Definition of Pronouns
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition and simplify sentences. For example:
Instead of saying, "John is a boy. John likes football," we use, "John is a boy. He likes football."
Importance of Pronouns in Communication
Pronouns make our sentences less repetitive and more fluid. Imagine how tedious it would be to repeat the same nouns in every sentence!
Types of Pronouns
1. Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns are used to replace people's or objects’ names to avoid the repetition of words e.g. I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
Personal pronouns used in sentences:
→ My name is Jacob. I love to sing. In the above sentence ‘I’ is used instead of using the word ‘Jacob’ again.
→ Brad bought a new puppy. Its name is Cooper. In this sentence, ‘its’ is used because we are talking about an animal dog.
2. Possessive Pronouns
Pronouns which are used to indicate possession of something by someone are called possessive pronouns e.g. mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.
3. Reflexive Pronouns
Pronouns that reflect the subject are called reflexive pronouns e.g. myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
Take a look at the following sentences:
→ I hurt myself while running. In this sentence, the subject was running and got hurt. The action reflected to the subject therefore the reflexive pronoun ‘myself’ is used.
→ He taught himself to cook. ‘Himself’ is used as the reflexive pronoun in this sentence because the subject taught himself to play the piano.
4. Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are words that are used in place of nouns. They tell us whether something is singular or plural
Demonstrative pronouns used in sentences:
→ These are Paul’s toys. ‘These’ is the demonstrative pronoun used in this sentence to show that toys are near someone.
→ This is my favourite bag. ‘This’ is used as the demonstrative pronoun when a singular noun or singular something is near the subject.
5. Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are used to relate one part of the sentence to another e.g. who, whom, whose, which, that.
Relative nouns used in sentences:
→ The book that I borrowed from the library was boring. In the above sentence ‘that’ is a reflexive pronoun.
→ The car, which was parked in front of the building, was blue. In this sentence ‘which’ is a relative pronoun as it relates one part of the sentence to another.
6. Interrogative Pronouns
We ask questions using interrogative pronouns e.g. who, whom, whose, which, what.
Look at the following sentences:
→ Who is the owner of this house? ‘Who’ is the interrogative pronoun which is used to ask questions.
→ What is your name? ‘What’ is used to inquire about people or objects.
7. Indefinite Pronouns
We use indefinite pronouns when we refer to something or someone without mentioning them e.g. someone, anyone, everyone, none, few, many.
Look at the sentence where indefinite pronouns are used:
→ Everyone is invited to my party. ‘Everyone’ is an indefinite pronoun which is used because in this sentence the people are not defined.
→ Someone is waiting for you. ‘Someone’ is an indefinite pronoun as it does not specify who is waiting.
8. Reciprocal Pronouns
These show mutual actions or relationships e.g. each other, one another.
Example: They respect each other’s opinions.
