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Pronouns

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13 views6 pages

Pronouns

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Dimple Dogra
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What Is a Pronoun?

Pronouns make up a small subcategory of nouns. The


distinguishing characteristic of pronouns is that they can be
substituted for other nouns. For instance, if you’re telling a story
about your sister Sarah, the story will begin to sound repetitive if
you keep repeating “Sarah” over and over again.
Sarah has always loved fashion. Sarah announced that Sarah
wants to go to fashion school.

Types of Pronouns

1. Personal Pronouns: There are a few different types of


pronouns, and some pronouns belong to more than one
category. She and her are known as personal pronouns. The
other personal pronouns
are I and me, you, he and him, it, we and us,
and they and them. If you learned about pronouns in school,
these are probably the words your teacher focused on. We’ll
get to the other types of pronouns in a moment.

Antecedents: Pronouns are versatile. The pronoun it can


refer to just about anything: a bike, a tree, a movie, a
feeling. That’s why you need an antecedent.
An antecedent is a noun or noun phrase that you mention
at the beginning of a sentence or story and later replace
with a pronoun. In the examples below, the antecedent is
highlighted and the pronoun that replaces it is bolded.

My family drives me nuts, but I love them. The sign was too
far away for Henry to read it. Sarah said she is almost
finished with the application. In some cases, the antecedent
doesn’t need to be mentioned explicitly, as long as the
context is totally clear. It’s usually clear who the
pronouns I, me, and you refer to based on who is speaking.
It’s also possible to use a pronoun before you mention the
antecedent, but try to avoid doing it in long or complex
sentences because it can make the sentence hard to follow.
I love them, but my family drives me nuts.

2.Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns make up another class of pronouns. They


are used to connect relative clauses to independent
clauses. Often, they introduce additional information about
something mentioned in the sentence. Relative pronouns
include that, what, which, who, and whom.
Traditionally, who refers to people, and which and that refer
to animals or things.
The woman who called earlier didn’t leave a message. All
the dogs that got adopted today will be loved.
My car , which is nearly twenty years old, still runs well.
Whether you need commas with who,
which, and that depends on whether the clause is restrictive
or nonrestrictive.

Who vs. Whom—Subject and Object Pronouns: Now


that we’ve talked about relative pronouns, let’s tackle the
one that causes the most confusion: who vs. whom. Who is
a subject pronoun, like I, he, she, we, and they. Whom is an
object pronoun, like me, him, her, us and them. When the
pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition, the object
form is the one you want. Most people don’t have much
trouble with the objective case of personal pronouns
because they usually come immediately after the verb or
preposition that modifies it.

Please mail it to I.
Please mail it to me.
Ms. Higgins caught they passing notes.
Ms. Higgins caught them passing notes.
Is this cake for we?
Is this cake for us?
Whom is trickier, though, because it usually
comes before the verb or preposition that modifies it.
Whom did you speak to earlier?
A man, whom I have never seen before, was asking about
you.
Whom should I say is calling?
One way to test whether you need who or whom is to try
substituting a personal pronoun. Find the place where the
personal pronoun would normally go and see whether the
subject or object form makes more sense.
Who/whom did you speak to earlier? Did you speak
to he/him earlier?
A man, whom I have never seen before, was asking about
you. Have I seen he/him before?
Whom should I say is calling? Should I say she/her is
calling?
If the object pronoun (him or her) sounds right, use whom. If
the subject pronoun (he or she) sounds right, use who.
Before we move on, there’s one more case where the
choice between subject and object pronouns can be
confusing. Can you spot the problem in the sentences
below?
Henry is meeting Sarah and I this afternoon. There are no
secrets between you and I. It doesn’t matter to him or I.
In each of the sentences above, the pronoun I should
be me. If you remove the other name or pronoun from the
sentence, it becomes obvious.
Henry is meeting I this afternoon. No one keeps secrets
from I. It doesn’t matter to I.
3. Demonstrative Pronouns: That, this, these and those are
demonstrative pronouns. They take the place of a noun or
noun phrase that has already been mentioned. This is used
for singular items that are nearby. These is used for
multiple items that are nearby. The distance can be physical
or metaphorical.
Here is a letter with no return address. Who could have sent
this? What a fantastic idea! This is the best thing I’ve heard
all day. If you think gardenias smell nice, try smelling these.
That is used for singular items that are far away. Those is
used for multiple items that are far away. Again, the
distance can be physical or metaphorical.
A house like that would be a nice place to live. Some new
flavors of soda came in last week. Why don’t you try some
of those? Those aren’t swans, they’re geese.

4. Indefinite Pronouns: Indefinite pronouns are used when


you need to refer to a person or thing that doesn’t need to
be specifically identified. Some common indefinite pronouns
are one, other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no
one.
Everybody was late to work because of the traffic jam. It
matters more to some than others. Nobody knows the
trouble I’ve seen.
When indefinite pronouns function as subjects of a sentence
or clause, they usually take singular verbs.
5. Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns
end in -self or -selves: myself, yourself, himself, herself,
itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. Use a reflexive
pronoun when both the subject and object of a verb refer to
the same person or thing.
Henry cursed himself for his poor eyesight. They booked
themselves a room at the resort. I told myself it was
nothing. Intensive pronouns look the same as reflexive
pronouns, but their purpose is different. Intensive pronouns
add emphasis.
I built this house myself. Did you yourself see Loretta spill
the coffee? “I built this house” and “I built this house
myself” mean almost the same thing. But “myself”
emphasizes that I personally built the house—I didn’t hire
someone else to do it for me. Likewise, “Did you see Loretta
spill the coffee?” and “Did you yourself see Loretta spill the
coffee?” have similar meanings. But “yourself” makes it
clear that the person asking wants to know whether you
actually witnessed the incident or whether you only heard it
described by someone else.
Occasionally, people are tempted to use myself where they
should use me because it sounds a little fancier. Don’t fall
into that trap! If you use a -self form of a pronoun, make
sure it matches one of the uses above.
Please call Sarah or myself if you are going to be late.
Loretta, Henry, and myself are pleased to welcome you to
the neighborhood.

6.Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns come in two flavors: limiting and


absolute. My, your, its, his, her, our, their and whose are used
to show that something belongs to an antecedent.
Sarah is working on her application. Just put me back
on my bike. The students practiced their presentation after
school.
The absolute possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers,
ours, and theirs. The absolute forms can be substituted for the
thing that belongs to the antecedent.
Are you finished with your application? Sarah already finished
hers. The blue bike is mine. I practiced my speech and the
students practiced theirs.
Some possessive pronouns are easy to mix up with similar-
looking contractions. Remember, possessive personal
pronouns don’t include apostrophes.

7.Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions. The


interrogative pronouns are who, what, which, and whose.
Who wants a bag of jelly beans? What is your name? Which
movie do you want to watch? Whose jacket is this?

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