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Pronouns
Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. Pronouns are words
like: he, you, ours, themselves, some, each... We can use a pronoun instead
of a noun. If we didn't have pronouns, we would have to repeat a whole lot of
nouns.

What is a Pronoun?
Understand the difference between a pronoun and a noun.

 Personal Pronouns
I, me, you, he, him, she...
 Demonstrative Pronouns
this, that, these, those
 Possessive Pronouns
mine, yours, his...
 Interrogative Pronouns
who, what, which...
 Reflexive Pronouns
myself, yourself, himself...
 Reciprocal Pronouns
each other, one another
 Indefinite Pronouns
another, much, nobody, few, such...
 Relative Pronouns
who, whom, which...

Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns represent specific people or things. We use them depending
on:

 number: singular (eg: I) or plural (eg: we)

 person: 1st person (eg: I), 2nd person (eg: you) or 3rd person (eg: he)
 gender: male (eg: he), female (eg: she) or neuter (eg: it)
 case: subject (eg: we) or object (eg: us)
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We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are talking
about. My name is Josef but when I am talking about myself I almost always use
"I" or "me", not "Josef". When I am talking direct to you, I almost always use
"you", not your name. When I am talking about another person, say John, I may
start with "John" but then use "he" or "him". And so on.

Here are the personal pronouns, followed by some example sentences:

personal pronouns

number person gender subject object

singular 1st male/ female I me

2nd male/ female you you

3rd male he him

female she her

neuter it it

plural 1st male/ female we us

2nd male/ female you you

3rd male/ female/ neuter they them

Examples (in each pair, the first sentence shows a subject pronoun, the second
an object pronoun):

 I like coffee. / John helped me.

 Do you like coffee? / John loves you.
 He runs fast. / Did Ram beat him?
 She is clever. / Does Mary know her?
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 It doesn't work. / Can the man fix it?

 We went home. / Anthony drove us.
 Do you need a table for three? / Did John and Mary beat you at doubles?
 They played doubles. / John and Mary beat them.

When we are talking about a single thing, we almost always use it. However,
there are a few exceptions. We may sometimes refer to an animal
as he/himor she/her, especially if the animal is domesticated or a pet. Ships
(and some other vessels or vehicles) as well as some countries are often treated
as female and referred to as she/her. Here are some examples:

 This is our dog Rusty. He's an Alsatian.

 The Titanic was a great ship but she sank on her first voyage.
 My first car was a Mini and I treated her like my wife.
 Thailand has now opened her border with Cambodia.

For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or she. There
are several solutions to this:

 If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.

 If a teacher needs help, he should see the principal.
 If a teacher needs help, they should see the principal.

We often use it to introduce a remark:

 It is nice to have a holiday sometimes.

 It is important to dress well.
 It's difficult to find a job.
 Is it normal to see them together?
 It didn't take long to walk here.

We also often use it to talk about the weather, temperature, time and distance:

 It's raining.
 It will probably be hot tomorrow.
 Is it nine o'clock yet?
 It's 50 kilometres from here to Cambridge.
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Demonstrative Pronouns
demonstrate (verb): to show; to indicate; to point to

A demonstrative pronoun represents a thing or things:

 near in distance or time (this, these)

 far in distance or time (that, those)

near far

singular this that

plural these those

Here are some examples with demonstrative pronouns, followed by an

illustration:

 This tastes good.

 Have you seen this?
 These are bad times.
 Do you like these?

 That is beautiful.
 Look at that!
 Those were the days!
 Can you see those?

 This is heavier than that.

 These are bigger than those.
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Do not confuse demonstrative pronouns with demonstrative adjectives. They are

identical, but a demonstrative pronoun stands alone, while a demonstrative
adjective qualifies a noun.
 That smells. (demonstrative pronoun)
 That book is good. (demonstrative adjective + noun)

Normally we use demonstrative pronouns for things only. But we can use them
for people when the person is identified. Look at these examples:

 This is Josef speaking. Is that Mary?

 That sounds like John.

