A
pronoun is a part of a speech that takes the place of a noun.Pronouns can do
all of the things that nouns. can do. They can be subjects, direct objects,
indirect objects, object of the preposition, and more. he, she, it, they,
someone, who,I, mine, his, hers, we, theirs, and ours are examples of pronouns.
Examples:
•
The largest slice is mine.
•
We are number one.
•
He is a blind mountain climber.
Antecedent:
An
antecedent is the noun that a pronoun is replacing or referring to. Not all
pronouns have antecedents.Sometimes we don't know whom exactly we are talking
about.
Example:
•
Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States.
•
He said, "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work,
the more I have of it.''
•
In the second example, We dont know the person whom we are speaking about.
•
In the first example, we know whom we are speaking about.
•
When combing two examples, we know that the antecedent for "he' is Thomas
Jefferson.
Difference
between Noun and Pronoun:
Noun:
Nouns
are the names of things, people, animals, places, qualities, actions,
activities, emotions and ideas. They are usually single words, but not always.
Pronoun:
A
pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns refer
to nouns that have already been mentioned or are about to be mentioned.
Examples:
I
am a teacher.
Noun:
teacher; Pronoun: I
You
are a student.
Noun:
student; Pronoun: You
He
is a guitar player
Noun:
player; Pronoun: He
She
is a mother.
Noun:
mother; Pronoun: she
It
is a radio.
Noun:
radio; Pronoun: It
CLASSIFICATION
OF PRONOUNS
Pronouns
are classified into following types:
1.
Personal Pronouns
2.
Possessive Pronouns
3.
Demonstrative Pronouns
4.
Reflexive Pronouns
5.
Relative Pronouns
6.
Reciprocal Pronouns
1.PERSONAL
PRONOUNS:
A
personal pronoun refers a specific person or object or group of things
directly.They are He, I, she, you, it, they me,, who, him, whom her, them etc.
A
person pronoun describes a person or a thing in following ways:
1st Person: (the person who speaks)
Examples:
I, we, me, us
2nd Person: (the person who is spoken to)
Examples:
you
3rd Person: (a person or a thing which is spoken about).
Examples:
she, he, they, it, her, him, them
Examples:
He
bought some nice books.
She
shouted for help.
Personal
pronouns substitute for a certain thing or person and are classified by
subjective, objective, and possessive:
Subjective personal pronouns are the subject of the sentence and are I, we,
you, he, she, it, and they
Objective personal pronouns are the object of a preposition, verb, or
infinitive phrase. These are me, us, you, him, her, it, and them
Possessive personal pronouns show ownership. They are mine, ours, yours, his,
hers, its, and theirs
2.POSSESSIVE
PRONOUNS:
A
possessive pronoun describes a close possession to or an ownership of or
relationship to a noun (a person or a thing).They are his, yours, hers, mine,
ours, theirs, mine, etc
Examples:
•
This book is yours.
•
This laptop is mine.
•
That car is hers.
3.REFLEXIVE
PRONOUN:
A
reflexive pronoun expresses a noun when the subject's action affects (or
influences) the subject itself. They are herself, yourself, himself, ourselves,
itself, themselves, are few reflexive pronouns.
A
reflexive pronoun always acts as an object, not as subject, and it expresses
inter&influence between a subject and the object.
Examples:
•
She was looking to herself in the picture.
•
She locked herself in a room.
•
He prepared himself for the test.
•
They considered themselves the happiest people of the world.
4.RECIPROCAL
PRONOUNS:
A
reciprocal pronoun is used when two or more nouns (subjects) are reciprocating
to each other or one another in some action.A reciprocal pronoun is used if two
sor more subjects act in a same manner towards each other or one another.There
are two reciprocal pronouns in English language.
They
are one another and each other.
Examples:
•
Sara and John love each other.
•
The people in the party greeted one another.
