Pronouns - English Grammar Notes

Definition

A pronoun is a part of speech that takes the place of a noun. They include such words as I, we, he, she, thy, me and us.
Pronouns enable you to avoid repeating the same names (nouns), when writing or speaking, which would otherwise make you sound very awkward and wordy. By using pronouns effectively, you can make your writing and speaking flow smoothly.
Pronouns can be classified into 6 types. These are personal, indefinite, demonstrative, interrogative, reflexive and intensive pronouns.

Personal Pronouns

A personal pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or another pronoun. They are used to refer to nouns that name persons or things.

Example:

Awkward Kamau put on Kamau’s gum boots. Then Kamau went to the shamba.

Improved Kamau put on his gum boots. Then he went to the shamba.
In the above example, the personal pronoun his helps the writer avoid repeating the same noun. The pronoun he acts as a bridge to connect the two sentences.
Personal pronouns are further classified in terms of person and gender.

Person

In terms of person, personal pronouns can be divided into three classes.
1. First person – I, my, me, we, our and us.
  These ones refer to the person(s) speaking.
  Example: I always ride my bike to school.
2. Second person – you, your, yours
  - These refer to the person(s) spoken to.
  Example: I will call you tomorrow.
3. Third person – he, his, him, she, hers, her, it, its, they, their, them.
  - These ones refer to another person(s) or thing(s) that is being spoken of.
The personal pronoun it usually replaces a noun that stands for a thing or an animal. It is never used in place of a person.

Gender

Personal pronouns can also be classified by gender. Gender can either be masculine (referring to male people), feminine (referring to female people) or neuter (referring to animals or things).

Examples:

Joseph cleaned his car. (His is the third person, masculine gender).
Isabel said the dress was hers (Hers is the third person, feminine gender).
The dog wagged its tail. (Its is the third person, neuter gender).

Forms of Personal Pronouns

In English, personal pronouns have three forms: the subject form, the object form and the possessive form.

Examples:
She is a painter (subject form)
He praised her. (Object form)
It is her best painting. (Possessive form)

Subject Pronouns

A subject pronoun takes the place of a noun as the subject of a sentence. These pronouns are:
1. Singular forms – I, you, he, she, it
2. Plural forms – we, you, they
Examples:

Noun Subject Pronoun
The housegirl takes care of the baby She takes care of the baby
The dog guards the house It guards the house
Mark and Francis love swimming They love swimming
Subject pronouns also appear after forms of the linking verbs be.

Examples:
The watchman today is he.
The composers were they.

Exercise 1

Underline the subject pronouns in the following sentences.

Example: She ate a water melon

They ate fish and chips.
We like Italian food.
It is delicious.
The biggest eater was he.
You helped in the cooking.
The cooks were Tom and I.

Exercise 2

Replace the underlined words with subject pronouns.

Example: Pio and Gama are friends - They

The glasses were under the table.
Emma fed the chicken.
The pears were juicy.
Uncle Ben and Lillian visited the orphans.
The new waitress is Jane.
The fastest runners were Tecla and Kirui.
Lisa went to the hall.
The chicken was slaughtered.
Lucky Dube and Brenda Fasie were South African Singers.
Samuel Wanjiru has won many athletics medals.

Object Pronouns

Object pronouns can replace nouns used after action verbs. These pronouns are:
1. Singular – me, you, him, her, it
2. Plural – us, you them
Examples:

- The driver drove him. (direct object)
- The parents thanked us. (direct object)
- The reporters asked him many questions. (indirect object)
In the above examples, the personal pronouns are the direct or indirect objects of the verbs before them.
Object pronouns can also replace nouns after prepositions such as to, for, with, in, at or by. That is, they can be objects of prepositions.

Examples:
- Gladys waved to them. (object of a preposition)
- The delivery is for me.
- Ben went with them to the theatre.

Exercise 3

Choose the correct pronoun in the brackets in the following sentences.

Example: Irungu photographed (us, we). = us

Lisa asked (he, him) for a picture.
Adam sketched Lisa and (I, me).
He gave a photo to (us, we).
Ann and (she, her) saw Dave and Bob.
Adam drew Lisa and (they, them).
Mark helped (I, me) with the packing.
Loise praised (him, he) for his good work.
Everyone spotted (they, them) easily.
That night Mike played the guitar for (us, we).
(We, Us) drove with (they, them) to the mountains.