Possessive Pronouns
We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or thing/things
(the "antecedent") belonging to a person/people (and sometimes belonging to an
animal/animals or thing/things).

We use possessive pronouns depending on:

 number: singular (eg: mine) or plural (eg: ours)

 person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd person
(eg: his)
 gender: male (his), female (hers)

Below are the possessive pronouns, followed by some example sentences.

Notice that each possessive pronoun can:
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 be subject or object
 refer to a singular or plural antecedent

number person gender (of "owner") possessive pronouns

singular 1st male/ female mine

2nd male/ female yours

3rd male his

female hers

plural 1st male/ female ours

2nd male/ female yours

3rd male/ female/ neuter theirs

 Look at these pictures. Mine is the big one. (subject = My picture)

 I like your flowers. Do you like mine? (object = my flowers)

 I looked everywhere for your key. I found John's key but I couldn't
find yours. (object = your key)
 My flowers are dying. Yours are lovely. (subject = Your flowers)

 All the essays were good but his was the best. (subject = his essay)
 John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her
passport)
 John found his clothes but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her clothes)

 Here is your car. Ours is over there, where we left it. (subject = Our car)
 Your photos are good. Ours are terrible. (subject = Our photos)

 Each couple's books are colour-coded. Yours are red. (subject = Your
books)
 I don't like this family's garden but I like yours. (object = your garden)
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 These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair. (subject =
Their children)
 John and Mary don't like your car. Do you like theirs? (object = their car)

Notice that the following (with apostrophe [']) do NOT exist: her's, your's, their's

Notice that the interrogative pronoun whose can also be a possessive pronoun
(an interrogative possessive pronoun). Look at these examples:

 There was $100 on the table and Tara wondered whose it was.
 This car hasn't moved for two months. Whose is it?

Interrogative Pronouns
We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. The interrogative pronoun
represents the thing that we don't know (what we are asking the question about).

There are four main interrogative pronouns: who, whom, what, which

Notice that the possessive pronoun whose can also be an interrogative pronoun (an
interrogative possessive pronoun).

subject object

person who whom

thing what

person/ thing which

person whose

Notice that whom is the correct form when the pronoun is the object of the verb,
as in "Whom did you see?" ("I saw John.") However, in normal, spoken English
we rarely use whom. Most native speakers would say (or even write): "Who did
you see?"
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Look at these example questions. In the sample answers, the noun phrase that
the interrogative pronoun represents is shown in bold.

question answer

Who told you? John told me. subject

Whom did you tell? I told Mary. object

What's happened? An accident's happened. subject

What do you want? I want coffee. object

Which came first? The Porsche 911 came first. subject

Which will the doctor see first? The doctor will see the patient in blue first. object

There's one car missing. Whose hasn't arrived? John's (car) hasn't arrived. subject

We've found everyone's keys. Whose did you find? I found John's (keys). object

Note that we sometimes use the suffix "-ever" to make compounds from some of
these pronouns (mainly whoever, whatever, whichever). When we add "-ever",
we use it for emphasis, often to show confusion or surprise. Look at these
examples:

 Whoever would want to do such a nasty thing?

 Whatever did he say to make her cry like that?
 They're all fantastic! Whichever will you choose?

Reflexive Pronouns
reflexive (adj.) [grammar]: reflecting back on the subject, like a mirror

We use a reflexive pronoun when we want to refer back to the subject of the
sentence or clause. Reflexive pronouns end in "-self" (singular) or "-selves"
(plural).

There are eight reflexive pronouns:

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reflexive pronoun

singular myself
yourself
himself, herself, itsel
f

plural ourselves
yourselves
themselves

Look at these examples:

non-reflexive REFLEXIVE pronouns

the underlined words are NOT the same the underlined words are the SAME
person/thing person/thing

John saw me. I saw myself in the mirror.

Why does he blame you? Why do you blame yourself?

David sent him a copy. John sent himself a copy.

David sent her a copy. Mary sent herself a copy.

My dog hurt the cat. My dog hurt itself.

We blame you. We blame ourselves.

