Grammar—Pronouns 1

Pronouns
A pronoun is words that take the place of a noun. The
noun it substitutes for is called an antecedent.

Examples of Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to the person who is doing the action or

to whom the action affects. In that way we distinguish two types
of personal pronouns: Personal "Subject Pronouns" and Personal
"Object Pronouns".

Personal Pronouns
Subject form Object form
I Me
You You
He Him
She Her
It It
We Us
You You
They Them

Personal Subject Pronouns

We use the Personal Subject Pronouns to refer to the person (and
antecedent) who is doing the action of the verb or the verb
speaks about. A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the
pronoun is acting as the subject of the sentence.
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For example:

 Jon is listening to music. => He listens to music every day.

* In this case, "he" substitutes "Jon" which is the subject of
the sentence and antecedent of the pronoun.
 Are you the delegates from Malaga Watch?
 After many years, they returned to their homeland.

Personal Object Pronouns

We use the Personal Object Pronouns to refer to the person
whom the action of the verbs affects. An objective personal
pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as an object of a
verb, compound verb, preposition, or infinitive phrase.

For example:

 Seamus stole the young doe and forced her to go with him.

 Deborah and Roberta will meet us at the newest café in the

market.

 Ann went into the kitchen to get me some tea.

 Christopher was surprised to see her at the drag races.

A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and

changes its form to indicate person, number, gender, and
case.
 Grammar—Pronouns 3

Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun refers to something that is not
definite or specific or exact. The indefinite
pronouns are:
all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each,
everybody, everyone, everything, few, many,
nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody,
someone,
The examples in the sentences below show the
indefinite pronouns in italics.
 All are welcome to attend the concert.
 Mary gave the book to another student.
 Does anybody have a clue?
 Anyone can play that game.
 Peter didn't see anything suspicious.
 Each brought a dish to pass the gate entrance.
 Everybody left town for the weekend.
 Everyone enjoyed the movie.
 Everything is taken care of.
 Few visited that park.
 Many called for information.
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 Jennifer told nobody her secret.

 None came forward to claim the prize.
 One could see the mountains from miles away.
 Several signed the card.
 The room is too gloomy for some.
 Somebody called the store.
 Joe gave the form to someone.

Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are used to link phrases or clauses
to other phrases or clauses.
The relative pronouns are: who, whom, that, which,
when, whose, whoever, whomever, and whichever
whosoever, whomsoever, whosesoever, whatever,
whatsoever.
In the sentences below the relative pronouns are in
italics.
 I don't know who called.
 Brad asked to whom he should give the package.
 Pat knew that she had won the match.
 Jerry didn't know which was his.
 Emily told whoever came first to open the gate.
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 Josh told Alex to ask whomever he wanted.

 Sarah took whichever costume was left over.
 Spaghetti, which many of us enjoy, can be messy.
 She wrote to the person whom she had met last
month.
 We didn’t bring the receipt, which was a big
mistake.
 I have a friend whose cat is annoying.
 People who are clever can always find a way.
 Grandma remembers a time when radio shows
were popular.
 “Never go to a doctor whose office plants have
died.” - Erma Bombeck

Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogative pronouns take the place of nouns in
questions.
Interrogative pronouns include the words:
who, whom, which and what as well as whoever,
whomever, whatever and whichever.
The word in italics is the interrogative pronoun.
 Who entered the room?
 What was the noise?
 Which came first?
 Whom should we give the prize to?
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 Whoever came to the door?

 Whatever are you doing?
 Whomever should we invite?
 Whichever came first?

Demonstrative Pronouns
The four demonstrative pronouns are:
this, that, these, those.
A demonstrative pronoun identifies and specifies a
noun or pronoun.
This and these refer to nouns that are nearby in time
or space. That or those refer to nouns that are
further away in time or space. This and that refer to
singular nouns; these and those refer to plural
nouns. The demonstrative pronouns are in italics.
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 This tastes delicious. (This is the subject of the

sentence.)
 I don't like this. (This is the direct object of the
sentence.)
 That will run for an hour. (That is the subject of
the sentence.)
 Jim wrote that. (That is the direct object of the
sentence.)
 These look good. (These is the subject of the
sentence.)
 I'll take these. (These is the direct object of the
sentence.)
 Those belong to Linda. (Those is the subject of
the sentence.)
 Jack brought those. (Those is the direct object of
the sentence.)

Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that point to specific

things. "This, that, these, those, none and neither" are
Demonstrative Pronouns that substitute nouns when the nouns
they replace can be understood from the context. At the same
time, to indicate whether they are close or far, in space or time,
from the speaker in the moment of speaking. They also indicate
whether they are replacing singular or plural words. Some
grammars describe them as members of the class of function
words called "determiners", since they identify nouns and other
nominals.
 "This" (singular) and "These" (plural) refer to an object or
person NEAR the speaker.
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 "That" (singular) and "Those" (plural) refer to an object or

person further AWAY.

For example:

 This is unbelievable.

 That is unbelievable.

 These are unbelievable.

 Those are unbelievable.

Position

 Before the noun.

 Before the word 'one'.
 Before an adjective + noun.
 Alone when the noun is 'understood'

Examples

 Who owns that house? (distant - physical )

 Is this John's house? (near - physical )
 That has nothing to do with me. (distant - psychological )
 This is a nice surprise! (near - psychological )

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Reflexive and intensive pronouns are the words:
myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves,
yourselves, themselves.
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These words are classified or grouped as reflexive

depending on how they are used in sentences. In the
examples below the reflexive and intensive pronouns
are in italics.
Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of a
sentence:
I gave myself plenty of time to get to work.
You should let yourself into the house.
Jim bought himself a shirt.
Jill read to herself.
The dog scratched itself.
We treated ourselves to pizza.
You can make yourselves at home.
 The children are able to dress themselves.

Intensive pronouns are the same words used to

emphasize the subject of the sentence. Intensive
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pronouns usually appear right near the subject of the

sentence.
 I myself am sick of the heat.
 You yourself are responsible for this mess!
 The president himself appeared at the rally.
 The actress herself wrote those lines.
 The cat itself caught the mouse.
 We ourselves made the meal.
 You yourselves can win this game.
 The troops themselves helped the people escape
the burning building.