Pronoun Definition & Meaning | English Learners

PRONOUNS

Every day, you use pronouns. In fact, even if you don't know what pronouns are, you use them—and we've now used pronouns four times in this sentence alone.

When your reader or listener already knows which nouns you're referring to, you use pronouns to replace them. For instance, you could say, "I have a dog." He has brown and white hair." You don't need to specify that you're describing your dog in the second sentence because you mentioned him in the first. However, following "I have a dog" with "brown and white" is grammatically incorrect... so, using the pronoun "he's," you turn the phrase "brown and white" into a complete sentence: He's brown and white.

Pronouns do far more than convert phrases into sentences. They provide context, clarify the meanings of your sentences, and shape how we perceive people and things. Continue reading to learn about the various uses of pronouns and how to use them to construct sentences. There's a lot to learn about pronouns, and even if you already know a lot of it subconsciously, reading a comprehensive guide to pronoun uses and purposes (complete with examples!) can help you improve your English grammar and become a better writer.

What is a Pronoun?

Pronouns are short words that we use to replace other nouns in our writing and speech to make it faster and more varied. They are phrases such as:

They                            Them

I                                     He

You                                We

Who                            It

Themselves                one another

Pronouns are a small subset of nouns. Pronouns are distinguished by the fact that they can be used in place of other nouns. If you keep repeating "Sarah" over and over again while telling a story about your sister Sarah, the story will become repetitive. As an example:

        Sarah has always been interested in fashion. 

        Sarah stated that she wishes to attend fashion school.

You could try to mix it up by referring to Sarah as "my sister" at times, but that makes it sound like you're referring to two different people:

        Sarah has always been interested in fashion. 

        Sarah has expressed an interest in attending fashion school, according to my sister.

Instead, you can refer to Sarah with the pronouns she and her:

        Sarah has always been interested in fashion. 

        She stated that she wishes to attend fashion school.

Pronouns can stand in for both proper and common nouns. Certain pronouns have strict rules about when they can be used, such as never referring to a human being. All of the different types and their associated rules are explained below.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are most likely what come to mind when you think of pronouns. Personal pronouns are those that refer to specific people or groups. Personal pronouns include the following:

I/me

She/her

He/him

They/them

We/us

You

Here are some examples of personal pronouns in italics, with the nouns to which they refer bolded:

        Today is the first day for the new student. They will require a seat assignment as well as a name tag.

        My family enjoys nachos. Every Friday for movie night, we make them.

Notice how nachos (a noun) and them (a pronoun) aren't emphasized in the second example sentence. That's because they aren't a personal pronoun in this sentence because they aren't replacing a proper noun, but rather we are.

Antecedents

Remember how we said that in order to use a pronoun, you must first introduce the noun? That noun is known as an antecedent.

Because pronouns are so versatile, antecedents are required. Consider this: "it" can refer to a bike, a tree, a car, or a city, and we just used it to refer to something entirely different: the adaptability of pronouns. Consider the following examples to see how antecedents and pronouns interact:

        My family challenges my patience, but I adore them.

        Jorge couldn't read the sign because it was too far away.

        Danita stated that she is nearly finished with the application.

When the reader/listener knows who or what you're talking about, antecedents aren't required. In general, pronouns like I, you, we, our, and me do not require an antecedent. However, because there are no absolutes in grammar, there are times when an antecedent is required, such as when giving a speech in which you introduce yourself and your credentials before discussing your accomplishments.

In some cases, you may not introduce the noun first and instead reveal it after referring to your subject with only pronouns. In a piece of creative writing, you could do this for dramatic or poetic effect.

Pronouns of proximity

Another type of pronoun is the relative pronoun. They link relative and independent clauses. They frequently introduce new information about something mentioned in the sentence. Relative pronouns include the following words:

that

what

which

who

whom

Who is traditionally used to refer to people, while which and that are used to refer to animals or things. Here are some examples of relative pronouns in action:

        The previous caller did not leave a message.

        All of the dogs who were adopted today will be cherished.

        My nearly twenty-year-old car still runs smoothly.

Subject and Object Pronouns: Who vs. Whom

Many writers get confused about when to use who and when to use whom. The distinction is actually quite straightforward: who is the subject of a sentence and who is the object of a verb or preposition. Here's a simple example:

Who sent this package?

Who received this package?

Can you tell the difference? What exactly is a subject pronoun? It belongs to the same group as I, he, she, they, and we. Whom is an object pronoun, so it belongs to the same family as me, him, her, them, and us. To determine whether you should use who or whom in a sentence, answer the sentence's question with another pronoun. Determine whether the sentence still makes sense with the new pronoun in place. As an example:

He sent this package.

He received the package.

Because it typically comes before the sentence's verb, knowing when to use whom can be more difficult than knowing when to use who—notice how the example object pronoun sentence changed more dramatically than the subject pronoun sentence.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns include that, this, these, and those. They replace a noun or noun phrase that has already been mentioned or is obvious from context in written or verbal communication.

This is used for single items that are close together. These are used for multiple items that are close together. The distance can be both literal and metaphorical. Consider the following examples:

Please find enclosed a letter with no return address. Who could possibly have sent this?

What a brilliant idea! This is the most wonderful thing I've heard all day.

Try smelling these if you like the smell of gardenias.

This is used for single items that are located far away. These are used for multiple distant items. Again, the distance can be literal or figurative. Here are some examples of how these pronouns are used:

That kind of house would be a nice place to live.

Last week, some new soda flavors arrived. Why don't you give some of them a shot?

They're not swans, but geese.

