PRONOUNS

“Pro” denotes “for the sake of”, “in place of” or “in favour of” and “Noun” denotes a word that names anything.
So a word that is used in place of a Noun is called a pronoun. A pronoun has similar action to a noun.

Pronouns are of 8 kinds. They are:

1. Personal pronoun (Including Possessive pronoun) = I, we, you, he, she, they, it.
(Possessive =mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, its)
2. Demonstrative pronoun = this, that, these, those.
3. Reflexive pronoun (including Emphatic pronoun) = myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself,
herself, itself, themselves.
4. Interrogative pronoun = who, which, what, whose, whom
5. Relative pronoun = who, which, that, what, whatever, whichever, whoever
6. Distributive pronoun = Each, Either, Neither
7. Indefinite pronoun = one, any, some
8. Reciprocal pronoun = Each other, One another.
Personal pronouns: Personal pronouns replace the names of persons or names of things.
I, We, you, He, She, They etc. are used for persons. It, They, Them etc. are
used for things or for lower animals.
(The fox is an animal. It is very cunning. Or) The baby is crying for its mother.)

Examples: 1) I am a boy. 2) He is a student. 3) We are playing football. 4) She loves to draw. Etc.

There are three persons of pronouns. They are: 1) First person, 2) Second person 3) Third person

1) First (1st) person is the person speaking. (I, Me, Mine, We, Us, Ours)
nd
2) Second (2 ) person is the person spoken to. (You, Yours)
3) Third person (3rd) is the person spoken about. (He, Him, His, She, Her, Hers, It, They Them, Theirs)
(Remember - all nouns belong to third person)

Possessive pronouns: A pronoun that shows possession or ownership. (Belongs to)

1) The house of hers is beautiful. 2) This pen is mine. 3) This toy is hers.

But if a possessive pronoun is used with a noun to describe the noun, the possessive pronoun will appear to be
a possessive adjective.
1) This is his house. (his – possessive adjective describing the noun house)
2. This is my pen. (my – possessive adjective describing the noun pen)

Different forms of personal pronouns:

Persons Numbers Pronouns used as Possessive Possessive Pronouns used as

subjects (subjective) pronouns adjectives objects (objective)
I, Mine, My, Me,
Singular number 1) I am a boy 1) This pen is 1) This is my pen. 1) He saw me.
1st persons mine.
We, Ours, Our, Us,
Plural number 1) We are students. 1) This garden is 1) This is our house. 1) Teacher gave us this
ours. task.
 Persons Numbers Pronouns used as Possessive Possessive Pronouns used as
subjects (subjective) pronouns adjectives objects (objective)
You, Yours, Your, You,
Singular number 1) You are intelligent. 1) Is this house 1) Is this your house? 1) I had seen you.
2nd persons yours?
You, Yours, Your, You,
Plural number Same as above Same as above Same as above Same as above

He, she, it, Hers, his, His, her, its, Him, her, it,
i) He is a boy. i) This toy is his. i) This is his book. i) I saw him.
Singular number ii) She reads in class v. ii) This house of ii) It is her pen. ii) I gave her this pen.
3rd persons iii) It is my toy. hers is beautiful. ii) The puppy is crying iii) She knew it.
for its mother.
They, Theirs, Their Them,
Plural number 1) They are playing 1) This house is 1) It is their house. 1) Teacher gave them
chess. theirs. homework.

Reflexive Pronoun (Including Emphatic pronoun):

Pronouns with self words when used as receiver of an action are called reflexive pronouns.
Ex: myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, itself, himself, herself, themselves etc.

1) I locked the door myself.

2) I have done this myself.
3) She has painted the picture herself.
4) He has solved the sum himself.
5) We enjoyed ourselves in the park.
6) The train came to a halt itself. etc.

Emphatic or Emphasizing pronoun: It is basically a reflexive pronoun. When it is used with nouns or
pronouns to put emphasis, it appears to be emphatic pronoun. In that case self-word should be placed just
after the noun or pronoun it reflects or emphasizes. (Just after the receiver of the action)
Ex: 1) I myself locked the door.
2) You yourself asked for money.
3) I have seen the prime minister himself.
4) She herself did this. etc

Demonstrative pronoun: A pronoun that is used to point out things or objects it refers to is called a
demonstrative pronoun.
Ex: 1) This is my book
2) These are cotton shirts.
3) Those are mango trees.
4) That is what I want.

But if a demonstrative pronoun is used with noun to qualify it or describe the noun, the demonstrative pronoun
will appear to be a demonstrative adjective.

Ex: This book is mine. That orchard is his.

These shirts are mine. Those books have been given to me by my father.