In English grammar, a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause. The pronoun is one of the traditionalparts of speech. A pronoun can function as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence.
Unlike nouns, pronouns rarely allow modification. Pronouns are a closed word class in English: new members rarely enter the language. To understand how to recognize and correctly use pronouns, it can be helpful to review the types of pronouns that exist in English.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Ademonstrativepronoun points to a particularnounor to the noun it replaces. "These pronouns can indicate items in space or time, and they can be either singular or plural," saysGinger Software. When used to represent a thing or things, demonstrative pronouns can be either near or far in distance or time, says the online grammar, punctuation, and spelling checker, offering these examples:
- Near in time or distance:this, these
- Far in time or distance:that, those
There are three basic rules for using demonstrative pronouns:
- They always identify nouns, such as: I can’t believe this. The writer does not know what thisis, but it exists.
- They often describe animals, places, or things butthey can also describe people, such as:Thissounds like Mary singing.
- They stand alone, distinguishing them from demonstrative adjectives, which qualify (or modify) nouns.
Demonstrative pronouns can be used in place of a noun, so long as the noun being replaced can be understood from the pronoun’s context:
- Thiswas my mother’s ring.
- Theseare nice shoes, but they look uncomfortable.
- Noneof these answers is correct.
Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun refers to an unspecified or unidentified person or thing. Put another way, an indefinite pronoun doesn't have anantecedent. Indefinite pronouns includequantifiers(some, any, enough, several, many, or much);universals(all, both, every, oreach); andpartitives(any, anyone, anybody, either, neither, no, nobody, some, orsomeone). For example:
- Everyonedid ashepleased.
- Bothof us match the donation.
- Some coffeeisleft.
Many of the indefinite pronouns can function asdeterminers.
Interrogative Pronouns
The terminterrogative pronounrefers to apronounthat introduces aquestion. These words are also called apronominal interrogative. Related terms includeinterrogative,"wh"-word, andquestion word, although these terms are usually not defined in precisely the same way.In English,who, whom, whose, which,andwhatcommonly function as interrogative pronouns, for example:
"Even if you do learn to speak correct English,whomare you going to speak it to?"
- Clarence Darrow
When immediately followed by anoun,whose, which, andwhatfunction asdeterminersor interrogative adjectives.When they start a question, interrogative pronounshave no antecedent, becausewhat they refer to is precisely what the question is trying to find out.
Reflexive Pronouns
Areflexive pronounendsin-selfor-selvesand isused as anobjectto refer to a previously namednounor pronoun in a sentence. It can also simply be called areflexive. Reflexive pronouns usually followverbsorprepositions. For example:
"Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think ofourselvesand how little we think of the other person."
-Mark Twain
Reflexive pronouns, which have the formsmyself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, oneself, andthemselves, are essential to the meaning of a sentence.
Intensive Pronouns
Anintensive pronounends in-selfor-selvesand emphasizes itsantecedent. It is also known as anintensive reflexive pronoun. Intensive pronouns often appear asappositivesafternounsor other pronouns, for example:
"He wondered, as he had many times wondered before, whether hehimselfwas a lunatic."
- George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"
Intensive pronouns have the same forms asreflexive pronouns:myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, oneself, andthemselves. Unlike reflexive pronouns, intensive pronouns are not essential to the basic meaning of a sentence.
Personal Pronouns
Apersonal pronounrefers to a particular person, group, or thing. Like all pronouns, personal pronouns can take the place ofnounsandnoun phrases. These are the personal pronouns in English:
- First-person singular:I( subject), me (object)
- First-person plural:we(subject), us (object)
- Second-person singular and plural:you(subjectandobject)
- Third-person singular:he, she, it(subject),him, her, it(object)
- Third-person plural:they(subject),them(object)
Note that personal pronounsinflectforcaseto show whether they are serving assubjectsof clauses or asobjectsof verbs or prepositions. All the personal pronouns exceptyouhave distinct forms indicatingnumber, eithersingularorplural. Only the third-person singular pronouns have distinct forms indicatinggender: masculine (he, him), feminine (she, her), and neuter (it). A personal pronoun (such asthey) that can refer to both masculine and feminine entities is called ageneric pronoun.
Possessive Pronouns
A possessive pronoun can take the place of anoun phraseto show ownership, as in, "This phone ismine." Theweakpossessives (also calledpossessive determiners) function asdeterminersin front ofnouns, as in, "Myphone is broken." The weak possessives aremy, your, his, her, its, our, andtheir.
In contrast, thestrong(orabsolute)possessive pronounsstand on their own:mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours,andtheirs. The strong possessive is a type ofindependent genitive. A possessive pronoun never takes anapostrophe.
Reciprocal Pronouns
A reciprocal pronoun expresses a mutual action or relationship. In English, the reciprocal pronouns areeach otherandone another, as in this example:
"Leadership and learning are indispensable toeach other."
- John F. Kennedy, in a speech prepared for delivery on the day of hisassassination, Nov. 22, 1963
Someusageguides insist thateach othershould be used to refer to two people or things, andone anotherto more than two.
Relative Pronouns
Arelative pronounintroduces anadjective clause(also called arelative clause), as in:
"Spaghetti at her table,whichwas offered at least three times a week, was a mysterious red, white, and brown concoction."
- Maya Angelou, "Mom & Me & Mom"
The standard relative pronouns in English arewhich, that, who, whom,andwhose.Whoandwhomrefer only to people.Whichrefers to things, qualities, and ideas—never to people.Thatandwhoserefer to people, things, qualities, and ideas.
Source
"What is a Demonstrative Pronoun?" Ginger Software, 2019.
