Pronouns
Concept: Personal Pronouns
Definition:
A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. When you have to use the same noun repeatedly, a pronoun is used instead of the noun; hence, the same noun is usually not used repeatedly in the sentences that follow.
Example:
Rohit is going to watch a movie today. He will be eating pop corns as well.
Types of Pronouns:
There are eight types of pronouns. Let’s take a look at them.
We will focus only on personal pronouns in this chapter.
Personal Pronouns
The pronouns that are used to refer to a person are known as personal pronouns.
Example:
He has left for school, and she will leave shortly too.
Forms of Personal Pronouns
There are three forms of personal pronouns, and each has its own singular and plural forms. Let us have a look at them.
| Type | Person | Personal Pronouns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Object | ||
| Singular |
1st 2nd 3rd |
i you he, she, it |
me you him, her,it |
| Plural |
1st 2nd 3rd |
we you they |
us you them |
Did You Know?
Types of Personal Pronouns
There are two types of personal pronouns.
Subject pronouns are used to replace the name that is the used as a subject in a sentence. They are words like I, you, she, he, it, we, and they.
Example:
- I went to the park.
- She studied hard but could not clear the exam.
Object pronouns take the object’s place in a sentence that includes me, her, him, you, it, them, and us. These pronouns are used as both direct and indirect objects.
Example:
- Give the keys to me.
- Narrate a story to help her sleep.
Common Mistakes
-
Mistakes occur when subject and object forms are inverted. Object form is
used instead of subject form.
Example:
Next week, my friends and I will be travelling to the hills.
Next week, my friends and me will be travelling to the hills.
-
Using reflexive pronouns instead of personal pronouns is a major error. Do
not replace a personal pronoun with a reflexive pronoun or pronouns ending
in -self.
Example:
Both my parents and I enjoyed the trip.
Both my parents and myself enjoyed the trip.
Exceptions:
-
Apart from using ‘it’ for things and animals. At times, ‘it’ is also used
when the gender of an infant is not known.
Example:
When I went to visit my aunt in the hospital, I saw her child in her arms. It was crying very loudly.
The word ‘it’ is used to refer to the child whose gender is not known.
