Pronoun is a word used as a substitute to function what noun does in the given sentence. Being the part of basic grammar, it has many roles to play with rest of the parts of speech. So, first of all, let’s know the major types and correct use pronouns in english grammar.
Understanding correct use of pronouns in english
As substitute, pronouns are used in place of nouns to carry the meanings and functions.
- Alex is a talented student. He always works hard.
Here, In the given sentence, pronoun carries the exact information of noun like number, gender, etc.
In the above example, “He” personal pronoun carries exact the same information as Alex does.
It helps to avoid the repetition of same noun multiple times in the same paragraph. Besides, it has better flexibility in use about wide range of nouns.
If we use “Alex” in repetition in the following sentences, it will not make natural sense.
Like other parts of speech, pronouns are classified into different forms depending on the usages and functions. So, I’m going to present major types and examples of pronouns here.
Introduction to the classification of pronouns
On the basis of usage, functions and meanings, pronouns are classified as,
- Personal pronouns
- Indefinite pronouns
- Reflexive and emphatic pronouns
- Distributive pronouns
- Reciprocal pronouns
- Demonstrative pronouns
- Relative pronouns
- Interrogative pronouns
- Intensive pronouns
- Dummy pronouns
These are the major types of pronouns commonly used in the day-to-day activities or interactions.
Examples and types of pronouns
Following are some basic Examples of each sub-type of pronouns.
| Sr.no. | Types of pronouns | Examples of pronouns |
| 1 | Personal | He, she, it, they, I, we,You |
| 2 | Indefinite | Everyone, All, none, Many, Whatever, Any, anyone, anything, anybody, anytime, One, Somebody, something. |
| 3 | Reflexive and emphatic | Myself, Herself, Himself, Themselves, Yourself. |
| 4 | Distributive | Either, Neither, Each Every |
| 5 | Reciprocal | Each other –two people, One another –more than two people |
| 6 | Demonstrative | This, That, These, Those |
| 7 | Relative | That, What, Which, Who, Whose, Whom |
| 8 | Interrogative | Which, What, Who, Whom, Whose |
| 9 | Intensive | myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. |
| 10 | Dummy | There It, etc. |
Functions and correct use of personal pronouns
Pronoun is an important grammatical unit used instead of noun to avoid repetition of same word or noun in the sentence.
Among the various categories of pronouns, personal pronouns are most important due to intensive use in the daily expressions.
Personal pronouns which are determined by person, number and gender are used to refer or represent actual people or things in sentence.
In the English grammar, pronoun is a grammatical term used in place of noun in case of frequency of uses to avoid unnecessary repetition in the same sentence.
Understanding Functions and importance of Personal pronouns
It is the most important pronouns frequently used to represent or indicate actual people in sentence.
At the same time, personal pronouns are also used to represent animals and other things as well.
But, the use of this pronoun is determined by person, number and gender of the nouns or things for which it is used. I, we, you, he, she, it, they are personal pronouns used according to person, number, and gender..
1.Correct use of personal pronouns– First person (I, we)
Personal pronouns are words used in place of nouns that represent grammatical properties like persons, persons and genders. For example, “I, we” are first person singular/plural personal pronouns used to represent the speakers themselves.
Persons as grammatical property of personal pronouns
Grammatically, personal pronouns are used to represent first, second, and third persons in the sentence on the basis of point of view they represent in the sentence.
Usually, First person personal pronouns used to express point of view of none other than speaker itself.
- I, we — First person
- He, she, it, they – Third person
- You – Second person
First person personal pronouns
- I like football to watch. (Singular nominative)
- My interest is more in painting.(possessive case)
- We really did well this time. (Plural nominative)
- Our chances are great to be winner.(possessive case)
Four grammatical properties of personal pronouns
- Number — singular/plural
- Gender — masculine/feminine/neuter
- Person — first/second/third
- Case — subjective/objective/possessive/dative/vocative/case in apposition
First person personal pronouns — Number
- I, my, me, mine, myself – for singular person who speak something.
