Pronouns take the place of nouns, other pronouns, or refer back to a noun or other pronoun mentioned earlier ("we" takes the place of "you and I", "they" takes the place of "he and she" etc.) , so it is important that the reader or listener understands to which noun the pronoun refers. In order to do that, remember these rules.
1. Agreement in number--the pronoun must be singular if the replaced noun is singular, or plural if the noun is plural. "If Bonna goes to the store, she must remember her shopping bag."
REMEMBER: everybody, anybody, anyone, each, neither, nobody, someone are singular and need singular pronouns. "Everybody has to wash his own dishes." "When someone signs on to Paltalk, he should expect problems." NOT ". . .they should expect problems."
2. Agreement in person--If the sentence is in first person (I), don't change the pronoun to second person (you) or third person (he, she, it, they, etc.)
3. Refer clearly to a specific noun--be certain your meaning is clear!
"Jack ran his bike into the side of the house, but it wasn't damaged." Does "it" mean the bike or the house?
"They make television shoes worse and worse now." Who is "they"?
"Amy is having a party Saturday, which is nice." What is nice--Amy having a party or the party?
Demonstrative pronouns point out a particular person or thing. If they are used directly in front of a noun, they are considered adjectives. The demonstrative pronouns are : this these that those such
EXAMPLES as a pronoun:
That is wonderful! (something the speaker just saw or heard)
You won't believe this. (something the speaker has seen or heard or experienced)
That is what I think. (something the speaker just explained or told; also an agreement to an explanation just heard)
When a demonstrative is used as an adjective, it may be called a "determiner". Used in this way, it can show a sense of distance (time and space). Try reading the examples and leaving out the subject. The words that remain are still a complete sentence since the determiner (demonstrative pronoun) then becomes the subject.
EXAMPLES as an adjective (also called a determiner in this case):
This book is trash. [This (book that I am indicating right now) is trash.]
Those people look lost. [Those (people that I am pointing to some distance from me) look lost.]
That car is brand new. [That (car that I am pointing to) is brand new.]
When using demonstratives, be sure that the listener easily knows to what or to whom the demonstrative refers. e.g., The sheriff arrested those yesterday. (Those what??? You need to use a noun also. The sheriff arrested those men yesterday.)
Indefinite pronouns refer to persons, places, or things in a general way (not a specific person, place or thing).
Some indefinite pronouns are:
| all | each | many | none | someone |
| another | either | more | no one | such |
| any | everybody | most | one | |
| anybody | everyone | much | several | |
| anyone | everything | neither | some | |
| both | few | nobody | somebody |
Interrogative pronouns are used in questions: who whom which what whoever whomever whose whichever whatever
Note that "which", "what", "whose" are also used as interrogative adjectives. "Whose hat did you sit on?" (That sentence is informal construction. Properly, it would be "On whose hat did you sit?")
Personal pronouns are called "personal" because they refer to the first person (I, we, us, our, ours, my, mine) the second person (you, your, yours), and the third person (she, he, it, her, hers, him, his, its, they, them, their, theirs). Personal pronouns can show gender ( she = feminine, he = masculine, it = neuter). They are also classed in "cases".
1. The nominative case is used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. If the pronoun is used in a compound subject (Peter and I went to the show), try saying the sentence without the noun to see if it sounds right: "I went to the show." ("Me went to the show." is never right!) If the pronoun is used with a noun, as in "We students came to class early", try the same test, i.e., say the sentence without the noun to see if it sounds right.
a) The nominative case is also used in what we call predicate nominatives. This means that the pronoun after the predicate (verb) is the same thing as the subject noun. "Was it I that broke his heart? If it had been he calling, I wouldn't have answered. The people who trashed my yard might have been they.
The verb most often used in this construction is "to be" and it's various forms and combinations--am, is, are, was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, may be, can be, should be, would be, could be, must be, might be, etc.
2. The objective case is used when the pronoun is the object of a verb. It can be found by asking "what?" or "whom" after an action verb. EXAMPLES: "CC taught them." (taught whom? THEM is the direct object of the verb). She gave us a great lesson last night. (gave whom a lesson? "Us" is the indirect object of the verb).
a) The objective case is also used in prepositional phrases. "Timothy gave a speech to us." "Tom stood beside her. "
**Don't be fooled if a pronoun is with a noun. Use the same rules to decide if the pronoun should be nominative or objective case. ( A trick is to say the sentence without the noun and see how it sounds).
