Pronoun-Definitions, Types, Examples & Uses

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Pronoun-Definitions, Types, Examples & Uses


Do you know about pronoun? What are pronouns? Are pronouns creating problems in your English writing? Do you want to learn pronouns quickly? Relax-we are here to explain these wonderful parts of speech. Pronouns are the second item in parts of speech. Pronouns are English words that are used in place of nouns.

Pronouns-Definitions, Types, Examples & Uses

Nouns in our sentences fulfill the job of acting as subjects and objects. Sometimes though a noun needs a helping hand. At this point, pronouns come to help nouns. Pronouns do all the excellent jobs that nouns do. We need to use them correctly to improve our speech and writing. In this short article, you will learn about what pronouns are, their definition, and types, and how they are used in practical sentences. Moreover, here you can learn about common examples of pronouns.

Read More: English Sentences: Definitions, Meanings, Types and Examples

What is a Pronoun?

We use pronouns daily. Even if we do not know about pronouns, we use them. In the above two sentences, we have used pronouns more than three times. We know that there are eight types of English words namely Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection. So, a Pronoun is one of the types of English words. It substitutes nouns in a piece of writing. It is used to refer to a person, place, thing, or idea. In a sentence, pronoun usually behaves like nouns. Here now we need to know about Antecedent. An antecedent is a noun which is replaced by a pronoun. For example:

  • I know Mr. Kamal.
  • He is an English teacher at a school.

Here the word ‘He’ is a pronoun that replaces the noun ‘Mr. Kamal’. It is an Antecedent.

Pronouns are mainly used to avoid annoying repetition of the nouns in a piece of writing. Further, they make our sentences clearer, shorter, and easier to understand. For example:

  • The boys are playing football. The boys are playing well. The boys can win the game.
  • The boys are playing football. They are playing well. They can win the game.

You can notice that the sentences of the second set are shorter. They are less repetitive. So they sound better than the first set of sentences.

Pronouns can be singular and plural. In accordance with the number and person of a pronoun, the verb of a sentence will be determined. It means if the pronoun that is used as the subject of a sentence is singular then the verb will be singular and if it is plural then the verb will be plural.

What is the Definition of a Pronoun?

The English word that we use to refer to a noun is called Pronoun. It is used as a subject or an object of a sentence. A pronoun is described as ‘a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase for example he, it, hers, me, them, etc.’, according to the Oxford Dictionary.

Pronouns substitute nouns or noun equivalents. They usually function as the subject of a sentence and object (direct or indirect) of a preposition or verb. They can be used in the place of any person, animal, place, or thing. Pronouns refer to nouns in English grammar. The function of pronouns is to make our understanding faster and more efficient. You do not need to repeat the same word again and again because of pronouns.

There are eight types of English words, namely Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection. These are called parts of speech. Pronoun is one of them. Pronouns are the only words which substitute nouns. This distinguishing characteristic of pronouns makes it different from other types of English words. If you want to say something about a boy whose name is ‘Zamil’, your sentences will sound repetitive, if you keep using ‘Zamil’ again and again. For example:

  • Zamil loves the medical profession.
  • Zamil wants to be a doctor.
  • Zamil is preparing for medical admission.

Here you can see the repetition of the noun ‘Zamil’ over and over again. This is a bad style of writing. It sounds annoying. So to fix this problem, we are going to use ‘He’ instead of ‘Zamil’.

  • Zamil loves the medical profession.
  • He wants to be a doctor.
  • He is preparing for medical admission.

Now it sounds natural. It makes our understanding faster and clearer. So we have to use pronouns to avoid repetition of the same noun.

Pronoun and it classifications

The Types of Pronouns

We use different types of pronouns in our writing and speech. Pronouns are divided into different types. Pronouns are classified into nine types based on their uses. Now we are going to discuss each type with examples. They are as follows:

  • Personal Pronoun
  • Reflexive Pronoun
  • Emphatic Pronoun/Intensive Pronoun
  • Demonstrative Pronoun
  • Distributive Pronoun
  • Indefinite Pronoun
  • Interrogative Pronoun
  • Relative Pronoun
  • Reciprocal Pronoun

