Pronouns

What is Pronoun?

Definition: A pronoun is defined as a word or phrase that is used as a substitution for a noun or noun phrase, which is known as the pronoun’s antecedent.

Example: he, she, you, me, I, we, us, this, them, that, it, they, we who, him, whoever, anyone, something, nobody

Types of Pronouns

Indefinite Pronouns– those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places,
Some indefinite pronouns:
Anyone, somebody, whichever, whoever, other, something, nobody
Indefinite pronoun examples:

• Would anyone like coffee?
• Take whatever you like.
• Whoever owns this is in big trouble!

Personal pronouns– those associated with a certain person, thing, or group; all except you have distinct forms that indicate singular or plural number.
Some personal pronouns:
I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they.
Personal pronoun examples:

• Jack and David are friends. They play basketball together.
• I have more money than he
• We will be late if you don’t hurry up.

Reflexive pronouns – those preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which they refer, and ending in –self or –selves.
Some reflexive pronouns:
Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
Reflexive pronoun examples

• Count yourselves
• Annie only had herself to blame.
• Peter and Paul had baked themselves cakes.

Demonstrative pronouns – those used to point to something specific within a sentence.
Some demonstrative pronouns:
this, that, these, those
Demonstrative pronoun examples:

• I prefer this.
• These are beautiful, but those belong to Danny.
• Did you see that?

Possessive pronouns – those designating possession or ownership.
Some possessive pronouns:
mine, its, hers, his, yours, ours, theirs, whose.
Possessive pronouns examples:

• This cat is mine.
• Are these bananas yours?
• This money is ours.

Relative pronouns–those which refer to nouns mentioned previously, acting to introduce an adjective clause.
Some relative pronouns:
who, which, that, whom, whose.
Relative pronoun examples:

• 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.

Interrogative pronouns –Those which introduce a question.
Some interrogative pronouns:
who, whom, whose, what, which.
Interrogative pronoun examples:

• Who will come to the party?
• Which do you prefer?
• What do you need?
• Whose clothes are on the floor?
• Whom did you tell?