Possessive Pronouns

A possessive pronoun shows ownership.
Example: My pen is black.
There are two kinds of possessive pronouns:
1. Those used as adjectives to modify nouns. These possessive pronouns are:
  Singular: My, your, his, her, its
  Plural: Our, your, their
  
  Examples:
  - My shirt is yellow.
  - Your food is on the table.
  - His bag is green.
  - This is her dress.
  - Its fur is soft.
  - These are our parents.
  - Pay your bills.
  - They removed their bats.
  
  The above possessive pronouns always appear before nouns to modify them. Hence, they are called modifiers.
2. Those that stand alone and replace nouns in sentences. These possessive nouns are:
  Singular: mine yours his, hers, its
  Plural: ours yours, their
  
  Examples:
  - The yellow shirt is mine.
  - The food on the table is yours.
  - The green bag is his.
  - This dress is hers.
  - Its is the soft fur.
  - These crops are ours.
  - These bills are yours.
  - Those hats are theirs.

Exercise 4

Complete the following sentences by choosing the correct possessive pronoun from the brackets.

Example: The lazy girl completed (her, hers) home work. = her.

(My, mine) journey to Mombasa was enjoyable.
Florence said (her, hers) was the best.
Are the pictures of Fort Jesus (your, yours)?
(Her, Hers) were taken at Jomo Kenyatta Beach.
Tomorrow we will make frames for (our, ours) pictures.
(My, mine) class is planning a trip to Mt. Kenya.
(Our, ours) trip will be taken on video.
Micere is excited that the idea was (her, hers).
Koki and Toti cannot hide (their, theirs) excitement.
(My, mine) dream is to climb to the highest peak of the mountain.

POINTS TO NOTE

The pronoun I is used as a subject or after forms of the linking verb be.

Examples:
Subject: I travel by bus
After the linking verb be: Yesterday, the prefects on duty were Victor and I
The pronoun me is used object after action verbs or words (prepositions) such as to, for, with, in, or at.

Examples:
Object: Rose met me at the gate.
After prepositions:
- Rose waited for me at the gate.
- You are coming with me.
When using compound subjects and objects (i.e. subjects and objects comprising of a pronoun and a noun or another pronoun), always name yourself last.

Examples:
- Diana and I visited our grandmother yesterday.
- Who appointed Chege and me?
- Rose waited for her and me at the gate.

Contractions With Personal Pronouns

A contraction is a shortened form of two words. One or more letters are omitted and an apostrophe (’) is used in place of the letters left out.
A contraction is formed by combining pronouns and the verbs am, is, are, will, would, have, has, and had.

Pronoun + verb Contraction Pronoun + verb Contraction
I am I’m I have I’ve
He is he’s he has he’s
It is it’s it has it’s
You are you’re you have you’ve
They are they’re they have they’ve
I will I’ll I had I’d
You will you’ll you had you’d
We would we’d we had we’d
Note:
1. Some contractions look the same but are formed from different words.
  Examples: he is, he has = he’s
  we had, we would = we’d
2. Some possessive pronouns sound like contractions. Because the words sound alike, they are sometimes confused.
  
  Examples:
  
  Possessive pronouns Contractions
  its it’s
  your you’re
  their they’re
  whose who’s
  
  Incorrect: The team celebrated it’s victory.
  Correct: The team celebrated its victory.
  
  Incorrect: Your late for the preps.
  Correct: You’re late for the preps.
  
  Incorrect: Whose the fastest runner in the world?
  Correct: Who’s the fastest runner in the world?

Rules of using possessive pronouns and contractions correctly

If the word you want to use stands for two words, it is a contraction and needs an apostrophe.
Never use an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun.

Exercise 5

Write the contractions for the following word pairs. Example: It has = it’s

You will
He had
You have
We would
I am
they will

Exercise 6

What pronoun and verb make up each of the following contractions? Example: It’s = it is, it has

I’ll
you’d
they’re
we’re
he’s
she’d

Exercise 7

Choose the correct word given in brackets in the following sentences.

The Kenyan government has worked hard to improve (its, it’s) educational system.
(Whose, Who’s) going to decide where the guests will sleep?
(Their, they’re) learning French their school.
Only students (whose, who’s) scores are excellent will join national schools.
(Its, It’s) been estimated that about 8 million Kenyans are living with HIV AIDS.

