Pronouns

Pronoun is a word that substitutes a

noun or noun phrase.

The meaning of the pronoun is dependent on an antecedent.

That poor man looks as if he needs a new coat.

The antecedent of the pronoun he is the noun
phrase that poor man.
Subtypes include :
personal,
reflexive and reciprocal ,
possessive,
demonstrative,
relative,
interrogative, and
indefinite.
 Personal
person, number, gender and case
SUBJECTIVE PERSONAL OBJECTIVE PERSONAL
PRONOUNS PRONOUNS
When the pronoun acts as the subject of When the pronoun acts as the object of a
the sentence verb / compound verb / proposition /
infinitive phrase

1st person singular I ME

2nd person singular YOU YOU
3rd person singular HE, SHE, IT HIM, HER, IT
1st person plural WE US
2nd person plural YOU YOU
3rd person plural THEY THEM
 Personal
Use the right form of the pronoun given in brackets
1. Ramu, Radha and ____I were absent. (I)
me
2. The teacher called Raju and ____. (I)
3. her (She)
The glass was broken by ____.
He
4. ____ always wins. (He)
They
5. ____ were right. (They)
them
6. The
We match was won by ____. (They)
7. ____ owe you a lot. (We) us
8. Repayment was done by ____. (We)
 Reflexive
precedes or follows the noun, adjective, adverb or
pronoun to which it refers (its antecedent) within the same
clause
myself, yourself,
himself, herself, itself, oneself,
ourself (as majestic plural – the royal ‘we’),
ourselves, yourselves,
themself, used instead of ‘himself’ or ‘herself’ to refer to a
person of unspecified sex.
"With the unselfconscious absorption of someone working something out
for themself "
and themselves
THE OBJECT OF A SENTENCE IS THE SAME AS THE SUBJECT
Reflexive
myself in the mirror.
1. I see ___________
herself
2. She sees ___________ in the mirror.
ourselves
3. We did it ___________.
themselves
4. They resolved it among ___________.
yourself / yourselves
5. You have to cook it all by ____________________.
 Reciprocal
indicates that two or more people are carrying out or have
carried out an action of some type, with both receiving the
benefits or consequences of that action simultaneously

There are only two reciprocal pronouns:

each other
&
one another
 Reciprocal

1. each other .
John and Mary love _____________
2. each other.
Peter and David hate ____________
3. one another .
The ten prisoners were all blaming _______________
4. one another .
All living things on earth depend on ______________
5. each other .
Both teams played hard against ____________
6. each other_gifts.
We gave ____________
7. each other .
Why don't you believe ____________
8. each other .
They can't see ____________
9. each other in the
The boats were bumping against ____________
storm.
 Possessive
Possessive adjectives Possessive pronouns
(determiners)
my mine
your yours
his his
her phone hers
its its
our ours
their theirs
 Possessive
Use the right form of the possessive pronoun given in brackets
mine too. (I)
1. Ragu’s book is stolen, ______
Yours sincerely. (You)
2. ______
His cake is sweeter than mine. (He)
3. ______
hers (She)
4. My house is smaller than ______.
theirs (They)
5. We play with our children and they with ______.
6. It was ______
ours yesterday, but now it is his. (We)
7. It’s wagging ______
its tail. (it)
 Demonstrative

takes the place of the noun

phrase

this, that, these and those

 Demonstrative
that is not.
1. This is round in shape but _____
2. These apples are rotten but those
_____ are not.
 Relative

connects a clause or phrase to a noun or

pronoun

who, whom, whose, when, which, that,

where,
whoever, whomever, whosever, whenever,
whichever, whatever, wherever and however
 Interrogative
asks which person or thing is meant
Personal -
who (subject), whom (object)
or whose (possessive)
for example, Who did that?
Non-personal
which and what have only one form.
 Indefinite
• refers to non-specific beings, objects, or places
• represents either countable nouns or uncountable nouns
• Sub-categories:
– universal (everyone, everything, everybody, both, all, each),
– assertive existential (somebody, something, someone, some),
– elective existential (anyone, anything, anybody, either, any), and
– negative (nobody, nothing, no one, neither, none)
– other (one, this, another, whatever, whichever, whoever, whomever,
other, others, such)
• indefinite determiners (also called indefinite
adjectives) (every, any, all, some).
– A pronoun can be thought of as replacing a noun phrase, while a
determiner introduces a noun phrase and precedes any adjectives
that modify the noun.
• Thus all is an indefinite determiner in "all good boys deserve favour"
• but a pronoun in "all are happy“.
 Note:
Subjective form of pronoun follows
‘than’ or ‘as’

Example:
My brother is taller than me I (am).
My sister is not as intelligent as me I am.
 Note:
All ‘ing’ forms of verbs are accompanied by
possessive pronouns

Example:
I hope my coming to your house will not
disturb your routine.
 Note:
Subject pronouns will follow to-be verbs, such as
is, are, was, were, am, will be, had been, etc.
Examples:
It is he.
This is she speaking.
It is we who are responsible for the decision to
downsize.
 What are the new pronouns?