- We, us, our, ours, ourselves — for plural or group of people.
For your understanding, only first and third person have plural forms. Because, second person doesn’t have plural form.
- I am so happy today.(singular)
- I will prove myself. (I and myself both singular)
- We will reach there by bus. (plural)
- We will prepare ourselves for study tour.(we and ourselves both plural)
Most importantly, First person, second person and third person plural pronouns are gender neutral. It means that only third person singular have gender forms
Cases of first person personal pronouns
Obviously, understanding cases in the usages of first person personal pronouns is indispensable.
In english grammar, Case is a grammatical form of personal pronouns or nouns used to show relations of given noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence. There are six types of cases.
- Subjective or nominative case
- Objective case
- Dative case
- Vocative case
- Case in apposition
- Possessive case
Like second and third, first person personal pronouns have different forms as per above mentioned cases. Let’s take a look at these forms in sentence.
- Nominative case — I, we
- Objective case — me, us
- Possessive case– my, mine, our, ours.
- I think I have lost my new book.
- My hope is still alive to participate in the competition.
- Robin! That book is mine!
- Tomorrow, we are going to visit ours village.
By studying above example, you might feel assured about the usages of first person personal pronouns with all the grammatical forms except gender.
2.Correct use of personal pronouns–Second person (you)
3. “You” pronoun is second person used for both numbers and gender.
- You are so lucky man that you have got this chance.
- I think you don’t know how to play football.
3. Third person personal pronouns
4. “He” personal pronoun is singular third person used for masculine gender.
- He is a gifted player.
- He teaches in a simple manner.
5. “She” personal pronoun is singular third person used for feminine gender.
- She is my favorite teacher.
- She sings melodiously.
6. “It” personal pronoun is third person singular but gender neuter. Whereas, ‘They” personal pronoun is third person plural but gender neutral.
- I like that animal.
- It is so attractive.
- I like peacock as it looks so colourful.
- These people are so lucky as they escaped from that accident.
- They are best friends since childhood.
Apart from this, these personal pronouns are subject to modification as per the different cases. Here is the detailed explanation of correct use of pronouns especially third person personal pronouns.
Understanding correct use of third person personal pronouns
Among the four grammatical properties of pronouns or nouns including, gender, number, case, and person, Third Person personal pronouns represent or talk about people or thing that is not speaker like first or second person.
First person talk about self, whereas second person indicates who is being addressed directly.
Grammatical properties of Third Person personal pronouns
- Gender — masculine, feminine and neutral
- Number — singular, plural, and neutral
- Case — all six cases are relevant
- Person — neither speaker self nor person who is addressed but someone else.
Examples of Third Person personal pronouns
- He, him, his, himself
- She, her, hers, herself
- It, it’s, itself
- They, them, theirs, themselves
1.He is so optimistic. (Third person singular masculine)
2.Yesterday, he assured his mother about selection.
3.She is really lucky to have such parents. (Third person singular feminine)
4.Tomorrow, she is going to meet her beloved sister.
5.It looks very strange for me. (Third person singular neutral)
6.They are curious to know the outcomes. (Third person plural)
7.Many a times, they have proved themselves.
Unlike first and second person, Third Person has wide applicability though it doesn’t represent specific or addressed person.
Usages of third person pronouns as gender, number and case
First of all, let’s begin with numbers. These pronouns have all three forms — singular, plural and neutral.
Third person singular, plural and neutral
- Singular — He, She, him, her, his, hers
- Plural — They, them, theirs
- Neutral — It, its
“It” and “they” Third persons are gender neutral. But, “It” pronoun is both gender as well as number neutral. For this, you can take a look at the above examples to get more clarity. Now, let’s have a look at the gender.
