What is a Pronoun?
A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use
pronouns like "he," "which," "none," and
"you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive.
Grammarians classify pronouns into several types, including the personal
pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite
pronoun, the relative pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive
pronoun.
In this
lesson we will explore the different types of Personal Pronouns
Personal Pronouns refer to a specific
person or thing and changes its form to indicate person, number, gender, and
case.
There are three main types of Personal Pronouns: Subjective, Objective
and Possessive
1. Subjective Personal Pronouns
A subjective personal
pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the sentence.
The subjective personal pronouns are "I," "you,"
"she," "he," "it," "we,"
"you," "they."
In the following
sentences, each of the highlighted words is a subjective personal pronoun and
acts as the subject of the sentence:
I was glad to find the bus pass in the bottom of the green knapsack.
You
are surely the strangest child I
have ever met.
He
stole the selkie's skin and forced her to live with him.
When she
was a young woman, she
earned her living as a coal miner.
After many years, they
returned to their homeland.
We
will meet at the library at 3:30 p.m.
It is
on the counter.
Are you
the delegates from Malagawatch?
2. Objective Personal Pronouns
An objective personal
pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as an object of a verb, compound
verb, preposition, or infinitive phrase. The objective personal pronouns are:
"me," "you," "her," "him,"
"it," "us," "you," and "them."
In the following
sentences, each of the highlighted words is an objective personal pronoun:
Seamus stole the selkie's
skin and forced her to
live with him.
The objective personal pronoun "her" is the
direct object of the verb "forced" and the objective personal pronoun
"him" is the object of the preposition "with."
After reading the pamphlet, Judy threw it into the garbage can.
The pronoun "it" is the direct object of the
verb "threw."
The agitated assistant
stood up and faced the angry delegates and said, "Our leader will address you in five minutes."
In this sentence, the
pronoun "you" is the direct object of the verb "address."
Deborah and Roberta will
meet us at the newest
café in the market.
Here the objective
personal pronoun "us" is the direct object of the compound verb
"will meet."
Give the list to me.
Here the objective personal pronoun "me" is the
object of the preposition "to."
I'm not sure that my contact will talk to you.
Similarly in this example, the objective personal pronoun
"you" is the object of the preposition "to."
Christopher was surprised to see her at the drag races.
Here the objective personal pronoun "her" is
the object of the infinitive phrase "to see."
3. Possessive Personal Pronouns
A possessive pronoun
indicates that the pronoun is acting as a marker of possession and defines who
owns a particular object or person. The possessive personal pronouns are
"mine," "yours," "hers," "his,"
"its," "ours," and "theirs." Note that possessive
personal pronouns are very similar to possessive adjectives like
"my," "her," and "their."