A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun in a sentence and prevents repeating the name of the noun again and again.
For example, George ran so fast that he was about to fall. The Pronoun “he” replaced the noun George.
In this blog we will learn the eight types of pronoun words you can use to replace the repetitive noun words.
1. Indefinite Pronouns
These are pronouns that does not refer to a particular person, place,or thing.
Examples of Indefinite Pronouns:
Anything, everything, another, each, few, many, none, some, all, any, anybody, everybody, nobody, anyone, everyone, no one, etc.
Examples:
- Do you want another ice-cream?
- Nobody wanted to go home from this beautiful place.
Indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural. Singular indefinite pronouns take a singular verb while plural indefinite pronouns take a plural form of verb.
Rules for Singular and Plural Indefinite Pronouns:
- Indefinite pronouns that end in –one (anyone, everyone, someone, and one) and –body (anybody, somebody, nobody) are always singular.
- The indefinite pronouns such as both, few, many, others, and several are always plural.
- The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, none, and some can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used
2. Personal Pronouns:
These types of pronouns are used to represent specific people or things.
Examples of personal pronouns include: You, I, she, he, we, it, they, him, me, her, them and us. These are all the words used a first person, second person and third person
Example: Vote for her! Or Vote for me!
He is reading a novel.
Classification of Personal Pronouns:
Personal pronouns can be divided into subject and object pronouns.
| Subject | Object |
| I | Me |
| You | You |
| He | Him |
| She | Her |
| It | It |
| We | Us |
| They | Them |
Examples of Subject pronouns:
- I like you.
- We live in your compound.
- They are going to mall tomorrow.
Examples of Object pronouns:
- I want him to buy me a shirt.
- It is her bedroom not mine.
- Let us go to the shop together.
3. Reflexive Pronouns:
Reflexive pronouns are preceded by the adverb, adjective, noun or pronoun, to which they refer.
Following are the eight reflexive pronouns in English:
- Myself
- Yourself.
- Himself.
- Herself.
- Itself.
- Ourselves.
- Themselves.
- Yourselves
Example:
- She could hurt herself!
- They must help themselves.
- She herself denied it.
4. Possessive Pronoun:
These pronouns indicate possession and demonstrate ownership of the object. Few examples of possessive pronouns are: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.
Examples:
- The dog was hers.
- Sarah and Aline are friends of mine.
- This room is ours.
- This is his book.
5. Demonstrative Pronouns:
Demonstrative pronouns are used to refer to something specific mentioned within a sentence. The demonstrative pronouns include: this, that, those, these.
Rule:
1.’This’ and ‘these’ refer to something nearby.
Example:
- This is the book I want.
- These are the keys I was looking for.
2.’That’ and ‘those’ refer to something at a distance.
Example:
- Those are my pens.
- That cupboard is mine.
6. Interrogative Pronoun:
You should use interrogative pronouns to ask a question about a noun to gather more information.
Example:
- Who wants to come to the party with me?
- What is your mobile number?
- What is your age?
- Why are you misbehaving?
7. Intensive Pronoun:
Intensive pronouns are used to add emphasis to a noun or pronoun or a statement.
Example:
- The speaker himself couldn’t have stated it better.
- I myself decorated the room.
- We ourselves drove to the beach.
8. Relative Pronouns:
Relative pronouns are used to refer to nouns mentioned previously and helps you establish relationship.
The relative pronouns are: who, whom, whose, which, that, what, whatever, whoever, whomever, whichever.
Example:
- I really liked the dress that you gave me.
- The kid whom you hit in the school is in hospital.
- Whoever told you this, is definitely a liar.
Keep exploring EnglishBix for more quality resources on different parts of speech in English language.