5.RELATIVE
PRONOUNS:
A
relative pronoun is a word which is used in relation to a noun and modifies
(gives more information
about)
the same noun. (OR)
Relative
pronouns are those pronouns that join relative clauses and the relative
sentences.They are which, who, that, whom, whose etc.
Example:
She
is the girl, who sings songs.
The
word "who' in above example is a relative pronoun that modifies the
noun(girl). The same pronoun joins the sentence "she is the girl' to a
clause "sings songs'.
Examples:
•
It is the dog which barks at strangers.
•
The girl who is walking in the garden is very beautiful
6.DEMONSTRATIVE
PRONOUNS
A
demonstrative pronoun is the pronoun which points to a noun (a thing or
things).They are hat, this, those, these, none, neither e.t.c.
In a short distance (or in terms of time): This, these.
In a long distance (or in terms of time): That, those.
Examples:
•
This is a book.
•
That is a car.
•
These are ducks.
•
Those are birds.
•
Can you see that?
RULES
FOR PRONOUN:
Rule
1:
Subject
pronouns are used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. I, he, she,
we, they, who,whoever, etc, are examples of subject pronouns.
Examples:
I
did the job.
Rule
2:
Subject
pronouns are also used if they rename the subject. They will follow to be
verbs, such as is, are, was, were, am, will be, had been, etc.
Examples:
•
It might have been she
•
It is I who left the chair there..
•
It is we who are responsible for this decision.
NOTE:
In informal English, most people tend to follow to be verbs with object
pronouns like me, her, them.
Examples:
•
It could have been them.
•
Technically correct: It could have been they.
•
It is just me at the door.
•
Technically correct: It is just I at the door.
Rule
3:
When
"who' refers to a personal pronoun (I, you, he, she, we, they), it takes
the verb that agrees with that pronoun.
Examples:
•
Correct: It is I who am sorry.
•
Incorrect: It is I who is sorry.
•
Correct: It is you who are mistaken.
•
Incorrect: It is you who's mistaken.
Rule
4:
In
addition to subject pronouns, there are also object pronouns, known more
specifically as direct object, indirect object, and object of a preposition.
Object pronouns include me, him, herself, us, them, themselves.
Examples:
•
Jean saw him.(Him is the direct object of the verb saw.)
•
Give her the book.
•
(The direct object of give is book, and her is the indirect object.)
Indirect
objects always have an implied to or for in front of them.
Examples:
•
Give [to] her the book.
•
Do [for] me a favor.
•
Are you talking to me?(Me is the object of the preposition to.)
Rule
5:
The
pronouns who, that, and which become singular or plural depending on the
subject. If the subject is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use
a plural verb.
Examples:
He
is the only one of those men who is always on time.(The word who refers to one.
Therefore, use the singular verb "is'.)
He
is one of those men who are always on time.(The word who refers to men. Therefore,
use the plural verb are.)
Rule
6:
Pronouns
that are singular require singular verbs. The singular pronouns are I, he, she,
everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, no one, nobody, someone, somebody, each,
either, neither, etc. This rule is frequently overlooked when using the
pronouns each, either, and neither, followed by of. Those three pronouns always
take singular verbs. Do not be misled by what follows of.
Examples:
•
Each of the girls sings well.
•
Either of us is capable of doing the job.
•
Neither of them is available to speak right now.
Exception:
When
each follows a noun or pronoun in certain sentences, even experienced writers
sometimes get tripped up:
•
Incorrect: The women each gave her approval.
•
Correct: The women each gave their approval.
•
Incorrect: The words are and there each ends with a silent vowel.
•
Correct: The words are and there each end with a silent vowel.
These
examples do not contradict Rule 6, because each is not the subject, but rather
an adjunct describing the true subject.
Rule
7:
To
decide whether to use the subject or object pronoun after the words than or as,
mentally complete the sentence.
Examples:
•
Mohan is as smart as she/her.
•
Zoe is taller than I/me.
