Pronouns

 

PRONOUNS

Definition: A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun or a group of words used as a noun. It acts as a substitute for a noun.

Classification: Pronouns are classified in eight different categories as follows: 

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to the speaker or speakers, also called first person, and include the following pronouns: I, my, mine, me, myself, we, our, ours, us, ourselves.

Those spoken to, are said to be in second person, and include the following pronouns: you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves.

Those spoken about, are said to be in the third person, and include the following pronouns: he, his, him, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, their, theirs, them, themselves.

Impersonal Pronouns: Pronouns which substitute nouns, which refer to inanimate objects or are in the neuter gender, are called Impersonal pronouns. The different forms of personal and impersonal pronouns can be summed up in the following table:

		FIRST PERSON	SECOND PERSON	THIRD PERSON	IMPERSONAL
Subjective	Singular Plural	I We	You You	She, he They	It They
Objective	Singular Plural	Me Us	You You	Her, him Them	It Them
Possessive Subjective	Singular Plural	My Our	Your Your	Her, him Their	Its Theirs
Possessive Objective	Singular Plural	Mine Ours	Yours Your	Hers, his Theirs	Its Theirs

Antecedent: The noun/pronoun or phrase, which the pronoun refers to is called its antecedent. It may occur in the same sentence, in a previous sentence, or it may not be given at all.

Example:

‘The boy threw the football. He threw it over the fence’.

Boy is the antecedent for he, and football is the antecedent for it.

A pronoun can be an antecedent for another pronoun. He likes his new car. He is the antecedent for his. The antecedent always comes before the pronoun for which it is the antecedent.

Possessive Pronouns

Some personal pronouns are called possessives because they show to whom something belongs. They are the following pronouns: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, and theirs. For example: The money is mine. Mine’ indicates whose money it is.

Reflexive/Intensive Pronouns

The personal pronouns myself, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves are compound personal pronouns combining the personal pronoun with self or selves. They are used as reflexive pronouns.

Amit hurt himself is an example of a reflexive Pronoun.

Intensive Pronouns

The personal pronouns myself, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves can also be used as intensive pronouns. An example would be Amit himself won the race.

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns join dependent clauses to independent clauses. They are who, whose, whom, which, and that.

Example: He found his money that he had lost.

That joins the two clauses together into one sentence. “which” is used to indicate selection from many.

Example: I picked up the shirt which was blue.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that point out something. They are this, that, these, and those. That is my hat. I like these not those.

A demonstrative pronoun points to and identifies a noun or a pronoun. “This” and “these” refer to things that are nearby either in space or in time, while “that” and “those” refer to things that are farther away in space or time.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not point Fill out specifically. They point out generally. They include such words as another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, many, neither, nobody, none, no one, one, other, others, some, somebody, and someone.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns ask questions. Who, whom, whose, which, and what are interrogative pronouns.

The interrogative pronouns are “who,” “whom,” “which,” “what” and the compounds formed with the suffix “ever” (“whoever,” “whomever,” “whichever,” and “whatever”). Either “which” or “what” can also be used as an interrogative adjective, and that “who,” “whom,” or “which” can also be used as a relative pronoun.

You will find “who,” “whom,” and occasionally “which” used to refer to people, and “which” and “what” used to refer to and to “Who” acts as the subject of a verb, while “whom” acts as the object of a verb, preposition, or a verbal.

Examples:

Who wrote the novel The Namesake”? Here “who” is the subject of the sentence.

Whom do you think we should invite? In this sentence, "whom" is the object of the verb "invite."

To whom do you wish to speak? Here the interrogative pronoun "whom "is the object of the preposition "to."

Who will meet the delegates at the station? In this sentence, the interrogative pronoun "who" is the subject of the compound verb "will meet".

To whom did you give the paper? In this example the interrogative pronoun "whom" is the object of the preposition "to."

What did she say? Here the interrogative pronoun "what" is the direct object of the verb "say."