Pronouns Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. We can use a pronoun instead of a noun. Pronouns are words like: he, you, ours, themselves, some, each... If we didn't have pronouns, we would have to repeat a lot of nouns. We would have to say things like: • Do you like the manager? I don't like the manager. he manager's not friendly. With pronouns, we can say: • Do you like the manager? I don't like him. He's not friendly. What is a Pronoun? he !o" of a pronoun and how to recogni#e one pronou n$noun%: a word that takes the place of or represents a noun & pronoun is a small word with a "ig !o". In fac t, a pronoun can t ake the place of an entire noun phrase. I n this way , pronouns help us use fewer words and avoid repetition. In the sentence "Please give this letter to Rosemary", we can replace "this letter"with itand "Rosemary"with her, as you see "elow: Please give this letter to (osemary . Please give it to her. In a conversation, the speakers normally use pronouns to address each other: Ispeak to you.Yo uspeak to me. When we talk a"out )ohn, we don't keep repeating )ohn's name. We say heor him. If we talk a"out a thing, we can use the pronoun it. & pronoun representsthe person or thing that we are talking a"out $as long as we know whichperson or thing we are talking a"out%. We don't usually starta discourse with a pronoun. We start with a noun and then move on to use a pronoun to avoid repeating the noun. *y noun, we really mean: noun(food), name(Tara), gerund(swimming) , noun phrase (twelve red roses). We can replace even a long noun phrase such as "the car that we saw crashing into the bus"with the simple pronoun it. +ere are some eamples of noun phrases and the pronouns that could replace them:
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Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. We can use a pronoun instead of a noun. Pronouns are wordslike: he, you, ours, themselves, some, each... If we didn't have pronouns, we would have to repeat a lot of nouns. Wewould have to say things like:
• Do you like the manager? I don't like the manager. he manager's not friendly.
With pronouns, we can say:
• Do you like the manager? I don't like him. He's not friendly.
What is a Pronoun?
he !o" of a pronoun and how to recogni#e one pronoun $noun%: a word that takes the place of or represents a noun
& pronoun is a small word with a "ig !o". In fact, a pronoun can take the place of an entire noun phrase. In this way, pronoun
help us use fewer words and avoid repetition.
In the sentence "Please give this letter to Rosemary" , we can replace "this letter" with it and "Rosemary" with her , as you
see "elow:
Please give this letter to (osemary.
Please give it to her .
In a conversation, the speakers normally use pronouns to address each other: I speak to you. You speak to me. When we
talk a"out )ohn, we don't keep repeating )ohn's name. We say he or him. If we talk a"out a thing, we can use the pronoun
& pronoun represents the person or thing that we are talking a"out $as long as we know which person or thing we are talking
a"out%. We don't usually start a discourse with a pronoun. We start with a noun and then move on to use a pronoun to avoid
repeating the noun.
*y noun, we really mean: noun (food), name (Tara), gerund (swimming), noun phrase (twelve red roses). We can replac
even a long noun phrase such as "the car that we saw crashing into the bus" with the simple pronoun it.
+ere are some eamples of noun phrases and the pronouns that could replace them:
I, me, you, he, him, she...Personal pronouns represent specific people or things. We use them depending on:
• num"er: singular $eg: I% or plural $eg: we%
• person: 2st person $eg: I%, 3nd person $eg: you % or 4rd person $eg: he%
• gender: male $eg: he %, female $eg: she % or neuter $eg: it%
• case: su"!ect $eg: we % or o"!ect $eg: us%
We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are talking a"out. 5y name is )osef "ut when I am talkina"out myself I almost always use I or me, not )osef. When I am talking direct to you, I almost always use you, not you
name. When I am talking a"out another person, say )ohn, I may start with )ohn "ut then use he or him. &nd so on.
+ere are the personal pronouns, followed "y some eample sentences:
0amples $in each pair, the first sentence shows a subject pronoun, the second an object pronoun%:
• I like coffee. 6 )ohn helped me.
• Do you like coffee? 6 )ohn loves you.
• He runs fast. 6 Did (am "eat him?
• She is clever. 6 Does 5ary know her ?
•
It doesn't work. 6 7an the man fi it?
• We went home. 6 &nthony drove us.
• Do you need a ta"le for three? 6 Did )ohn and 5ary "eat you at dou"les?
• hey played dou"les. 6 )ohn and 5ary "eat them.
When we are talking a"out a single thing, we almost always use it . +owever, there are a few eceptions. We may sometimerefer to an animal as he 6him or she 6her , especially if the animal is domesticated or a pet. 8hips $and some other vessels orvehicles% as well as some countries are often treated as female and referred to as she 6her . +ere are some eamples:
• his is our dog (usty. He 's an &lsatian.
• he Titanic was a great ship "ut she sank on her first voyage.
• 5y first car was a 5ini and I treated her like my wife.
• hailand has now opened her "order with 7am"odia.
1or a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or she . here are several solutions to this:
• If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.
Do not confuse demonstrative pronouns with demonstrative ad!ectiveshey are identical, "ut a demonstrative pronoun stands alone, while ademonstrative ad!ective >ualifies a noun.
