Pronoun

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are the most commonly used type of pronouns. They refer to a specific person, group of people, or thing. In English, there are two sets of personal pronouns: subjective and objective. Subjective pronouns are used as the subject of a sentence, while objective pronouns are used as the object of a verb or a preposition.

For example:

Subjective Pronouns Objective Pronouns

I Me
You You
He Him
She Her
It It
We Us
They Them

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership. They replace the noun phrase that shows possession. There are two types of possessive pronouns: absolute and dependent.

Absolute possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs. They stand alone but show the relationship between the owner and the thing owned. For example, “This is mine, not yours.”

Dependent possessive pronouns are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. They precede the noun they refer to, and they show possession in relation to the subject. For example, “My book is on the table.”

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the sentence. They are formed by adding -self or -selves to a personal pronoun. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object of a sentence are the same.

There are eight reflexive pronouns in English: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. For example, “He hurt himself while playing soccer.”

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point out specific people, objects, or locations. They are used to identify something and are usually based on physical or contextual proximity.

There are four demonstrative pronouns in English: this, that, these, and those. This and these refer to things near the speaker. That and those refer to things farther away from the speaker. For example, “This is my car, and that is yours.”

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. They refer to the subject, object, or complement of a sentence.

There are five interrogative pronouns in English: who, whom, whose, what, and which. Who and whom refer to people. Whose indicates possession. What refers to things, and which is used to choose between alternatives. For example, “Who is coming to the party?”

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to refer back to a noun or pronoun that was mentioned earlier. They are used to incorporate one clause into another.

There are five relative pronouns in English: who, whom, whose, that, and which. Who, whom, and whose refer to people. That and which refer to things. For example, “The car that I bought is red.”

In conclusion, pronouns are essential in any language, and using them correctly is important to ensure effective and efficient communication. Learning the different types of pronouns and how to use them can help make your speech or writing more concise and clear.