Personal Pronoun

The most well-known type of Pronoun is the Personal Pronoun. They substitute Proper nouns. We use them to replace people, objects, and animals.”You”, “We”, “It”, “He”, “They”, “I” and “She” are defined as Personal Pronouns.
Based on the gender, number, and case of the noun, personal pronouns take various forms. They are divided into three types, First Person, Second Person, and Third Person. The personal pronouns of the first person are “I” and “We”. The pronouns which refer to the person who is speaking are called First Person Personal Pronouns. The second person personal pronoun is “You”. The pronouns that refer to the person with whom the speaker is talking are called personal pronouns of a second person. The personal pronouns of the third person are “He”, “She”, “It” and “They”. The pronouns which mention the person about whom the speaker is talking are called third-person personal pronouns.
Personal pronouns have four forms namely, Subjective, Objective, Possessive Adjective, and Possessive Pronoun. Personal pronouns are used as the subject of a sentence. We have to choose the subjective form of personal pronouns for the subject of a sentence. For example: You, She, I, We, It, He, and They.
Objective forms of personal pronouns are used as the object of a verb or preposition. We have to use the objective form of a personal pronoun for the object of a verb or preposition. For example You, Me, Us, Him, Her, It and Them.
Possessive personal pronouns are used to mean possession. The possessive adjective form of a personal pronoun is used to mean possession or ownership. For example: Your, My, Her, Our, His, Its, and Their.
Personal pronouns have a Number. It means they can be singular, plural, or singular-plural. The Singular Personal Pronouns are “I”, “He”, “She” and “It”. The Personal Pronouns of plural numbers are “They”, “We” and “You”. The singular plural personal pronoun is “You”. It can be used for both a singular and a plural noun. But it always takes plural verbs.

Examples

  • I wake up early in the morning.
  • You need to stop there.
  • He is obsessed with the party.
  • We love fishing.
  • Your books are on the bed.
  • They were happy to see their grandmother.
  • He is lazy.
  • I hope I will be invited to the next party.
  • I am afraid of dogs.
  • We love watching thriller movies.

Reflexive Pronoun

Reflexive Pronouns affect the person who performs the action of the verb. They are only used as objects of verbs and prepositions. A few examples of Reflexive Pronouns are myself, themselves, ourselves, ourselves, ourselves, ourselves, herself, and ourselves. You will find “_self” in singular Reflexive pronouns and “_selves” in plural Reflexive pronouns. They are not used as subjects. That’s why in passive form the subject and the object do not get changed. They remain the same. For example:
  • Active: He hurts himself.
  • Passive: He is hurt by himself.

Examples

  • He looks at himself in the mirror.
  • I hurt myself.
  • She does not buy anything for herself.
  • They can speak for themselves.
  • We decide to visit the village ourselves.
  • She is frying the egg for herself.
  • I learn about myself every day.
  • He slaps himself.
  • She killed herself.
  • You have to change yourself for your betterment.
  • The dog is going to hurt itself.

Emphatic Pronoun/Intensive Pronoun

We use Emphatic/Intensive pronouns for the sake of emphasis. Emphatic pronouns are used just after the nouns or pronouns on which emphasis is given. For example myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, themselves, and itself. There is no difference between the appearance of Reflexive and Intensive pronouns. But there is a difference between their usages. Whereas reflexive pronouns are used as objects of a verb or preposition, intensive pronouns are used to produce emphasis on the preceding noun. Emphatic pronouns can be removed from the sentence and the sentence will still produce meaning.

Examples

  • He drove the car.
  • Kamal himself spoke to the class in English.
  • I built the house.
  • The children themselves clean their classrooms.
  • She finds pronouns interesting.
  • We should consider the matter again.
  • You solve the mathematical problem.
  • Jerin herself visited our house.
  • The headmaster himself congratulated me for my good result in the annual examination.
  • The prime minister himself has visited the flood-affected area.

Demonstrative Pronoun

The demonstrative pronoun refers to a particular person or thing. For example: “This”, “These”, “That” and “Those”. “This” refers to things that are nearby in space or time, whereas “That” refers to things that are farther away in space or time. “This” and “That” replace singular nouns on the other hand “These” and “Those” replace plural nouns.

Examples

  • This is my bed and that is yours.
  • These are my pens and those are yours.
  • This is my house.
  • That is Rahim’s house.
  • This is the T-shirt which I am going to wear today.
  • That is the shirt which I wore yesterday.
  • Karim, look at that.
  • Those were good days.
  • These are my new shoes.
  • Those are not goats, they are beavers.

