Pronouns

What is a Pronoun?

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun to avoid awkward repetition. The noun that the pronoun replaces or refers to is called its antecedent.

Maria said Maria was tired. (awkward — "Maria" repeated) Maria said she was tired. (correct — "she" replaces the second "Maria")

Pronouns are essential for natural, flowing language. Without them, writing becomes repetitive and clunky.

Key Terms

Term	Meaning
Pronoun	A word that replaces a noun
Antecedent	The noun a pronoun refers to
Agreement	The pronoun must match its antecedent in number and gender
Case	The grammatical role of a pronoun (subject, object, possessive)

Types of Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to people or things. They change form depending on their grammatical role (case):

	Subject	Object	Possessive adjective	Possessive pronoun
1st sing.	I	me	my	mine
2nd sing./pl.	you	you	your	yours
3rd sing. (m)	he	him	his	his
3rd sing. (f)	she	her	her	hers
3rd sing. (n)	it	it	its	its
1st pl.	we	us	our	ours
3rd pl.	they	them	their	theirs

• Subject pronoun — performs the action: She ran. / They arrived early.
• Object pronoun — receives the action: She saw him. / I called them.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership and stand alone (unlike possessive adjectives, which come before a noun):

• That book is mine. (possessive pronoun — stands alone)
• That is my book. (possessive adjective — before the noun)

Examples: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

Note: possessive pronouns never use apostrophes — its, theirs, yours, ours are always written without one.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns reflect back to the subject — they show the subject is also the object of the action:

myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

• She taught herself to code.
• He hurt himself when he fell.
• They organised everything themselves.

Reflexive pronouns can also be used for emphasis: The president himself attended the meeting.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point to specific nouns: this, that, these, those

• This and these refer to things nearby; that and those refer to things further away.
• This is my favourite book.
• Those are the best seats in the theatre.

Interrogative Pronouns

Used to ask questions: who, whom, whose, which, what

• Who called you? (subject — doing the calling)
• Whom did you call? (object — receiving the call)
• Whose bag is this?

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses that give more information about a noun:

who, whom, whose, which, that

• The student who won the prize was delighted. (refers to a person — subject)
• The woman whom we met was very helpful. (refers to a person — object)
• The book which I borrowed was fascinating. (refers to a thing)
• The house that she bought is beautiful. (refers to a thing)

Who vs Whom: Use who when the pronoun is the subject; use whom when it is the object. Test: replace with "he/she" (subject → who) or "him/her" (object → whom).

Indefinite Pronouns

Refer to non-specific people or things: someone, anyone, everyone, nobody, each, either, neither, both, many, few, all, none

• Everyone is welcome.
• Nobody noticed the mistake.

Pronoun–Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number (singular or plural) and gender (where relevant):

• Each student must bring his or her ID. (singular antecedent)
• The students must bring their IDs. (plural antecedent)
• All the players forgot their kit. (plural — "their" is correct)
• All the players forgot his kit. (wrong — mismatch in number)

The singular "they": In modern English, they/them/their is increasingly accepted as a singular pronoun for individuals whose gender is unknown or non-binary: "Everyone forgot their homework."

Worked Examples

Choose the correct pronoun:

1. Sarah and ___ went to the shop. → I (subject position)
2. The teacher praised ___ and Maria. → me (object position — "the teacher praised me")
3. The report ___ was submitted on Friday won the prize. → that (referring to a thing)

Spot the error:

• Wrong: Between you and I, the answer is obvious.
• Correct: Between you and me, the answer is obvious. ("between" is a preposition, so it takes an object pronoun)

Common Mistakes

• "Between you and I": Always use "between you and me" — prepositions take object pronouns.
• "Themselves" vs "theirselves": "Theirselves" is not a standard English word — always use themselves.
• Possessive pronouns with apostrophes: its, theirs, yours, ours are never written with apostrophes.
• Who vs whom confusion: Replace with he/him to test — if "him" works, use "whom"; if "he" works, use "who."
• Vague pronoun reference: "She told her that she had failed" — it is unclear who "she" refers to. Make the antecedent clear.

Tips and Tricks

• When choosing between subject and object pronouns, remove the other person: "She and I went" — remove "She" and test: "I went" (not "me went").
• For who/whom, substitute he/him: "Who/Whom did you call?" → "You called him" → use whom.
• Always check that a pronoun has a clear, identifiable antecedent nearby.
• Reread your writing and substitute the antecedent for each pronoun to check the sentence still makes sense.

Quick Reference

Type	Examples	Use
Subject pronouns	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	Performing the action
Object pronouns	me, you, him, her, it, us, them	Receiving the action
Possessive adjectives	my, your, his, her, its, our, their	Before a noun
Possessive pronouns	mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs	Stands alone
Reflexive pronouns	myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves	Subject is also object
Relative pronouns	who, whom, whose, which, that	Introduce relative clauses
Demonstrative pronouns	this, that, these, those	Point to specific things
Indefinite pronouns	everyone, someone, nobody, each, all, none	Refer to non-specific people/things