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What Are Pronouns?

Pronouns are words that replace nouns to avoid repetition. Instead of saying "Sarah went to Sarah's house because Sarah was tired," we say "Sarah went to her house because she was tired."

The Basic Function
Pronouns replace nouns to make sentences less repetitive and more natural.

Without pronouns: "John saw John's friend and John invited John's friend to John's house."
With pronouns: "John saw his friend and he invited him to his house."

Types of Pronouns

1. Personal Pronouns

I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them

2. Possessive Pronouns

mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs

3. Reflexive Pronouns

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

4. Demonstrative Pronouns

this, that, these, those

5. Relative Pronouns

who, whom, whose, which, that

6. Interrogative Pronouns

who, whom, whose, which, what

7. Indefinite Pronouns

someone, anyone, everyone, nobody, something, anything, all, some, none

Personal Pronouns

Subject and Object forms: I/me, he/him, they/them

Personal Pronouns Beginner

Personal pronouns refer to specific people or things. They change form depending on whether they're the subject (doing the action) or object (receiving the action) of a sentence.

Subject vs. Object
Subject pronouns do the action (before the verb)
Object pronouns receive the action (after the verb or preposition)

Example: I (subject) saw him (object).

Complete Personal Pronoun Chart

Person Subject Pronoun Object Pronoun Example
1st Singular I me I like pizza. She called me.
2nd Singular/Plural you you You are nice. I trust you.
3rd Singular (male) he him He runs fast. I saw him.
3rd Singular (female) she her She sings well. I heard her.
3rd Singular (thing) it it It works. I fixed it.
1st Plural we us We play soccer. Join us.
3rd Plural they them They arrived. I met them.

Using Subject Pronouns

Subject Examples

I am a student.

She loves reading books.

We are going to the park.

They live in New York.

Object Examples

Sarah called me yesterday.

I saw her at the store.

Please help us with this.

The teacher praised them.

Common Mistakes

Mistake: Using Object Instead of Subject
✗ INCORRECT
Me and John went to the store.
✓ CORRECT
John and I went to the store.
✗ INCORRECT
Him is my brother.
✓ CORRECT
He is my brother.
Mistake: Using Subject Instead of Object
✗ INCORRECT
She gave the book to I.
✓ CORRECT
She gave the book to me.
✗ INCORRECT
Between you and I, this is wrong.
✓ CORRECT
Between you and me, this is wrong.
💡 Quick Test
Not sure which pronoun to use? Remove the other person from the sentence!

"Me and Sarah went" → "Me went" ✗ (Wrong!)
"Sarah and I went" → "I went" ✓ (Correct!)

"Between you and I" → "Between I" ✗ (Wrong!)
"Between you and me" → "Between me" ✓ (Correct!)

Possessive Pronouns

Show ownership: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

Possessive Pronouns Beginner

Possessive pronouns show ownership and replace possessive adjectives + nouns. They stand alone without a following noun.

Possessive Adjective vs. Possessive Pronoun
Possessive Adjective + noun: "This is my book."
Possessive Pronoun (no noun): "This book is mine."

The pronoun replaces both the adjective and the noun.

Possessive Pronouns Chart

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Person Possessive Adjective Possessive Pronoun Example
1st Singular my mine my car → The car is mine.
2nd Singular/Plural your