Gender of Third Person pronouns
- Masculine — He, his, him, himself
- Feminine — she, her, hers, herself
- Neutral — It, its, they, their, them, themselves
Thomas is a hockey player. He played for his country. (Masculine)
Lisa is a fashion designer. She is very famous in her city. (Feminine)
Australian T20 cricket team won the World championship. They defeated New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final. (Gender neutral)
Cases of third person pronouns
1.Nominative case — He, she, it, they
2.Objective case — him, her, it, them
3.Possessive case — his, hers, its, theirs
- He is a topper in his college.
- She is a leading actress in hers upcomming movie.
Understanding correct use of pronouns — Emphatic and reflexive pronouns
Pronouns, being the vital part of speech, are the major components of sentences in English grammar. They are also called as compound personal pronouns.
They play the role of subject as well as object in the sentences. Here in this blog, difference between emphatic and reflexive pronouns, we will discuss them in more details.
Importance of emphatic and reflexive pronouns
Generally, pronouns are used to avoid repeated mention of noun of subject or object of the sentence.
- They also provide extra meaning about gender, number, person, case etc.
- These pronouns enrich meaning of the sentence.
- Give emphasis on specific noun or doer in sentence.
- Revert the action on doer or subject.
- These can be used as subject and object in the sentence respectively.
- Reflexive pronouns function as direct or indirect object of the sentence.
- Emphatic pronouns stress subject of the sentence where as reflexive pronouns on the verb.
What is difference between emphatic and reflexive pronouns?
Apparently, These two pronouns seems alike in first glace. But, there is quite difference between emphatic and reflexive pronouns.
In case of emphatic one, it shows action is done by doer itself and pronoun as a subject is emphasized by taking just immediate to the possessive person pronoun. They are also called as intensive pronouns.
In emphatic pronouns, stress is given on the subject whereas in case of reflexive one it goes on the verb.
Explanation of correct use of pronouns especially emphatic
When self is added to singular possessive personal pronouns ( to objective case in case of “it” ie. “Itself”) and selves to plural one ( to objective case in case of “they” ie. “Themsrlves”) they are called as emphatic or reflexive pronouns.
Word self or selves is added next to the personal pronouns to form compound personal pronoun.
Structure of emphatic pronouns in sentence
Personal pronoun + self = Emphatic pronoun ( for singular pronouns)
Personal pronoun + selves = Emphatic pronoun ( for plural pronouns)
- My + self = Myself
- Our + selves = Ourselves
- Your +self/selves = yourself/ yourselves
- Him + self = himself
- Her + self = Herself
- It + self = itself
- Them + selves = themselves
Examples of emphatic pronouns in sentences.
- We ourselves are keen to attend all the guests.
- He himself is responsible for his own failure.
- She herself cleaned this entire house.
- I myself prepared all these recipes.
- You yourself proved once again by clinching this title.
What are Reflexive pronouns?
On the other hand, in case of reflexive pronouns, action is reversed back to the doer which is possessive personal pronoun. Reflexive pronouns may function as object of the sentence So, no need to emphasize and such pronouns are taken after the main verb of the sentence.
Structure and position of reflexive pronouns :
Structure for reflexive pronouns is same as of emphatic pronouns but position is quite different. Unlike the emphatic pronouns, they are placed after the main verb.
- My + self = Myself
- Our + selves = Ourselves
- Your +self/selves = yourself/ yourselves
- Him + self himself
- Her + self = Herself
- Them + selves = themselves.
- same as like of emphatic one……..
Some examples of reflexive pronouns in sentences :
1.We enjoyed ourselves in bachelor’s party last night.
2.He involved himself in social activities.
3.It injured itself while fighting with its siblings.
4.Government passed itself new farm bill without consulting with farmers’ unions.
5.Rescue team took itself some praiseworthy decisions which saved hundreds of lives.
6.The Captain of the team blamed himself for the disillusionment of spectators.
I hope, subject matter on correct use of pronouns will help you to enrich your writing as well as speaking English language.
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