What is a Pronoun?

Pronouns are one of the 9 parts of speech in English grammar. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns are important in English. They are some of the first words we learn: I, you, he, she, it. There are different kinds of pronouns for different situations: subject pronouns, object pronouns, possessive pronouns, and reflexive pronouns. Instead of Sara, we can say she. Instead of those guys, we can say them. Instead of the sun, we can say it.

Why do we use pronouns?

One reason that we use pronouns is to avoid repetition. Think about this example:

Look at this beautiful table. The table is gorgeous. The table has a red top and the table's legs are steel. I really want to buy the table.

The table, the table, the table, the table—aaaaaaah. We try to avoid this kind of repetition in English. Instead of table, table, table, table, we usually say table once. After that first time, we use a pronoun, like it. This next example is more typical of how we speak in English:

Look at this beautiful table. It is gorgeous. It has a red top and its legs are steel. I really want to buy it.

Simpler and cleaner! That's why we use pronouns.

So a pronoun can take the place of a noun. But there are also some important differences between how we use nouns and pronouns. For instance, we don’t usually use a determiner before a pronoun: we say the table, but we never say the it. We say my friend, but we don’t say my him. We also don’t usually use adjectives before pronouns. We can say the red car, but it would be very strange to say the red it.

Now let's look at the five different kinds of personal pronouns:

Subject
Pronouns

Object
Pronouns

Possessive
Pronouns

Possessive
Determiners

Reflexive
Pronouns

English Personal Pronouns

In English, we use different pronouns to show grammatical person, gender, and singular/plural distinctions.

For example, if I am talking about myself, we call this the first person. If I are talking about myself alone, this is singular (only one person). Singular first person pronouns include I, me, mine, etc.

If I am talking about a group of people that includes me, this is the first person plural (more than one person). Plural first person pronouns include we, us, ours, etc.

Second person pronouns are used to talk about the person you are speaking to. These include you, yours, yourself, etc. You can be both singular and plural in English.

Third person pronouns are used to talk about people who are not either the speaker or the listener. They include the third person singular pronouns (like he, she, it) and third person singular pronouns (like they, them, etc.).

For inanimate objects—things that are not people—we use it, its, and itself.

They/Them Pronouns

When we use third person pronouns, we often distinguish between genders. For example, she, her, and hers are often used to talk about women, and he, him, and his are often used to talk about men. They, them, and their can be used as gender-neutral pronouns. We can use these either because we don't want or need to specify a gender, or because someone goes by non-gendered or nonbinary pronouns.

SUBJECT PRONOUNS

The first pronouns we teach are usually subject pronouns. The subject is often the noun right before the verb. Almost every sentence has a subject. Generally, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing that does the verb or makes the verb happen.

The tiger sleeps a lot.

In the example above, the verb is sleeps, and the subject is tiger. Who sleeps? The tiger does. The subject usually tells us who or what does the action. We have a special set of pronouns that we use to be the subject of a sentence. The table below lists the most common subject pronouns.

  
Subject Pronouns in English
  
    Singular
    Plural
  
    1st person
    I
    we
  
    2nd person
    you
    you
  
    3rd person
    she
    they
  
    he
  
    it

We don’t say Me like candy or Him has a cat. We say I like candy and He has a cat. Me and him are the wrong type of pronouns. We use subject pronouns. Here are some more examples:

I like movies.

Do you like movies?

Invite Clara. She likes movies.

He likes movies, too!

We like watching movies on weekends.

Before a verb, to express who or what does the action in a sentence, use a subject pronoun.

OBJECT PRONOUNS

Almost all verbs have a subject, and some also have an object. The object of a verb is the thing that receives an action. For example, you wouldn't just say, I want, right? You need to want something. We say I want coffee or I want a cheeseburger. Coffee and cheeseburger are objects. They receive the verb, want.

I want a hamburger.

I want a job.

I want a girlfriend.

Hamburger, job, and girlfriend are objects. Notice that objects generally come after the verb in the sentence. We use object pronouns to represent objects in sentences. This table lists the most common object pronouns:

  
Object Pronouns in English
  
    Singular
    Plural
  
    1st person
    me
    us
  
    2nd person
    you
    you
  
    3rd person
    her
    they
  
    him
  
    it

Here are some examples of sentences using object pronouns:

That hamburger looks delicious. I want it.

Who is that girl? I think I know her.

You can have these books if you want them.

Can I help you?

My teacher hates me!

In all the examples above, the pronouns are the objects of a verb. We use the same set of object pronouns as the objects of prepositions, as you can see in these examples:

My grandmother gave that to me.

I've been getting weird texts from her.

We've heard so much about you!

After a verb or a preposition, you generally want to use an object pronoun.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

To possess something is to own or have that thing. If I have a car, we can say that car is my possession. We can say, That car is mine. Mine is a pronoun in this sentence. It represents the car, the thing that I possess. Mine is a possessive pronoun. Here is a chart with the most common possessive pronouns:

  
Possessive Pronouns in English
  
    Singular
    Plural
  
    1st person
    mine
    ours
  
    2nd person
    yours
    yours
  
    3rd person
    hers
    theirs
  
    his
  
    its

Here are some example sentences with possessive pronouns:

That car is hers.

This is my drink. That one is yours.

All the coats are in a big messy pile. I can't find mine!

As you can see, possessive pronouns can be used to talk about things that belong to specific people.

POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS

Possessive determiners (also called possessive adjectives) are not actually pronouns, but it's a good idea to learn them at the same time, because they are very similar to possessive pronouns. The difference is that possessive determiners can not replace nouns; they come before nouns to tell us whose they are. If someone asks, Whose iPad is this? you could answer with a possessive pronoun: It's mine. But you could also use a possessive determiner:

That's my iPad.

With a possessive determiner, it is important to include a noun after. Just saying That is my. would by wrong. Here is a list of the most common possessive determiners.

  
Possessive Determiners in English
  
    Singular
    Plural
  
    1st person
    my
    our
  
    2nd person
    your
    your
  
    3rd person
    her
    their
  
    his
  
    its

And here are some examples of possessive determiners in sentences:

Sorry, I have to take this call. It's my son.

Cheryl is at her English class.

We lost our baseball game.

Please take off your shoes.

Can you believe they lost their homework again?

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

So we have talked about subjects and objects, right? Subjects are the people or things that do the action in the verb, and objects are the people or things that receive the action. Sometimes, those are the same person, right? For example, if I cut my finger, I hurt someone. The someone I hurt is me (ouch!). But in English we don't say I hurt me. We have special pronouns for the object in this situation, and they are called reflexive pronouns.

Here is a table of the most common reflexive pronouns in English:

  
Reflexive Pronouns in English
  
    Singular
    Plural
  
    1st person
    myself
    ourselves
  
    2nd person
    yourself
    yourselves
  
    3rd person
    herself
    themselves
  
    himself
  
    itself

And here are some examples of reflexive pronouns used in sentences:

Clara taught herself English.

Don't play with that knife. You will hurt yourself.

The kids are entertaining themselves in the yeard.

Oh, nothing. I'm just talking to myself.

After a couple of days, the problem fixed itself.

Complete English Pronoun Chart

Here is a complete table of all the pronouns discussed in this post. There are still some other types of pronouns, however. Demonstrative pronouns and relative pronouns, for example, are usually studied separately.

  
  
    
Pronouns in English
  
  
    
        

    
    Subject
    Object
    Possessive
Pronoun
        Possessive
Determiner
        Reflexive
  

    Singular
    1st Person
    I
    me
    mine
    my
    myself
  

    2nd person
    you
    you    
    yours
    your
    yourself

  

    3rd person
    Feminine
    she
    her    
    hers
    her
    herself
  

    Masculine
    he
    him    
    his
    his
    himself
  

    Neutral
    they
    them    
    theirs
    their
    themself
      

    Inanimate
    it
    it    
    its
    its
    itself
  

    Plural
    1st Person
      we
    us    
    ours
    our
    ourselves
        

      2nd Person
you
    you    
    yours
    your
    yourselves
    

      3rd Person  
      they
    them    
    theirs
    their
    themselves
    

     
    Impersonal  
      one
    one    
    one's
    one's
    oneself
    

What are This, That ,These, and Those?

This, that, these, and those are called demonstratives.

Demonstratives are grammar words that we use to show if an object or idea is close to or far from the person speaking. You can say that we use demonstratives to demonstrate where things are and how many there are.

This and that are both singular demonstratives. These and those are both plural.

This hat is Jayne's.

That scarf is Ennio's

These sneakers are Santiago's

Those gloves are Maya's

This and these are used for things that are here, close to the speaker. That and those are used for things that are there, far from the speaker. Close and far here can mean physical distance or psychological distance.

This pen here is Jayne's

These keys I'm holding are Ennio's

That stapler over there is Santiago's

Those books on the table are Maya's

There are two ways that we use the determiners this, that, these, and those. We can use them as pronouns or as determiners.

Demonstrative Determiners

Demonstrative determiners come before a noun, as part of the noun phrase. Because they come before a noun, demonstrative determiners are sometimes inaccurately called demonstrative adjectives.

this fish

that squid

these clams

those crabs

Demonstrative determiners give us information about the quantity and location of nouns. If we say this apple, we know there is one apple, and it's right here. If someone says those apples, it usually means many apples, and they are over there, not close to the speaker.

This and that are both singular, meaning they only talk about one thing. This is for a thing that is close to us, and that is for a thing that is far away. These and those are both plural, used to talk about many things. These is for things that are close to us, and those is for things that are far away.

This, that, these, and those are all demonstratives: they demonstrate where things are and how many there are. In the examples above, they all come before nouns, which makes them determiners. But these same four words can also be used without nouns, acting as pronouns. In that case they are called demonstrative pronouns.

Demonstrative Pronouns

English Demonstratives Chart - This That These & Those

Today, we will take a look at another, similar way to use this, that, these, and those. We can also use these words without a noun after them. For example, we can say, "This is a hammer." Here, this doesn't go before the subject of the sentence; it is the subject of the sentence. It works takes the place a noun and represents the thing, the hammer. Words that stand in place of a noun are called pronouns. So in these sentences, this, that, these, and those are called demonstrative pronouns. See the graphic below for some more examples.

One more time, if they come directly before a noun, this, that, these, and those are called demonstrative determiners. If they replace a noun, acting as a subject or object, they are called demonstrative pronouns.

Notice that the meanings are the same for demonstrative determiners and demonstrative pronouns. This and that are both singular. These and those are both plural. This and these are both for things that are close. That and those are both for things that are over there.