English Grammar Refresher – Pronoun
A pronoun (I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each, who, etc.) is a word used in place of a noun.
e.g. Yukti saw Shweta, and she waved at her.
Here the pronouns she and her take the place of Yukti and Shweta, respectively.
Types of Pronouns
I. Personal Pronouns: I, you, he, she, we, they, me, you, him, her, us, them;
Personal pronouns are often used to refer back to people and things.
1. Subject Pronoun: I, you, he, she, we, they;
Subject pronouns replace nouns that are the subject of their clause.
e.g. Salman is angry, and he wants Sally to apologize.
2. Object Pronoun: me, you, him, her, us, them;
Object pronouns are used to replace nouns that are the direct or indirect object of a clause.
e.g. Give her the book.
Never combine a subject pronoun and an object pronoun in phrases like her and I or he and me. Whenever ‘and’ or ‘or’ links an object pronoun (her, me) and a subject pronoun (he, I), one of those pronouns will always be wrong.
e.g.
(i) Her and I went home. (Incorrect)
(ii) She and I went home. (Correct)
The order of personal pronouns in a sentence should be 231 i.e., the second person should come before the third and the third person before the first.
e.g.
(i) You, he and I are going to Mumbai. [231]
(ii) You and he has submitted the form. [23]
(iii) You and I should work together. [21]
If referring to an unpleasant act or while accepting a mistake, the order of personal pronouns in a sentence should be 123.
e.g.
(i) You and he have stolen the watch. [23]
(ii) I, you and he will be punished. [123]
II. Possessive Adjective (Determiner): my, your, his, her;
Possessive adjectives are not pronouns, but rather determiners. It is beneficial to learn them at the same time as pronouns, however, because they are similar in form to the possessive pronouns. Possessive adjectives function as adjectives, so they appear before the noun they modify. They do not replace a noun as pronouns do.
III. Possessive Pronoun: mine, yours, his, hers;
Possessive pronouns replace possessive nouns as either the subject or the object of a clause. Because the noun being replaced doesn’t appear in the sentence, it must be clear from the context.
e.g. This book is mine.
If two people possess the same item, and one of the joint owners is written as a pronoun, use the possessive form for both.
e.g.
(i) You and Anita’s home (Incorrect)
(ii) Yours and Anita’s home (Incorrect)
(iii) Anita’s and your home (Correct)
Here, when one of the co-owners is written as a pronoun, we have used possessive adjective (my, your, her, our, their). Avoid possessive pronouns (mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs) in such constructions.
IV. Reflexive & Intensive Pronoun: myself, yourself, himself, herself;
Pronouns that end in -self or -selves are called reflexive pronouns. There are nine reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.
Reflexive pronouns are used when both the subject and the object of a verb are the same person or thing.
e.g. Shweta bought it for herself.
A reflexive pronoun can not be used as a substitute for the subject.
e.g.
(i) Ashish and myself decided to join the army. (Incorrect)
(ii) Ashish and I decided to join the army. (Correct)
Intensive pronouns emphasize the subject of a clause. They are not the object of the action. The intensive pronoun can always be removed from a sentence without changing the meaning significantly, although the emphasis on the subject will be removed.
e.g.
(i) I baked this cake myself.
(ii) I myself went to finalise the deal.
V. Indefinite Pronouns: one, some, any, anyone, everybody, something;
Indefinite pronouns are used for persons and objects in a general way.
While referring to anybody, everybody, everyone, anyone, each, etc, the pronoun he or she is used according to the context,
e.g.
(i) I shall be glad to help everyone of my boys in his studies.
(ii) Everyone of the Miss India contestants tried to improve herself through rigorous training.
The indefinite pronoun one should be used throughout, if used at all, ie, its Subject — one, Objective – one, Possessive — one’s and Reflexive — oneself should be used.
e.g.
(i) One should take care of one’s house.
(ii) One should help oneself.
VI. Relative Pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that;
Who is used for persons only and which is used for things without life and for animals.
e.g.
(i) This is the man who brought the news.
(ii) The horse which I recently bought is an Arab.
That is used for persons and things
e.g.
(i) This is the man that brought the news.
(ii) The horse that I recently bought is an Arab.
Who/Which is used in both defining and non-defining cases, that is used in defining case.
e.g.
(i) The horse which she has bought is black.
(ii) I have bought a dog which is white.
Here, in the first sentence that can be used in place of which but in the second sentence it can’t be used.
That is used after superlative degree, all, same, only, none, nothing
e.g.
(i) He was the most eloquent speaker that I ever heard.
(ii) It is only dogs that bark.
Who is used in nominative case i.e., it is followed by a verb while whom is used in objective case i.e, it is not followed by a verb
e.g.
(i) This is the boy who broke the glass.
(ii) The girl whom I met today was his friend.
VII. Interrogative Pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, what;
Who is used for person,
e.g.
(i) Who was knocking at the door?
(ii) Who called you here?
Which is used for both persons and things. It implies selection,
e.g.
(i) Which of these boys will win the prize?
(ii) Which of them has said so?
After preposition whom is used instead of who.
e.g.
(i) By whom was the flower plucked?
(ii) About whom are you talking?
VIII. Distributive Pronouns: either, neither, each;
Either and Neither are used when referring to one out of two persons or things.
e.g.
(i) Either of the two girls will go there.
(ii) Neither of the two brothers has been selected.
When one out of more than two is referred any, any one, none, no one, are used.
e.g.
(i) None of these boys will enter the class.
(ii) Any one of the students can participate in the debate.
Each is used for two or more than two persons or things.
e.g.
(i) Each of the students contributed hundred rupees.
(ii) Each of the two boys is doing his work.
IX. Reciprocal Pronouns: each other, one another;
Each other is used for two persons or things.
e.g.
(i) The two sisters loved each other.
(ii) The two brothers disliked each other.
One another is used for more than two persons or things.
e.g.
(i) Friends should help one another.
(ii) Good girls do not fight with one another.
X. Demonstrative Pronouns: this, that, these, those;
This and these are used for the persons or things which are near the speaker.
This is used for one person or thing and these is used for more than one person or thing.
e.g.
(i) This laptop is a present for you.
(ii) These flowers are beautiful.
That and those are used for the persons or things which are away from the speaker.
That is used for one person or thing and those is used for more than one person or thing.
e.g.
(i) That girl is my friend.
(ii) Those pencils are mine.
