PRONOUNS

Personal – Subject, Object, and PossessiveReflexive and Intensive

What is a pronoun?

A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or another pronoun.

Like a noun, a pronoun can refer to a person, place, thing, or idea.

The word that personal pronoun refers to is called its antecedent.

Personal Pronouns

Pronouns such as we, I, he, them, and it are called personal pronouns.

Personal pronouns change form to reflect person, number, and case.

Person and Number

Personal pronouns have different forms for first person, second person, and third person.

Pronouns can be singular or plural in number.

Singular Plural

First Person: I went out. We left early.

Second Person: You left too. You are all leaving.

Third Person: He came by bus.

They came by car.

Case

Personal pronouns can change their forms, or cases, depending on how they are used in a sentence. Each pronoun has three cases: subject, object, and possessive.

Subject: He just started middle school.

Object: Scott met him on the first day.

Possessive: Now Scott is his best friend.

Pronouns

Notice how personal pronouns change according to their person, number, and case.

Subject Object Possessive

SingularFirst PersonSecond PersonThird Person

Iyouhe, she, it

meyouhim, her, it

my, mineyour, yourshis, her, hers, its

PluralFirst PersonSecond PersonThird Person

weyouthey

usyouthem

our, oursyour, yourstheir, theirs

Subject Pronouns

A subject pronoun is used as the subject of a sentence or as a predicate pronoun after a linking verb.

*We will not test on predicate pronouns.

Singular Plural

I we

you you

he, she, it they

Subject pronouns

Use the subject case of a pronoun when the pronoun is the subject of a sentence. Remember, a pronoun can be part of a compound subject.

Friends often play on opposing teams. They compete hard against each other. (They replaces noun subject Friends.)

Charlene and I play on different teams. We stay friends no matter what.

Object pronouns

Object pronouns are personal pronouns used as direct objects or as indirect objects.

Singular Plural

me us

you you

Him, her, it them

Object pronouns con’t.

Direct Object: receives the action of a verb and answers the question whom or what? Do you like them too? (Like what? Them)

Indirect Object: tells to whom or what an action is performed. People gave him a hero’s welcome. (Gave a

hero’s welcome to whom? Him) **Note: always use the object pronoun after the preposition between.

The books were divided between Mike and me. (Not between Mike and I)

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are personal pronouns used to show ownership or relationship.

Singular Plural

my, mine our, ours

your, yours your, yours

her, hers, his, its their, theirs

Possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns my, your, her, his, our, and their come before nouns.

Some of my best friends live in other countries

All our correspondence is by e-mail.

Even their old computers are online now.

Possessive Pronouns

The possessive pronouns mine, ours, your, his, hers, and theirs can stand alone in a sentence.

The blue mouse pad is theirs. Ours is red.

Is that video game yours? Mine is broken.

Is his any good? Or should we play hers?

Possessive Pronouns and Contractions

Some possessive pronouns sound like contractions (its/it’s, your/you’re, their/they’re). Because these pairs sound alike, writers often confuse possessive pronouns and contractions.

Remember, possessive pronouns never use an apostrophe. Contractions always use an apostrophe.

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Pronouns that end in –self or –selves are either reflexive or intensive pronouns.

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns Myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself,

ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Reflexive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun refers to the subject and directs the action of the verb back to the subject. It “reflects” the subject.

The winners considered themselves lucky.▪ Themselves reflects winners

When you drop reflexive pronoun from the sentence, the sentence no longer makes sense.

Intensive Pronouns

An intensive pronoun emphasizes the noun or pronoun in the same sentence.

The players themselves designed their uniforms.▪ Themselves emphasizes players

When you drop the intensive pronoun from the sentence, the sentence still makes sense.

VERY IMPORTANT!

Hisself and theirselves are not words!

They may look like words. You may have a habit of using them. However, these are NOT words!

Use himself and themselves instead