Pronouns

Pronouns often take the place of nouns or other words functioning as nouns so that you do not have to repeat words that have already been mentioned. A word or word group that a pronoun replaces or refers to is called the antecedent of the pronoun.

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Pronouns fall into several categories.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things. Each can take several forms (I, me, my, mine) depending on its function in the sentence.

I, me, you, he, she, him, her, it, we, they, them

When Keisha saw the dogs again, she called them, and they ran to her.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are personal pronouns that indicate ownership.

my, mine, your, yours, her, hers, his, its, our, ours, their, theirs

My roommate lost her keys.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns refer to the subject of the sentence or clause in which they appear. They end in -self or -selves.

myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

The seals sunned themselves on the warm rocks.

Intensive pronouns

Intensive pronouns have the same form as reflexive pronouns. They emphasize a noun or another pronoun.

He decided to paint the apartment himself.

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to specific nouns, although they may refer to identifiable persons or things. The following is a partial list:

all, another, anybody, both, each, either, everything, few, many, most, neither, none, no one, nothing, one, some, something

Everybody screamed, and someone fainted, when the lights went out.

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns identify or point to specific nouns.

this, that, these, those

These are Peter’s books.

Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions.

who, which, what

Who can help set up the chairs for the meeting?

Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce dependent clauses and relate the dependent clause to the rest of the sentence. The interrogative pronoun who and the relative pronouns who and whoever have different forms depending on how they are used in a sentence.

who, which, that, what, whoever, whichever, whatever

Maya, who hires interns, is the manager whom you should contact.

Reciprocal pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns refer to individual parts of a plural antecedent.

each other, one another

The business failed because the partners distrusted each other.