The ones that represent the Non-binary gender.

USAGE OF SINGULAR 'THEY', 'THEIR' AND
'THEM' IS THE MOST COMMON
GUESS WHAT IS COMMON AMONG
THE WORDS BELOW

NEFARIOUS
MUNIFICENT
MAGNANIMOUS
ALTRUISTIC
FLAGITIOUS
 GOOD AND EVIL

NEFARIOUS – WICKED, CRIMINAL

MUNIFICENT – GENEROUS
MAGNANIMOUS – GREAT MIND AND HEART
ALTRUISTIC – SELFLESS
FLAGITIOUS – VILLIANOUS
I. Choose the correct pronoun.

1. Three of (we, us, ourselves) took a

car to the play.
US
I. Choose the correct pronoun.

2. He is more concerned about the match

than (she, her, herself).
She (is)
I. Choose the correct pronoun.

3. Marlyn and (I, me, myself) hope to be

classmates.
I
I. Choose the correct pronoun.

4. Is he the one for (who, whom) the note is

intended?
whom
I. Choose the correct pronoun.

5. The master asked John and (he, him,

himself) to speak at the convention.
him
II. In the following sentence the pronouns
and antecedents do not agree. Replace the
underlined words containing errors with
the correct form of pronouns.

1) Everybody knows that eating potato

cashew cutlets is a good way to provide their
bodies with vitamins.
HIS or HER BODY
II. In the following sentence the pronouns
and antecedents do not agree. Replace the
underlined words containing errors with
the correct form of pronouns.

2) The band of knife jugglers shocked their

audience when a knife accidentally
decapitated the head of a cat.
ITS
II. In the following sentence the pronouns
and antecedents do not agree. Replace the
underlined words containing errors with
the correct form of pronouns.

3) Either the chef or the manager must give

their permission for you to return that half-
eaten poori.
HIS or HER
II. In the following sentence the pronouns
and antecedents do not agree. Replace the
underlined words containing errors with
the correct form of pronouns.

4) Both the door and the floor have its shiny

surface smeared with snot from our pet pup.
THEIR shiny SURFACES
II. In the following sentence the pronouns
and antecedents do not agree. Replace the
underlined words containing errors with
the correct form of pronouns.

5) Which member of your track team makes

their opponents resemble snails trying to
compete with a hare?
HIS or HER
III. Spot the errors in the following
sentence.

1) The young chap (a) whom, they thought,

(b) had stolen the food (c) turned out to be
innocent (d). No error (e).

who, they thought, (b)

III. Spot the errors in the following
sentence.

2) The guest was (a) a popular singer (b) who

had sung in several hit movies (c) and who
everyone wanted to meet (d). No error (e)

and whom everyone wanted to meet (d)

IV. If the underlined part of the sentence
contains an error, replace it with the right
option.
1) Except for you and I, all of them bought a gift
for him.
a. Except for you and I, all of them bought
b. With exception of you and I, all of them bought
c. Except for you and I, all of them had bought
d. Except for you and me, all of them bought
e. Except for you and me, all of
d. Except for you and me, all of them bought
them had bought
IV. If the underlined part of the sentence contains an error, replace it
with the right option.

2) When one reads the poetry of the seventeenth century, you find a
striking contrast between the philosophy of the Cavalier poets such as
Suckling and the attitude of the Metaphysical poets such as Donne.

a. When one reads the poetry of the seventeenth century, you find
b. When one reads the poetry of the seventeenth century, one finds
c. When one reads the poetry of the seventeenth century, he finds
d. If one reads the poetry of the 17th century, you find
e. As you read the poetry of the 17th century, one finds
b. When one reads the poetry of the seventeenth century, one finds
IV. If the underlined part of the sentence contains an error,
replace it with the right option.

3) The cricket team’s winning it’s first game of the series excited
the student body.

a. The cricket team’s winning it’s first game of the series

b. The cricket team having won it’s first game of the series
c. The cricket team’s having won it’s first game of the series
d. The cricket team’s winning its first game of the series
e. The cricket team winning it’s first game of the series

d. The cricket team’s winning its first game of the series