An English pronoun is a word used in place of a noun, or noun phrase, especially to avoid repeating the name of a person, place or thing already previously mentioned or understood to be in the context. Pronouns can refer to people, things, places or ideas. There’s nothing mystic about them!
The topic of pronouns in the media, in particular personal pronouns, has gained significant attention and discussion in recent years. Pronouns are an essential aspect of language and communication, as they refer to individuals without constantly using their names. Traditionally, pronouns have been assumed based on a person’s perceived gender. However, this approach overlooks the experiences of individuals who identify outside of the gender binary or those who do not conform to traditional gender norms.
In an effort to be more inclusive and respectful of diverse gender identities, there has been a movement to use and acknowledge preferred pronouns in various media platforms. This practice recognises that gender identity is individual and can vary from one person to another. Some may prefer pronouns such as ‘he’ and ‘him’, others may prefer ‘she’ and ‘her’, while others may use gender-neutral pronouns like ‘they’ and ‘them’. Preferred pronouns are specific to each individual and should be used accordingly. Recognising and respecting preferred pronouns is an important step towards inclusivity because it acknowledges and affirms the gender identities of individuals beyond the traditional gender binary.
Here are the different types of English pronouns:
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns are used to refer to specific people or things, and they change depending on whether they are replacing the noun in the subjective or objective part of a sentence.
Subjective personal pronouns are as follows,
- I go
- You go
- He/ She/ It goes
- We go
- They go
In the above examples, the subject noun of the sentence has been replaced by a pronoun.
The following are examples of objective personal pronouns,
- Peter loves me
- Peter loves you
- Peter loves him
- Peter loves her
- Peter loves it
- Peter loves us
- Peter loves them
In the above examples, the noun in the object part of the sentence has been replaced by a pronoun.
Possessive pronouns
Pronouns can also be possessive:
- Those (interesting) books are mine
- Those books are yours
- Those books are hers
- Those books are his
- Those books are its
- Those books are ours
- Those books are theirs
In the above cases, the pronouns are replacing a name or thing, such as ‘Those books are Sarah’s’.
However, such sentences as those given above can also be restructured to use what are called possessive adjectives:
- My books are interesting
- Your books are interesting
- His books are interesting
- Her books are interesting
- Its books are interesting
- Our books are interesting
- Their books are interesting
An adjective is simply the class of word that describes a noun. So in ‘a long book’, long is the adjective describing the book. In the case of ‘my book’, my also becomes the adjective that tells us something about the book.
Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns point to specific people or things. In the examples below, one might replace the subject ‘the music sounds good’ with a pronoun such as ‘this sounds good’. If one were to write ‘this music sounds good’ then ‘this’ has become a determiner because it is determining the noun rather than replacing it.(See also ‘demonstrative determiners’ in the article on the Parts of Speech)
Below are examples of subjective demonstrative pronouns,
- This sounds good
- That sounds good
- These sound good
- Those sound good
The following is an example of an objective demonstrative pronoun,
- I like the sound of that
As you can see, demonstrative pronouns do not change when they move position from subject to object.
Reflexive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object of a sentence are the same. They end in -self (singular) or -selves (plural).
Examples of reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
- I hurt myself
- She has nobody to blame but herself
- He looked at himself in the mirror
- We tell ourselves many lies
Reflexive pronouns are less commonly used in English than in many Romance and Germanic languages, and are used specifically when the object of the sentence refers back to the subject.
So a reflexive pronoun is appropriate here:
- I hurt myself
- He hurt himself
but not here:
- He hurt me
- I hurt him
…because in the second set of examples, the subject and object are not the same person, therefore no reflexive pronoun is required.
Relative pronouns
These are the main types of pronouns in English, each serving a specific purpose in replacing nouns and making sentences more concise and coherent. Relative pronouns are used to introduce a relative clause, which is a type of subordinate clause that provides additional information about a noun or pronoun in the main clause of a sentence. Relative pronouns connect the relative clause to the main clause and help to join the two together. As you will see in each example below, the subordinate clause, in this case a relative clause because it contains a relative pronoun, can appear in two ways: either at the end of the sentence, or sandwiched into the middle:
- I love the book, which was written by David Smith
- David Smith wrote the book, which I love
- The book, which I love, was written by David Smith
For more details on subordinate clauses see the relevant post.
The most common relative pronouns in English are shown in the following examples.
- Who – used to refer to people in the subjective position of a sentence.
- The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
- There is my neighbour, who is a doctor.
- Whom – also used to refer to people, but in the objective position of a sentence.
- The doctor whom I saw yesterday was very kind.
- There is the doctor whom I saw yesterday.
However, when ‘whom’ becomes the subject of the next clause it becomes ‘who’ again:
- There is the doctor I saw yesterday, who gave me some medication.
