Pronouns

José Ricardo Gamero

University of El Salvador
Definition
• A pronoun can replace a noun or another
pronoun.
• You use pronouns like "he," "which,"
"none," and "you" to make your sentences
less cumbersome (awkward, clumsy,
inconvenient) and less repetitive.
Classification
• Grammarians classify pronouns into
several types:
– the personal pronoun,
– the demonstrative pronoun,
– the interrogative pronoun,
– the indefinite pronoun,
– the relative pronoun,
– the reflexive pronoun, and
– the intensive pronoun.
Personal Pronouns

• A personal pronoun refers to a specific

person or thing and changes its form to
indicate person, number, gender, and
case.
Person
• Personal pronouns always belong to one
of three persons:
– first person if they refer to the speaker or
writer (or to a group including the speaker or
writer),
– second person if they refer to the audience
of the speaker or writer (or to a group
including the audience),
– and third person if they refer to anyone else.
Person
• Note the differences in person in the following
examples:
– First Person: I, we
– I will come tomorrow.
– Bob showed the budget to us.
– Second Person: you
– You should not forget to vote.
– Where is your coat?
– Third Person: he, she, it, they
– She didn’t come to class today.
– It arrived yesterday.
– How can you stand working with them?
Number
• The number of a noun or pronoun is
either singular, if it refers to one thing, or
plural, if it refers to more than one thing.

• Note the difference in number in the

following examples:
Number

• Singular
• That woman is concerned about this issue.
• She is concerned about this issue.
• Plural
• Those women are concerned about this issue.
• They are concerned about this issue.
Gender
• Unlike the Romance languages (such as
French, Spanish, and Italian), English has
three genders for nouns and pronouns:
• masculine,
• feminine, and
• neuter.
Pronoun Case
• Pronoun Case is really a very simple
matter. There are three cases.
• 1. Subjective case: pronouns used as
subject.
2. Objective case: pronouns used as
objects of verbs or prepositions.
3. Possessive case: pronouns which
express ownership.
Pronoun case

Pronouns that
Pronouns as Pronouns as
show
SUBJECTS OBJECTS POSSESSION
I me my (mine)
you you your (yours)
his, her (hers),
he, she, it him, her, it
it (its)
we us our (ours)
they them their (theirs)
who whom whose
Practice
Classify the following pronouns
according to person, number, gender
and case.
1. she
2. mine
3. us
4. we
5. you
Subjective Personal Pronouns

• A subjective personal pronoun indicates

that the pronoun is acting as the subject of
the sentence.
• The subjective personal pronouns are "I,"
"you," "she," "he," "it," "we," "you," "they."
• In the following sentences, each of the
highlighted words is a subjective
personal pronoun and acts as the subject
of the sentence:
Subjective Personal Pronouns
1. I was glad to find the bus pass in the bottom of
the green knapsack.
2. You are surely the strangest child I have ever
met.
3. When she was a young woman, she earned
her living as a coal miner.
4. After many years, they returned to their
homeland.
5. We will meet at the library at 3:30 p.m.
6. It is on the counter.
7. Are you the delegates from El Salvador?
Objective Personal Pronouns

• An objective personal pronoun indicates

that the pronoun is acting as an object of a
verb, compound verb, preposition, or
infinitive phrase.

• The objective personal pronouns are:

"me," "you," "her," "him," "it," "us," "you,"
and "them."
Objective Personal Pronouns
In the following sentences, each of the
highlighted words is an objective personal
pronoun:

Carla found the lost boy and took him with her.

The objective personal pronoun "him" is the

direct object of the verb “took" and the objective
personal pronoun "her" is the object of the
preposition "with."
Objective Personal Pronouns
• After reading the pamphlet, Judy threw it into the
garbage can.

The pronoun "it" is the direct object of the verb "threw".

• The agitated assistant stood up and faced the angry

delegates and said, "Our leader will address you in five
minutes."

In this sentence, the pronoun "you" is the direct object of

the verb "address."
Objective Personal Pronouns
• Deborah and Roberta will meet us at the newest
café in the market.

Here the objective personal pronoun "us" is the

direct object of the compound verb "will meet.“

• Give the list to me.

Here the objective personal pronoun "me" is the

object of the preposition "to".
Objective Personal Pronouns
• I'm not sure that my contact will talk to you.

Similarly in this example, the objective personal

pronoun "you" is the object of the preposition
"to".

• Christopher was surprised to see her at the

drag races.

Here the objective personal pronoun "her" is the

object of the infinitive phrase "to see."
Practice
• In each of the following sentences, you
must select the appropriate pronoun
form.

1. It's up to (us,we) geologists to warn the

people of impending volcanic activity.
Practice
2. The principal made Jayden and (I, me)
repair the damage to the auditorium wall.
3. The writers of the bylaws, Micki and (he,
him) presented a report to the senate.
4. If it were up to Marylynn and (I, me) the
room would have been painted yellow.
Practice
5. Josie, Mary, and (he, him) rode their
bikes all the way to New Hampshire.
6. The boss was worried that (we, us)
secretaries wouldn't do the work without
additional compensation.
7. The family's running out of money, but
that's a secret between his mother and
(he, him).
Practice
8. I really don't appreciate (you, your)
walking late into class every morning.
9. The only students in the cafeteria this
morning were Jayden and (I, me).
10. I don't want anybody but (she, her)
working on this project.