Pronouns

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that take the place of a noun, a noun phrase, or a noun clause. The noun that the pronoun replaces is called the antecedent, meaning that it proceeded the pronoun. Various forms of pronouns within a sentence perform different functions. The following lesson will discuss how pronouns function within the sentence. The pronoun will be color coded in RED, and its antecedent will be color coded in GREEN.

Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns are always the subject of the verb of the clause. The following is a list of personal subject pronouns:

Subject Pronouns

• I
• You
• He, She, It
• We
• You all
• They

If the subject of the clause is anything other than a person, then it is always in the third person. For example:

New York City is in the state of New York. It is the largest city in the US.

The pronoun – It – refers to New York City. Thus, New York City is the antecedent of the pronoun – It.

The conjugated verb of the predicate must agree with the person, number of the subject. Thus, if the subject is singular, then the pronoun must also be singular. Likewise, if the subject is plural, then the pronoun must be plural. For example:

John comes from the state of Texas. He lives in Dallas.

Sally comes from California. She lives in Los Angeles.

In the above sentences, both Sentences have a single subject (John/Sally). Therefore, they take the third person singular pronoun (He/She).

He is from Texas. She is from California. They are from the US.

He lives in Texas. She lives in California. They live far away from each other.

Notice how the verb – to live – adds an s and changes to to – lives when the verbs are in the third person singular, but the verb does not change for all other people.

I live in Colorado.

You live in Oklahoma.

We live in the US.

Object Pronouns

Object pronouns take the action of the verb. The object can be either direct or indirect. Oftentimes, it can be the object of a preposition, in which case, it is still an indirect object. To determine whether the object is direct or indirect, ask the question: What is the verb doing? Who is the verb acting upon.

Direct Object

The direct object pronoun takes the place of a noun or noun phrase/clause that is the direct object of the verb.

Did you read the book? Yes, I read it.

In the above example, the pronoun, – it – is the direct object of the verb – read. The pronoun – it – refers back to the object – the book. Thus, the book is the antecedent of the pronoun – it.

Indirect Object

The indirect object pronoun takes the place of a noun that is the indirect object of the verb.

Did you give the dog the bone. Yes, I gave it to him.

In the above sentence, the pronoun, him, is the indirect object of the verb – gave. The direct object was the bone. The bone is the direct object because it was the object given to the dog. The dog is the indirect object because it received the direct object.

The man gave the toy to his son. The man gave it to him.

In the above example, the toy is the object that the man gave. Thus, It is the direct object. The man’s son is the indirect object because he received the direct object.

Let’s consider another example:

The mother reads a bedtime story to her children.

In the above example, the mother is the subject who performs the action – reads. The direct object is the object that she reads – a bedtime story. The indirect object is the object that she reads the bedtime story to – her children.

Using pronouns, the sentence would read:

She reads it to them.

The following pronouns are direct object pronouns.

• Me
• You
• Him, her, it
• Us
• You all
• Them

The following pronouns are indirect object pronouns. Notice the preposition – to. This preposition is oftentimes implied.

• To me
• To you
• To him, her, it
• To us
• To you all
• To them

Reflexive Pronouns

If the subject of the verb is also the object, then it is a reflexive verb and takes a reflexive pronoun. The antecedent of the pronoun is always the subject of the verb. Thus, the reflexive pronoun reflects back on the subject, itself.

• Myself
• Yourself
• Himself, herself, itself
• Ourselves
• Yourselves
• Themselves

The reflexive pronoun can be a direct object or an indirect object pronoun.

Reflexive Object Pronoun

I know myself.

In the above example, the object pronoun is – myself – and its antecedent is the subject pronoun – I.

I talk to myself.

In this example, the indirect object pronoun is – to myself  – and the antecedent is the subject pronoun  – I.

 

Possessive Pronouns

As the name implies, possessive pronouns donate possession. The possessive pronoun can be a subject pronoun, a direct object pronoun, or an indirect object pronoun.  They are as follows:

• mine
• yours
• his, hers, its
• ours
• yours
• theirs

In the below examples, the possessive pronouns

Examples:

Do you see that car. It is mine. I see the one over there. Is it yours?

No, that car is his. And the other car next to it is hers.

Mine is the car over there.

The house on the corner is ours. The one across the street is theirs. Where is yours?

Possessive pronouns are similar to possessive adjectives except that they stand along. Possessive adjectives precede the noun they modify with possession. Consult the below table:

Possessive Pronoun	Possessive Adjective
This car is mine	This is my car.
That is yours	That is your car.
That bike is his. That backpack is hers	That is his bike. That is her backpack.
The house is ours	It is our house
Is that dog yours?	Is that your dog?
The luggage is theirs	That is their luggage.

 

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to demonstrate or point to an antecedent.

That, this, these, and those are demonstrative pronouns because they demonstrate or distinguish one from another. For example:

This is my idea. We study harder.

That is smart.

That is dumb.

In these examples, the idea is the antecedent.

Those are his shoes.

Those are his.

These are yours.

In this example, the noun – shoes – is the antecedent.

Demonstrative pronouns are like demonstrative adjectives except that the pronouns stand alone. Let’s look at the difference.

Those birds are beautiful.

In the above sentence, the demonstrative adjective is – Those – because it modifies the noun – birds.

Those over there are just as beautiful.

In this sentence, the pronoun – Those – refers to the birds. Thus, it is a pronoun, and the birds are the antecedent.

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to a person or a thing that does not need to be specifically identified. For example:

• People
• man
• one
• other
• none
• some
• anybody
• everybody
• no one

The indefinite pronoun, man, refers to both males and females. Think of it as a short version of human.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions. The interrogative pronouns are;

• Who
• What
• Which
• Whose

The antecedent of an interrogative pronoun is the answer to the question: For example;

Who ate the last cookie? (The antecedent to the pronoun – who –  is the answer to the question)

What are you doing?

Which is your favorite color?

Whose shoes are those? (Notice the demonstrative pronoun – those).

Reciprocal Pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns include,

• Each other
• One another

Distributive pronouns

Distributive pronouns refer to single entities in large groups of objects. Distributive pronouns include the following:

• either
• each
• neither
• any
• none

Since they refer to single entities, they will always take the third person singular verb. For example;

Either the sun shines or it rains.

Each of the customers pays the same price.

Neither he nor she is eligible to play.

Any of you are fit for the job.

None of you will be able to go to the beach.

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are used in subordinate adjective clauses to relate back to an antecedent in the clause it modifies. The following table lists some relative pronouns.

o             who

o             whom

o             whose

o             where

o             when

o             that

o             which

For a more comprehensive discussion on relative pronouns, see the lesson on relative clauses.