•
hat smells. $demonstrative pronoun%
• hat boo% is good. $demonstrative ad!ective - noun%
ormally we use demonstrative pronouns for things only. *ut we canuse them for people when the person is identified. <ook at theseeamples:
We use interrogative pronouns to ask >uestions. he interrogative pronoun represents the thing that we don't know $what weare asking the >uestion a"out%.
here are four main interrogative pronouns: who , whom, what, which
otice that the possessive pronoun, whose can also "e an interrogative pronoun $an interrogative possessive pronoun%.
subject object
person who whom
thing what
person6 thing which
person whose
otice that whom is the correct form when the pronoun is the o"!ect of the ver", as in Whom did you see? $I saw *ohn.+owever, in normal, spoken 0nglish we rarely use whom . 5ost native speakers would say $or even write%: Who did yousee?
<ook at these eample >uestions. In the sample answers, the noun phrase that the interrogative pronoun represents isshown in bold.
What 's happened? ,n accident 's happened. su"!ect
What do you want? I want co##ee. o"!ect
Which came first? he Porsche -.. came first. su"!ect
Which will the doctor see first? he doctor will see the patient in blue first. o"!ect
here's one car missing. Whose hasn't arrived? *ohns (car) hasn't arrived. su"!ect
We've found everyone's keys. Whose did you find? I found *ohns (%eys). o"!ect
ote that we sometimes use the suffi /ever to make compounds from some of these pronouns$mainly whoever , whatever , whichever %. When we add /ever, we use it for emphasis, often to show confusion or surprise<ook at these eamples:
• Whoever would want to do such a nasty thing?
• Whatever did he say to make her cry like that?
• hey're all fantastic= Whichever will you choose?
another, much, no"ody, few, such... &n indefinite pronoun does not refer to any specific person, thing or amount. It is vague and not definite. 8ome typical
his is a story a"out four people named 0very"ody, 8ome"ody, &ny"ody and o"ody.
here was an important !o" to "e done and 0very"ody was sure that 8ome"ody would do it. &ny"ody could have done it, "u
o"ody did it. 8ome"ody got angry a"out that, "ecause it was 0very"ody's !o". 0very"ody thought &ny"ody could do it, "uto"ody reali#ed that 0very"ody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that 0very"ody "lamed 8ome"ody when o"ody did what &ny"ody could have done.
& relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause. It is called a relative pronoun "ecause it relates to theword that its relative clause modifies. +ere is an eample:
• he person who phoned me last night is my teacher.
In the a"ove eample, who:
• relates to he person, which who phoned me last night modifies
• introduces the relative clause who phoned me last night
here are five relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, thatF
Who $su"!ect% and whom $o"!ect% are generally only for people. Whose is for possession. Which is for things. hat can "eused for things and people only in defining relative clauses $clauses that are essential to the sentence and do not simply addetra information%.FF
(elative pronouns can refer to singular or plural, and there is no difference "etween male and female.
<ook at these eamples showing defining and non/defining relative clauses:
e0ample sentences
S:subject; :object; P:possessive notes
de#ining relativeclauses
S / he person who phoned me last night is my teacher./ he person that phoned me last night is my teacher.
that is prefera"le
/ he car which hit me was yellow./ he car that hit me was yellow.
that is prefera"le
/ he person whom I phoned last night is my teacher./ he people who I phoned last night are my teachers./ he person that I phoned last night is my teacher./ he person I phoned last night is my teacher.
whom is correct "ut formal
relative pronoun is optional
/ he car which I drive is old./ he car that I drive is old./ he car I drive is old.
/ he car, whose driver !umped out !ust "efore theaccident, was completely destroyed./ he car, the driver o# which !umped out !ust "efore theaccident, was completely destroyed.
whose can "e used with things
of which is also possi"le
Fot all grammar sources count that as a relative pronoun.FF8ome people claim that we should not use that for people "ut must use who6whom. here is no good reason for such aclaim; there is a long history of that for people in defining relative clauses from 7haucer, 8hakespeare and the &uthori#edGersion of The Bible to Fowlers and 7hurchill.
Pronouns <ui=
est yourself on the a"ove points
2% Pronouns take the place of
a. a noun
". a ver"
c. an ad!ective
show answer:
3% What do pronouns help us add to our speech and writing?
a. personality
". variety
c. detail
4% What sort of pronouns are the words he, me and you?
Infographic illustrating different types and uses of pronounshis infographic illustrates the use of the personal pronoun $twice%, re#le0ive pronoun $twice% and reciprocal pronoun
$once%. 7an you tell which is which?
2% personal 3% refleive 4% personal H% refleive 9% reciprocal
2. 5ary and I are happy to "e here today. $A 5ary and me%
3. &ti sent the letter to 5ary and me. $A 5ary and I%
In 2, 5ary and I are su"!ects, which is why the pronoun takes the subjective case $I%. In 3, 5ary and I are o"!ects, which i
why the pronoun takes the objective case $me%. &n easy way to check the correct case is to try the sentence without 5aryWould you say I am happy to "e here or 5e am happy to "e here? Would you say &ti sent the letter to me or &ti sentthe letter to I?