"Bettina asked Murielle and him to stay after class." (You wouldn't say, "Bettina asked HE to stay after class").
"Will wanted Kenneth and me to write him." (Not, "Will wanted I to write him").
3. The possessive case does just what it says. It shows possession or ownership.
"It is my radio." " Eric lent his car to Oliver." "We all love our website, because it is ours!"
| Singular | Nominative Case | Objective Case | Possessive Case |
| first person | I | me | my, mine |
| second person | you | you | your, yours |
| third person | he, she, it | him, her, it | his, her, hers, its |
| third person * | one | one | one's |
| Plural | |||
| first person | we | us | our, ours |
| second person | you | you | your, yours |
| third person | they | them | their, theirs |
|
Who and whoever are not personal pronouns, but do have different forms for cases |
|||
| who, whoever | whom, whomever | whose | |
* "one" is an indefinite pronoun that is used in formal writing. Its usage isn't as popular as it once was.
4. Personal pronouns with the addition of "-self or -selves" ( also called reflexive and intensive pronouns) are used two ways:
Reflexive (refers back to the subject of a clause or sentence)--"Benjamin cut himself on the axe." "Meryl left herself a note to get milk".
Intensive ( (used for emphasis)--"Nick himself gave Angela the information." "She herself asked for it ." "The students themselves chose the day's lesson."
The forms of reflexive and intensive: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Some sources include reciprocal pronouns as a type of pronouns. There pronouns are used when some sort reciprocal exchange is involved. They are: each other one another
The cat and dog fought with each other constantly.
Vampires never drink one another's blood!
Sharon and Hattie eyed one another over the last piece of cake.
Angela and Annie polished each other's fingernails.
A relative pronoun begins a subordinate clause and is related to a word or an idea which precedes it. A subordinate (or dependent) clause is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
The man that Ethel heard had a low-pitched voice. (The subordinate clause "that Ethel heard" is related to "the man")
The person whose poem was read was nervous. ( The subordinate clause "whose poem was read" related to "the person")
A relative pronoun may be the subject in the clause--
The teacher who gave the lesson was very good. (subject "who", verb "gave" in this clause).
A relative pronoun may be the object of the verb in the clause--
The most gorgeous man award was given to John, whom all the girls were eyeing with interest. (subject of the clause "girls", verb "were eyeing", object "whom"). We use "whom" because the word is being used in the objective case.
A relative pronoun may be the object of the preposition in the clause--
Daren is the person to whose music we dance. (prepositional phrase "to whose music we dance")
It is Louise to whom we look for the answers. (prepositional phrase "to whom we look for the answers")
These are the relative pronouns: who whom whose which that whoever whomever whichever
NOTE: "who" and its forms refer to people; "which" refers to things; "that" usually refers to things, but may refer to people in a general way, that is no specific person.
"The girl ( who or that) is the prettiest in class likes to dance." BUT "Sally, who is the prettiest girl in class, likes to dance."
Identify the type of pronoun used:
He thought the moon was full because of all the werewolves about the town.
You may beg all day, but I still won't love you.
Few escaped madness after a night in the haunted house.
Did they get married last night?
Who married them?
Alan saw a strange sight which turned his hair grey overnight.
The dinosaur that was thought to be extinct destroyed Cleveland.
This is my party, and I'll cry if I want to.
The contortionist bit himself on the elbow.
Stop giving me a hard time!
Fill in the blanks with an appropriate pronoun (the type will be given as a hint):
If you don't understand the reason for an answer, email your questions or ask in class.
Date (relative objective) you please, I don't care.
It was (indefinite possessive) fault, not mine.
(Possessive) priceless ring was lost down the drain.
Will wanted to buy (objective) the moon, but (nominative) wanted a hamburger instead.
Jeff fell off the sofa and hurt (reflexive).
(interrogative) was he doing on the sofa?
I (intensive) promised not to say, but Harry knows.
(interrogative) was on the phone?
It was (nominative).
(possessive) strength was great, because (nominative) had pure hearts.