Distributive Pronoun

Distributive Pronouns refer to persons or things individually. For example Each, Either, Neither, etc. These pronouns help you to single out individuals while admitting that they belong to a group. These are all singular pronouns.

Examples

  • Each of the labors has done his job.
  • Each of the daughters follows her father’s trade.
  • Either of the pens will do.
  • Neither of the pens writes well.
  • Each of you has to get a good grade in the coming SSC exam.

Indefinite Pronoun

Indefinite Pronouns do not refer to any person, thing, or place particularly. They are used to substitute general things or people. Sometimes they are used as indefinite adjectives when they are used before a noun but here they are discussed as pronouns. They can be used as the subjects of a sentence. Indefinite Pronouns can also be used as objects of verbs and prepositions. Indefinite pronouns are everybody, none, some, any, someone, somebody,  all, anyone, anybody, every one, one, etc.

Examples

  • One should obey one’s parents.
  • One of the students has done his duty.
  • Everyone is invited to join the meeting.
  • Anything is possible in this world.
  • Someone is knocking at the back door.
  • Somebody is going to take responsibility for this mischief.
  • Everybody should respect their teachers.
  • Is there anyone who knows anything about the incident?
  • None but Allah can help us.
  • Nowadays no one cares about their neighbors.

Interrogative Pronoun

We use Interrogative Pronouns to form questions about unknown information, things, or people. What, Whose, Whom, Who, and Which are a few commonly used interrogative pronouns. When interrogative pronouns are used they form interrogative sentences. The sentence will start with interrogative pronouns and end with an interrogation mark. Who is used as the subject, while whom is used as an objective form of who? Whose is used as a possessive adjective of Who?

Examples

  • Who knows about Kamal?
  • What is her name?
  • Which animated movie do you like most?
  • Whose T-shirt is this?
  • What do you want from me?
  • Who designed this infographic?
  • Which is the best rice hotel in this area?
  • Whom did you meet yesterday?
  • Who wrote this poem?
  • Which is the wrong sentence?

Relative Pronoun

We use Relative Pronouns to join two parts of a sentence. They are used in complex sentences. They link subordinate clauses to independent clauses. Relative pronouns like Reflexive pronouns refer to a noun in the sentence. This is called antecedent. To avoid ambiguity, a relative pronoun and its antecedent are used side by side. The verb after the relative pronoun will be determined by the number and person of the antecedent. If the antecedent is singular, then the verb will be singular. If the antecedent is plural, then the verb will be plural.

Examples

  • The woman who was waiting to meet the principal has left without leaving a message.
  • My smartphone which is about ten years old still runs well.
  • The man who is sitting over there is my father.
  • You should print out the pages that you need for your exam.
  • I like books that tell stories of shepherds.

Reciprocal Pronoun

Reciprocal Pronouns refer to a relationship between two or more people. They are only used as objects of verbs and prepositions. Reciprocal Pronouns are not used as the subject of a sentence. That is why in passive form the subject and object of the sentence do not change. For example:
  • Active: The two sisters help each other.
  • Passive: The two sisters are helped by each other.

Examples

  • My brother and I love each other.
  • The players of the team help one another.
  • Sweetie and Kamal lie to each other.
  • We should not hate one another.
  • Why don’t we support each other?

Read More: Clauses: Definition and Types with Examples & Exercises 

Pronoun classifications with examples

Here we have learned about Pronouns. We have also discussed shortly about its classification. Further, We have used word and sentence examples for the better understanding of our students. We think you have enjoyed the lesson.

FAQ: Pronoun

A Pronoun is one of the types of English words. It substitutes nouns in a piece of writing. It is used to refer to a person, place, thing, or idea.
The English word that we use to refer to a noun is called Pronoun. It is used as a subject or an object of a sentence. A pronoun is described as 'a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase for example he, it, hers, me, them, etc.
Pronouns are classified into nine types based on their uses. They are: Personal Pronoun, Reflexive Pronoun, Emphatic Pronoun/Intensive Pronoun, Demonstrative Pronoun, Distributive Pronoun, Indefinite Pronoun, Interrogative Pronoun, Relative Pronoun, Reciprocal Pronoun.
"You", "We", "It", "He", "They", "I" and "She" are defined as Personal Pronouns. We use them to replace people, objects, and animals.
Reflexive Pronouns affect the person who performs the action of the verb. They are only used as objects of verbs and prepositions. For example: myself, themselves, ourselves, ourselves, ourselves, ourselves, herself, and ourselves.

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