Can you help my children? Can you help yourselves?

They cannot look after the babies. They cannot look after themselves.

Intensive pronouns

Notice that all the above reflexive pronouns can also act as intensive pronouns,
but the function and usage are different. An intensive pronoun emphasizes its
antecedent. Look at these examples:

 I made it myself. OR I myself made it.

 Have you yourself seen it? OR Have you seen it yourself?
 The President himself promised to stop the war.
 She spoke to me herself. OR She herself spoke to me.
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 The exam itself wasn't difficult, but the exam room was horrible.
 Never mind. We'll do it ourselves.
 You yourselves asked us to do it.
 They recommend this book even though they themselves had never read
it. OR They recommend this book even though they had never read
it themselves.

Reciprocal Pronouns
reciprocal (adj.): given or done in return; [grammar] expressing mutual action

We use reciprocal pronouns when each of two or more subjects is acting in the
same way towards the other. For example, A is talking to B, and B is talking to A.
So we say:

 A and B are talking to each other.

The action is "reciprocated". John talks to Mary and Mary talks to John. I give
you a present and you give me a present. The dog bites the cat and the cat bites
the dog.

There are only two reciprocal pronouns, and they are both two words:

 each other
 one another

When we use these reciprocal pronouns:

 there must be two or more people, things or groups involved (so we

cannot use reciprocal pronouns with I, you [singular], he/she/it)
 they must be doing the same thing

Look at these examples:

 John and Mary love each other.

 Peter and David hate each other.
 The ten prisoners were all blaming one another.
 Both teams played hard against each other.
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 We gave each other gifts.

 Why don't you believe each other?
 They can't see each other.
 The gangsters were fighting one another.
 The boats were bumping against each other in the storm.

You probably noticed that each other is used in more examples above than one
another. That's because in general we use one another(which sounds a little
formal) less often than we use each other. Also, some people say that we
should use one another only for three or more people or things, but there is no
real justification for this.

Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun does not refer to any specific person, thing or amount. It is
vague and "not definite". Some typical indefinite pronouns are:

 all, another, any, anybody/anyone, anything, each, everybody/everyone,

everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some,
somebody/someone
Note that many indefinite pronouns also function as other parts of speech. Look
at "another" in the following sentences:
 He has one job in the day and another at night. (pronoun)
 I'd like another drink, please. (adjective)

Most indefinite pronouns are either singular or plural. However, some of them
can be singular in one context and plural in another. The most common indefinite
pronouns are listed below, with examples, as singular, plural or singular/plural.

Notice that a singular pronoun takes a singular verb AND that any personal
pronoun should also agree (in number and gender). Look at these examples:

 Each of the players has a doctor.

 I met two girls. One has given me her phone number.

Similarly, plural pronouns need plural agreement:

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 Many have expressed their views.

pronoun meaning example

s another an additional or different person or That ice-cream was good. Can I

i thing have another?
n
g anybody/ no matter what person Can anyone answer this question?
u anyone
l
a anything no matter what thing The doctor needs to know if you have
r eaten anything in the last two hours.

each every one of two or more people or Each has his own thoughts.
things, seen separately

either one or the other of two people or Do you want tea or coffee? / I don't
things mind. Either is good for me.

enough as much or as many as needed Enough is enough.

everybody/ all people We can start the meeting

everyone because everybody has arrived.

everything all things They have no house or possessions. They

lost everything in the earthquake.

less a smaller amount "Less is more" (Mies van der Rohe)

little a small amount Little is known about his early life.

much a large amount Much has happened since we met.

neither not one and not the other of two I keep telling Jack and Jill
people or things but neither believes me.

nobody/ no- no person I phoned many times but nobody answered.

one

nothing no single thing, not anything If you don't know the answer it's best to
say nothing.

one an unidentified person Can one smoke here? | All the students
arrived but now one is missing.

other a different person or thing from one One was tall and the other was short.
already mentioned
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pronoun meaning example

somebody/ an unspecified or unknown person Clearly somebodymurdered him. It was not

someone suicide.

