eng9-2.4· Unit 2: Nouns, Articles, Adjectives & Pronouns· ~13 min

Pronouns

Personal, possessive, reflexive, demonstrative, indefinite and relative pronouns

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun so that we do not repeat the noun again and again. Personal pronouns have a subject form, which does the action (I, he, she, we, they), and an object form, which receives the action or follows a preposition (me, him, her, us, them). Possessives have two forms: possessive adjectives go before a noun (my book, her bag), while possessive pronouns stand alone and replace the noun phrase (mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs). Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, themselves) are used when the subject and the object are the same person, or for emphasis. Demonstrative pronouns point to things: this/these for what is near and that/those for what is far. Indefinite pronouns refer to people or things in a general way (somebody, anything, nothing, everyone), and we usually use some- in affirmative sentences but any- in questions and negatives. Relative pronouns join clauses: who for people, which for things, that for both, whose for possession and where for place. For example: 'The girl who helped me is my cousin; this is her bag, and the blue one is mine.'

Key terms

Subject vs object pronoun — Subject pronouns (I, he, she, we, they) do the action and come before the verb; object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them) receive the action or follow a preposition. Example: She saw me.
Possessive adjective — A possessive word (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) that comes before a noun to show ownership. It can never stand alone. Example: her bag.
Possessive pronoun — A possessive word (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs) that stands alone and replaces a whole noun phrase, with no noun after it. Example: This pen is mine.
Reflexive pronoun — A pronoun ending in -self/-selves (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) used when the subject and object are the same person, or for emphasis. Example: She made the dress herself.
Relative pronoun — A pronoun that joins clauses: who for people, which for things, that for both, whose for possession, and where for place. Example: The man who lives next door is a doctor.
Indefinite pronoun — A pronoun that refers to people or things in a general way (somebody, anything, nobody, everyone). We usually use some- in affirmative sentences and any- in questions and negatives.
Personal and possessive pronoun forms
SubjectObjectPossessive adjPossessive pronounReflexive
Imemyminemyself
you (sing.)youyouryoursyourself
hehimhishishimself
sheherherhersherself
itititsitsitself
weusouroursourselves
you (pl.)youyouryoursyourselves
theythemtheirtheirsthemselves
Indefinite pronouns: some-, any-, no-, every-
GroupPeopleThingsTypical use
some-somebody / someonesomethingAffirmative sentences and polite offers
any-anybody / anyoneanythingQuestions and negative sentences
no-nobody / no onenothingNegative meaning with an affirmative verb
every-everybody / everyoneeverythingMeaning all of a group (singular verb)
✎Choosing the right form for one person across the table
  1. 1Subject: She is my best friend. The pronoun does the action before the verb, so we use the subject form 'she'.
  2. 2Object: I saw her at the cinema. After the verb 'saw' we need the object form 'her'.
  3. 3Possessive adjective + noun: This is her bag. Before the noun 'bag' we use the possessive adjective 'her'.
  4. 4Possessive pronoun alone: The brown bag is hers. With no noun after it, we use the possessive pronoun 'hers'.
  5. 5Reflexive: She made the dress herself. The subject and the doer are the same person, so we use 'herself'.
✎Picking the right indefinite pronoun
  1. 1Affirmative / offer: Would you like something to drink? In a polite offer we use the some- form 'something'.
  2. 2Question: Is there anything in the box? In a question we usually switch to the any- form 'anything'.
  3. 3Negative meaning: There is nothing in the fridge. To say the fridge is empty with an affirmative verb 'is', we use 'nothing'.
  4. 4After a negative verb: I could not find anything. After the negative 'could not' we use 'anything', not 'nothing', to avoid a double negative.
🚫Common mistake

Do not put an object pronoun in the subject position. Write 'She is my best friend' and 'They are tired', not 'Her is...' or 'Them are...'. The subject before the verb always takes I, he, she, we, they.

⚠️Caution

'its' (no apostrophe) is the possessive adjective: the dog wagged its tail. "it's" with an apostrophe means 'it is' and is never a possessive.

🚫Common mistake

A possessive adjective (my, her, their) must be followed by a noun, but a possessive pronoun (mine, hers, theirs) stands alone. Say 'their books' (adjective + noun) but 'These seats are theirs' (pronoun alone) — do not write 'their' with no noun or 'theirs' before a noun.

💡Note

Use a reflexive pronoun only when the subject and object are the same person, and match singular/plural: 'yourself' for one person but 'yourselves' for several; the plural of 'ourself' is 'ourselves'. After a preposition with a different person, use a plain object pronoun: 'Between you and me', not 'between you and myself'.

Rules

  1. 1Use subject pronouns (I, he, she, we, they) before the verb and object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them) after a verb or preposition.
  2. 2Possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) come before a noun; possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs) stand alone with no noun after them.
  3. 3Use a reflexive pronoun (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) when the subject and object are the same, or for emphasis.
  4. 4Use this/these for things that are near and that/those for things that are far; this/that are singular and these/those are plural.
  5. 5Use some- (something, somebody) in affirmative sentences and any- (anything, anybody) in questions and negatives; relative pronouns are who (people), which (things), that (both), whose (possession) and where (place).

Practice

15 easy · 15 medium · 15 hard

10 random questions per test

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