- Yesterday I saw the doctor, who gave me some medication.
In this new example, above, the doctor has become the subject of the next clause.
‘Whom’ is increasingly lapsing out of use these days because of the confusion it seems to incur among many English language users, both native and otherwise, and therefore many who use ‘whom’ feel concerned about appearing old-fashioned nowadays. This objective pronoun is no longer viewed as compulsory in informal contexts and many users opt for ‘who’, but it is advisable to continue to use ‘whom’ as appropriate in academic texts.
- Which – used to refer to animals or things.
- The book, which is on the table, is very interesting.
- This book is self-published, which is becoming more commonplace.
- That – used to refer to people, animals, or things. It is less formal than ‘who’ or ‘which’.
- The car that I bought last week is blue.
- This is the car that I bought last week.
Before using ‘which’, a comma is traditionally placed whereas a comma is not necessary when using ‘that’. The reason for this is that ‘that’ designates a defining clause and ‘which’ designates a non-defining clause. More about that in a future post! Incidentally, in other sentences, the choice as to whether or not to use a comma with the relative clause should be based on whether the relative clause provides the reader with additional information, or whether the relative clause is essential to the subject of the sentence.
- Whose – used to indicate possession and is followed by a noun.
- The man whose car was stolen reported it to the police.
- The police took a statement from the man whose car was stolen.
- Where – used to refer to a place or location.
- The park, where we used to play, is full today.
- I visited the park where we used to play as children.
Relative pronouns not only introduce the relative clause but also function as the subject, object or possessive pronoun within that clause. They help to combine two ideas or provide more information about a specific person, thing or place.
Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions as the word interrogative suggests. A sentence with an interrogative pronoun will end with a question mark.
The following are examples of interrogative subject pronouns in a sentence:
- What goes well with this dress?
- Whatever happened last night?
- Who do you want to invite to your party?
- Which album do you want to hear first?
- Whose is this dog?
An interrogative pronoun can also be the object of a sentence:
- To whom to I owe the honour?
Indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns refer to nonspecific people or things. They include anyone, anybody, anything, somebody, someone, something, nobody, no one, nothing, everybody, everyone, everything, and other words that can be used as a pronoun such as each, either, enough, less, little, much, neither, one, and other.
Indefinite pronouns can take the subjective or objective place in a sentence:
- Anybody goes
- Someone goes
- Nobody goes
- Anything goes
- There goes someone
- Here goes nothing
Reciprocal pronouns
Reciprocal pronouns indicate a mutual action or relationship between two or more people or things. As the word ‘reciprocal’ indicates, there is a two-way action involved. Reciprocal pronouns are used for situations when somebody or something receives what they give or do back:
- Sarah and Jane blamed one another for the error.
- We love each other.
Conclusion
As you can see pronouns can be divided into many categories and these are named according to what their functions are, but do not allow this sub-categorising of grammatical parts of speech to confuse you. When you use a word in place of a noun you are using a pronoun. If you take the above example with reciprocal pronouns as an example, and look at how it would appear if you were to use the proper nouns instead of the reciprocal pronoun:
- Sarah blamed Jane for the error and Jane blamed Sarah for the error.
This makes it clear that the appropriate use of a pronoun can save repetition and improve the flow of a sentence.
Finally, a sentence can contain numerous pronouns at once, as you may have already spotted.
Exercises to practise
Below are two quizzes to practise:
If you have any comments or questions, please do enter them below.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 3rd edn (Cambridge University Press, 2019)
Dreyer, Benjamin. Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style (Penguin Random House, 2020)
Hewings, Martin, and others. Cambridge English Grammar and Vocabulary for Advanced (Cambridge University Press, 2015)
Huddleston, Rodney, and others. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
Parrott, Martin. Grammar for English Language Teachers, 2nd edn (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
Quirk, Randolph, and others. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, reprint edn (Pearson, 2011)
Seely, John. Oxford A – Z of Grammar & Punctuation (Oxford University Press, 2020)
Trask, R. L. The Penguin Guide to Punctuation (Penguin Books, 1997)
New Hart’s Rules: The Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors (Oxford University Press, 2005)
I live in Italy and are often asked if I can help Italians to learn English, which I do on an informal basis. One of the areas that students learning a foreign language has, is to understand what a pronoun is, and when it is used.
This post is very detailed and helpful to explain the different types of pronouns.
Thank you for sharing this valuable resource.
Thank you so much, Line, for your valuable feedback. These posts are indeed very detailed. They are aimed at intermediate and advanced level students, but as an (albeit informal) teacher, I hope this website will prove a useful resource for your needs.
Pronouns are the unsung heroes of concise communication. 🙌 Ever tried to compose a sentence without them? It’s like a puzzle missing pieces! Speaking from my experience with American English, mastering pronouns is a must for effective writing.
Thanks for your comment Katy.