10 Kinds of Pronouns in English

Jalali March 4, 2016

10 Kinds of Pronouns in English

Pronouns are the major part of a sentence as like verb. It plays a vital role in a sentence,
almost in every sentence you use pronoun, therefore using pronouns correctly in your
sentences is very important. In this article we will review 10 kinds of Pronouns in English.

10 Kinds of Pronouns in English

Pronoun: A pronoun is word that takes the place of a noun or group of nouns.
The noun or group of nouns that the pronoun takes the place of is called antecedent.

 The boy said that he was tired.

In this example, the pronoun “he” is referring back to the noun (antecedent) “boy.”
 Zahra called Ali and invited him to go skating with her.
In this sentence pronouns are ” him and her”. Antecedent of him = Ali and Antecedent
of her = Zahra
 Zahra called Ali and invited Ali to go skating with Zahra. = Awkward and repetitious

Kinds of Pronoun
1. Personal pronouns:

A personal pronoun refers to the person speaking, the person being spoken to, or the person
or thing being spoken about.
Personal pronouns are divided into two groups: subjective and objective.
Subjective pronoun: A pronoun which acts as the subject in the sentence (he, she, it, I, we,
you, they).
Objective pronoun: A pronoun which acts as the object in the sentence (him, her, it, me, us,
you, them).
  The faster runner on the track team is she.
She = pronoun = subject complement.

Subject complement: Subject complement is a noun or pronoun that refers back to the
subject of the verb and gives more information about the subject of the verb. When pronoun
is used as subject complement it should be used as subjective case.
Refers to the person speaking = (I, me, we and us). Refers to the person speaking to =
(you). Refers to the person or thing being spoken about = (he, him, she, her, it, they and
them)

2. Interrogative pronouns: 

Interrogative pronouns are pronouns that introduce a question.

(who, what, which, whom whose).
The question that interrogative pronoun introduces can be direct question, in this case the
sentence will end with a question mark, and also it can be indirect question.

 What do you know about pronoun and its kinds? 

 Fatima asked Khalid what he knew about pronoun and its kinds.

Note: Difference between interrogative pronoun and interrogative adjective.

Interrogative pronouns are used to represent something of which the question is being
asked.
Interrogative adjectives modify or else describe a noun.

 Whose are these books? = interrogative pronoun.

 Whose books are these? = interrogative adjective.

3. Indefinite Pronouns:

Indefinite pronouns are those pronouns that refer to an unspecified person, place,thing, or
idea.
(all, anyone, both, each, anything, everybody, many, no one, some, someone etc….)

 All are invited to tonight’s party.

 Everybody is welcome.
 Everybody has to take the examination in order to graduate.
 All of the seniors were exited for graduation.

4. Relative pronouns:

A relative pronoun is used to introduce a subordinate clause.

What is a clause? A group of words containing a subject and predicate sometimes give
complete meaning sometime doesn’t give complete sense, and is divided into two groups:
Independent clause: An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence.
Subordinate clause: A subordinate clause can not stand alone as a sentence and its attached
to independent clause.
(Who, whom, whose, which and that)
Note: As you see some of these pronouns also appeared in the interrogative pronouns but it
all depends of how they are used in the sentence.
Remember when they are used as relative pronouns they introduce a subordinate clause and
relates a subordinate clause to something specific in the independent clause.

 That is the film which was directed by him.

 He is the man who came to my house yesterday.

Note: Remember do not mix relative pronouns with relative adjectives.

The adjective has a noun referent someplace (usually after it.) There are only two relative
adjective, which and what.

 He didn’t tell me what he was going to wear. = Relative pronoun.

 He didn’t tell me what suit he was going to wear. = Relative adjective.

5. Possessive pronouns:

Possessive pronouns are pronoun that show the ownership.

(His, hers, its, mine, ours, yours, theirs.) A possessive pronoun is used to avoid repeating
information that has already been made clear. These useful pronouns make sentences less
confusing, as you’ll see when you read the following sentences containing examples of
possessive pronouns.

 This is my car, not your car. (Sounds repetitive)

 This car is mine, not yours.
 I didn’t have my book so Ali lent me his book. (Sounds repetitive)
 I didn’t have my book, so Ali lent me his.

6. Reflexive Pronoun:

Reflexive pronouns are pronouns that are used to show that the subject of the sentence is
receiving the action of the verb. (Himself, herself, itself, myself, yourself, ourselves and
themselves). Read more about reflexive pronouns by clicking here: Reflexive pronouns

 She can handle the situation herself. 

 They have to do their tasks themselves.

7. Intensive pronouns:

These pronouns are used only to place emphasis on the subject.

Note: These pronouns look the same as reflexive pronouns, but they act different in the
sentence and are always placed next to the subject that they are emphasizing. (Myself,
yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves).

  You yourself must go to police station.

 We ourselves will solve the problem.

8. Demonstrative Pronouns:
A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun that is used to point to something specific within a
sentence.
These pronouns can indicate items in space or time, and they can be either singular or plural.
(this, that , these, those, none, neither and such)

 This was my mothers ring.

 These are nice sofas, but they look uncomfortable.

How to Use Demonstrative Pronouns?

Demonstrative pronouns always identify nouns, whether those nouns are named specifically
or not.

 I can’t believe this.

 We have no idea what “this” is.

Demonstrative pronouns are usually used to describe animals, places, or things, however they
can be used to describe people when the person is identified.

 This sounds like Haseena singing.

Note: Do not confuse demonstrative adjectives with demonstrative pronouns.

Demonstrative pronoun takes the place of the noun phrase in a sentence.
Demonstrative adjective is always followed by a noun in the sentence.

 These are my friend’s shoes. (Demonstrative Pronoun)

 These shoes are his. (Demonstrative Adjective)

9. Reciprocal pronouns:

Reciprocal pronouns are pronouns that are used to refer to a mutual set of people.
(Each other, each other’s, one another, one another’s).

 We need to help one another to survive.

 They had remembered each other’s phone numbers.

10. Distributive pronouns:

Distributive pronouns are those pronouns that points to persons, place or things one at a time.
(Each, either and neither)

 Each of the students has done it.

 Either of you has done it.
 Neither of them has done it.

Note: A distributive pronoun is always singular and as such it should be followed by a

singular noun and verb.

 Neither question is easy. (Correct)

 Neither questions is easy (Incorrect)
Without pronouns we would have to keep on repeating nouns, and that would make our
speech and writing awkward and repetitive, therefore you have to learn about the pronoun
and its kinds to construct your sentence correctly. Please leave a comment below for any
inquiries about pronoun and its kinds.