•
Mentally completing the sentence, we have Zoe is taller than I am.
•
Daniel would rather talk to her than I/me.
•
In the above example, We can interpret this sentence in two ways. Daniel would rather
talk to her
than
to me. (OR)
•
Daniel would rather talk to her than I would. A sentence's meaning can change
considerably,
depending
on the pronoun you choose.
Rule
8:
The
possessive pronouns yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, and whose never need
apostrophes. Avoid mistakes like her's and your's.
Rule
9:
The
only time it's has an apostrophe is when it is a contraction for it is or it
has. The only time who's has an apostrophe is when it means who is or who has.
There is no apostrophe in oneself. Avoid "one's self," a common
error.
Examples:
•
It's been a cold morning.
•
He's the one who's always on time.
•
Keeping oneself ready is important.
Rule
10:
Pronouns
that end in &self or &selves are called reflexive pronouns. There are
nine reflexive pronouns. They are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself,
oneself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.
Reflexive
pronouns are used when both the subject and the object of a verb are the same
person or thing.
Example:
Joe helped himself.
If
the object of a preposition refers to a previous noun or pronoun, reflexive
pronoun has to be used.
Example:
Joe bought it for himself.
Don't
use myself unless the pronoun I or me precedes it in the sentence.
Example:
•
Incorrect: My brother and myself did it.
•
Correct: My brother and I did it.
Myself
refers back to me in the act of being.
Example:
•
Incorrect: Please give it to John or myself.
•
Correct: Please give it to John or me.
Correct:
You saw me being myself.
In
certain cases, a reflexive pronoun may come first.
Example:
•
Doubting himself, the man proceeded cautiously.
•
Reflexive pronouns are also used for emphasis.
Example:
He
himself finished the whole job.
Rule
11:
The
use of they and their with singular pronouns is frowned upon by many
traditionalists. To be consistent,
it
is a good practice to try to avoid they and its variants (e.g., them, their,
themselves) with previously
singular
nouns or pronouns.
•
Inconsistent: Someone has to do it, and they have to
do it well.
•
Technically correct: Someone has to do it, and he or she
has to do it well.
•
Rewritten: Someone has to do it, and has to do it
well.
•
Inconsistent: No one realizes when their time is up.
•
Awkward: No one realizes when his or her time is
up.
•
Rewritten: None realize when their time is up.
•
Inconsistent: If you see anyone on the trail, tell
them to be careful.
•
Awkward: If you see anyone on the trail, tell him
or her to be careful.
•
Rewritten: Tell anyone you see on the trail to be
careful.
Rule
12:
When
a pronoun is linked with a noun by and, mentally remove the and + noun phrase
to avoid trouble.
Examples:
•
Incorrect: Her and her friend came over.
•
Correct: She and her friend came over.
•
Incorrect: I invited he and his wife.
•
Correct: I invited him and his wife.
•
Incorrect: Bill asked my sister and I.
•
Correct: Bill asked my sister and me.
Rule
13:
If
two people possess the same item, and one of the joint owners is written as a
pronoun, use the possessive form for both.
Examples:
•
Incorrect: Maribel and my home
•
Correct: Maribel's and my home
•
Incorrect: he and Maribel's home
•
Correct: his and Maribel's home
•
Incorrect: you and Maribel's home
•
Incorrect: yours and Maribel's home
Correct:
Maribel's and your home
Note:
As the above examples demonstrate, when one of the co&owners is written as
a pronoun, use
possessive
adjectives (my, your, her, our, their). Avoid possessive pronouns (mine, yours,
hers, ours, theirs) in such constructions.
NOTE:
Do not combine a subject pronoun and an object pronoun in phrases like her and
I or he
and
me. Whenever and or or links an object pronoun (her, me) and a subject pronoun
(he, I), one of
those
pronouns will always be wrong.
Example:
•
Incorrect: Her and I went home.
•
Correct: She and I went home.
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