Indefinite Pronouns

When referring to a person or thing that does not need to be specifically identified, indefinite pronouns are used. One, other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one are examples of common indefinite pronouns.

Here are some sentences with indefinite pronouns:

Because of the traffic jam, everyone was late for work.

Some people care more than others.

Nobody knows about the trouble I've witnessed.

When indefinite pronouns serve as subjects in a sentence or clause, singular verbs are usually used.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are those that end in -self or -selves:

Myself

Yourself

Himself

Herself

Itself

Oneself

Ourselves

Yourselves

Themselves

When both the subject and object of a verb refer to the same person or thing, use a reflexive pronoun. Here are a couple of examples:

She checked out of the hotel thirty minutes before it closed.

Take good care of yourself.

Using myself when you mean me is a common error made by writers and speakers. When the subject and object of a sentence are the same, reflexive pronouns are correct.

Intensive pronouns

Intensive pronouns have the same appearance as reflexive pronouns, but they serve a different purpose. Intensive pronouns emphasize the point. It can be difficult to distinguish between them and reflexive pronouns because the emphasis isn't always obvious. Examine the following examples of intensive pronouns to see how they differ from the examples in the previous section:

I assured them that I could do it myself.

We asked ourselves, "Is it really worth saving this business?"

If you can remove a pronoun from a sentence and the meaning remains the same, it is most likely an intensive pronoun. Consider the following two sentences:

This house was built by me.

This house was built entirely by myself.

Notice how the second one emphasizes the builder's lack of outside assistance? Intensive pronouns can help you express pride, surprise, disbelief, credulity (or incredulity), or any other strong emotion. Here are some additional examples:

They walked the entire Appalachian Trail?

Did you happen to see Loretta spill the coffee?

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are pronouns that indicate ownership. Among them are the following:

My

Your

Our

Their

His

Her

Its

If they modify a noun in a sentence, they are also known as possessive adjectives. Consider the following examples of possessive adjectives in use:

My bike collided with a telephone pole.

Your home is always beautifully decorated.

This category also includes possessive pronouns with independent forms. These are some examples:

Mine

Yours

Ours

His

Hers

Theirs

Its

When you use an independent possessive pronoun, you leave out the noun that it refers to. Here are a couple of examples:

I gave her my jacket because she had forgotten hers.

I had no idea who had won the auction until my cousins told me.

Interrogative pronouns

In questions, interrogative pronouns are used. Who, what, which, and whose are the interrogative pronouns. Here are some examples of interrogative pronouns in action:

Who would like a bag of jelly beans?

What is your given name?

Which film do you want to see?

Which one is this?

Reciprocal Pronouns

Only two reciprocal pronouns exist:

one another

each other

These pronouns refer to two or more people who are both sentence subjects. Consider the following examples:

Javier and Priya, our team's two top salespeople, are competing for Salesperson of the Year.

My siblings are all blaming each other for allowing the boa constrictor to escape last Thanksgiving.

Distributive pronouns

People, animals, and objects are referred to as individuals within larger groups by distributive pronouns. They allow you to identify individuals while also acknowledging that they are part of a larger group. The following are examples of distributive pronouns:

Either

Each

Neither

Any

None

Here are some sentences with distributive pronouns:

My friends all entered the costume contest, but none of them won.

Dessert options include cookies and muffins. Neither appeals to me.

Pronoun examples

As you can see, pronouns have a lot of functions. There are many of them. To make matters even more complicated, many pronouns change forms when used in different parts of a sentence or in different tenses.

At a glance, here are the various types of pronouns and their forms:

Type	Pronouns in this category	Example sentences
Personal	I/me, they/them, he/him, she/her, it, we/us, you	I brought all the snacks. We weren’t planning on staying over.
Relative	That, what, which, who, whom	My car, which is twenty years old, doesn’t connect to Bluetooth. The professor who ran the meeting ended it promptly
Demonstrative	That, this, these, those	You’ve seen clear quartz and smoky quartz, but have you seen these stones? I ordered Hawaiian pizza. I like that a lot.
Indefinite	One, other, some, none, everybody, anybody, no one, nobody, both	We need cashiers up front. Anybody who’s available, please report to the front end. “Why can’t we fix this?” I asked nobody in particular.
Reflexive	Myself, yourself/yourselves, themself/themselves, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves	The car began to swerve, then corrected itself. He made himself a sandwich.
Intensive	Myself, yourself/yourselves, themself/themselves, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves	You did all of this yourself? She did the entire group project by herself.
Possessive	My, your, his, her, their, our, its, whose	We’re lounging out by our pool. His car is green.
Interrogative	Who, what, which, whose	Whose bike is this? What is the answer?
Reciprocal	Each other, one another	We ran into each other on the subway. They’ve been fighting with one another for decades.
Distributive	Either, each, neither, any, none	Peanut butter or chocolate? I’m good with either.  There were four cats, and none had long hair.

Gender identity and pronouns

You may have noticed pronouns in the email signatures or social media profiles of some of your colleagues and friends. You may have even been asked to include your pronouns in your own. While he/him/his and she/her/hers were traditionally used for individuals based solely on their gender, pronoun usage is now broader and more descriptive.

Many people prefer gender-neutral pronouns like they/them/theirs and zie/hir/hirs because they believe they more accurately express their gender identity than she or he. The singular they is the most commonly used gender-neutral pronoun. Nowadays, the singular they is frequently used as the default neutral pronoun. It's what we use on the Grammarly blog, and it's a concise catch-all pronoun that can fit almost any sentence for writers all over the internet. However, language is constantly changing, and new types of singular third-person pronouns, such as noun-self pronouns, have emerged that refer to people without regard for gender.