something an unspecified or unknown thing Listen! I just heard something! What could it
be?

you an unidentified person (informal) And you can see why.

p both two people or things, seen together John likes coffee but not tea. I think both are
l good.
u
r few a small number of people or things Few have ever disobeyed him and lived.
a
l fewer a reduced number of people or Fewer are smoking these days.
things

many a large number of people or things Many have come already.

others other people; not us I'm sure that others have tried before us.

several more than two but not many They all complained and several left the
meeting.

they people in general (informal) They say that vegetables are good for you.

s all the whole quantity of something or All is forgiven.

i of some things or people All have arrived.
n
g any no matter how much or how many Is any left?
Are any coming?
u
l
more a greater quantity of something; a There is more over there.
a
greater number of people or things More are coming.
r
most the majority; nearly all Most is lost.
/ Most have refused.

p none not any; no person or persons They fixed the water so why is none coming
l out of the tap?
u I invited five friends but none have come.*
r
a some an unspecified quantity of Here is some.
something; an unspecified number Some have arrived.
of people or things
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pronoun meaning example

l such of the type already mentioned He was a foreigner and he felt that he was
treated as such.

* Some people say that "none" should always take a singular verb, even when
talking about countable nouns (eg five friends). They argue that "none" means
"no one", and "one" is obviously singular. They say that "I invited five friends but
none has come" is correct and "I invited five friends but none have come" is
incorrect. Historically and grammatically there is little to support this view. "None"
has been used for hundreds of years with both a singular and a plural verb,
according to the context and the emphasis required.

Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause. It is called a
"relative" pronoun because it "relates" to the word that its relative clause
modifies. Here is an example:

 The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.

In the above example, "who":

 relates to "The person", which "who phoned me last night" modifies

 introduces the relative clause "who phoned me last night"

There are five basic relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that*

Who (subject) and whom (object) are generally only for people. Whose is for
possession. Which is for things. That can be used for things and people only
in defining relative clauses (clauses that are essential to the sentence and do not
simply add extra information).**

Relative pronouns can refer to singular or plural, and there is no difference

between male and female.

Look at these examples showing defining and non-defining relative clauses:

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example sentences
S=subject, O=object, P=possessive notes

defining S - The person who phoned me last night is my "that" is preferable

relative clauses teacher.
- The person that phoned me last night is my
teacher.

- The car which hit me was yellow. "that" is preferable

- The car that hit me was yellow.

O - The person whom I phoned last night is my "whom" is correct but formal
teacher.
- The people who I phoned last night are my relative pronoun is optional
teachers.
- The person that I phoned last night is my
teacher.
- The person I phoned last night is my teacher.

- The car which I drive is old. "that" is preferable to "which"

- The car that I drive is old.
- The car I drive is old. relative pronoun is optional

P - The student whose phone just rang should

stand up.
- Students whose parents are wealthy pay extra.

- The police are looking for the "whose" can be used with
car whose driver was masked. things
- The police are looking for the car of
which the driver was masked. "of which" is also possible

non-defining S - Mrs Pratt, who is very kind, is my teacher.

relative clauses
- The car, which was a taxi, exploded.
- The cars, which were taxis, exploded.

O - Mrs Pratt, whom I like very much, is my teacher. "whom" is correct but formal
- Mrs Pratt, who I like very much, is my teacher.
"who" is common in spoken
English and informal written
English

- The car, which I was driving at the time,

suddenly caught fire.
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example sentences
S=subject, O=object, P=possessive notes

P - My brother, whose phone you just heard, is a

doctor.

- The car, whose driver jumped out just before "whose" can be used with
the accident, was completely destroyed. things
- The car, the driver of whichjumped out just
before the accident, was completely destroyed. "of which" is also possible

*Not all grammar sources count "that" as a relative pronoun.

**Some people claim that we should not use "that" for people but must use
"who/whom". There is no good reason for such a claim; there is a long history of
"that" for people in defining relative clauses from Chaucer, Shakespeare and the
Authorized Version of The Bible to Fowler's and Churchill.