words who, whom, whose, what and which are called interrogative pronouns.

These pronouns are used to ask questions.

Who:

Who is he talking to?

Who are those people?

Whom:

Whom are you playing with?

Whom is he talking to?

Which:

Which of these bags is yours?

Which do you prefer?

Whose:

Whose is this umbrella?

Whose are these gloves?

What:

What is your dog’s name?

What are you talking about?

What is the time?

Who can be used as the object of a verb as well as the subject.

Whom is used only as the object. For example, you can say:

Who are you playing with? or Whom are you playing with?

Demonstrative Pronouns

The words this, these, that and those are called demonstrative pronouns. They are showing words.

This and These:

This is my house.

This is a hill.

These are donkeys.

What is this?

Did you drop this?

Hi, Jane! This is Michael!

These are sheep.

That and Those:

That is John’s house.

That is a mountain.

Those are horses.

What are those?

We can do better than that.

No, that’s not mine.

You mean you won?

That’s amazing!

Hello, who is that speaking, please?

Hello, is that you, George?

You use this and these when you point to things near you.

You use that and those when you point to things farther away.

Demonstrative pronouns can be singular or plural:

Singular - Plural

this - these

that – those