Indefinite Pronouns

An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that does not refer to a specific person or thing.
In English, there are singular indefinite pronouns, plural indefinite and both singular and plural indefinite pronouns.

Singular Indefinite Pronouns

another anything everybody neither one
anybody each everyone nobody somebody
anymore either everything no one someone.
An indefinite pronoun must agree with its verbs and in number with its possessive pronoun. The above indefinite pronouns are used with singular verbs. They are also used with singular possessive pronouns.

Examples:

Agreement with verbs

Correct: Everyone has heard of Lake Turkana.
Incorrect: Everyone have heard of Lake Turkana.

Correct: Nobody knows what happened to Samuel Wanjiru.
Incorrect: Nobody know what happened to Samuel Wanjiru.

Correct: Everything about the old man remains a mystery.
Incorrect: Everything about the old man remain a mystery.

Agreement in number with possessive pronouns

Correct: Neither believed his/her eyes.
Incorrect: Neither believed their eyes.

Correct: Each strained his/her neck to see.
Incorrect: Each strained their neck to see.

Plural indefinite pronouns

both many few several
These indefinite pronouns use plural verbs and possessive pronouns.

Examples:

Plural verbs
Correct: Few know about Lake Olbolsat.
Incorrect: Few knows about Lake Obolsat.

Correct: Both stand by what they believe.
Incorrect: Both stands by what they believe.

Plural possessive pronouns

Correct: Several reported their findings.
Incorrect: Several reported his/her findings.

Both singular and plural indefinite pronouns

all some any none
These indefinite pronouns may be singular or plural, depending on their meaning in the sentence.

Examples:

- All of my story is true – singular
- All of the guests are here – plural

- None of the lake is foggy – singular
- None of the photos are spoiled – plural.

Exercise 8

Underline the indefinite pronouns in the following sentences and then write the correct form of the verb or possessive pronoun in the brackets.

All the photographs of the killer (is, are) unclear.
(Has, Have) anybody seen my camera?
Many (believes, believe) a monster lives in the lake.
Each of the photographs (make, makes) people want more.
All of the evidence (indicates, indicate) that he was killed by his wife.
Everyone has taken (his, their) payment.
Several eyewitnesses volunteered to give (his, their) accounts.
Anyone can lose (her, their) eyesight.
Another reported (his, their) case to the police.
Somebody left (her, their) handbag in the lecture hall.

Demonstrative Pronouns

A demonstrative pronoun is used to single or point out one or more persons or things referred to in the sentence.
These pronouns are this, that, these, and those.
This and these point to persons or things that are near.

Examples:
- This is a gazelle.
- These are the students of Kianjege West Secondary School.
That and those point to persons or things that are farther away.

Examples:
- That is the city square.
- Those are the lodging rooms.
This and that are used with singular nouns.
These and those are used with plural nouns.

Exercise 9

Pick the correct demonstrate pronouns from the choices given in the brackets in the following sentences.

(This, That) is the canteen we are entering now.
(This, That) is the dispensary across the street
(These, Those) are beautiful flowers on the counter over there.
Are (those, these) chocolate bars on the far counter?
I think (these, those) are called vuvuzelas.

Interrogative Pronouns

An interrogative pronoun is used to ask a question. These pronouns are who, whose, whom, which and what.

Examples:

- Who is the mayor of this town?
- Whose is the red car?
- Which is her blouse?
- What did she ask you?
- Whom should I trust with my secret?

Using Who, Whom, and Whose

Who, whom, and whose are often used to ask questions. Hence, they are interrogative pronouns.
WHO is the subject form. It is used as the subject of a verb.

Examples:
- Who taught you how to play the guitar? (Who is the subject of the verb taught.)
WHOM is the object form. It is used as the direct object of a verb or as the object of a preposition.

Examples:
- Whom did you meet? (Whom is the object of the verb did meet).
- For whom is this trophy? (whom is the object of the preposition for).
WHOSE is the possessive form. It can be used :
1. To modify a noun
  Example:
  - Whose is umbrella is this? (whose modifies the noun umbrella)
2. Alone as the subject or object of a verb
  Examples:
  - Whose are those water melons? (whose is the subject of the verb are)
  - Whose did you admire? (whose is the object of the verb did admire)

Exercise 10

Pick the correct interrogative pronouns from the brackets in the following sentences.

(Who, Whom) owns that shop?
(Who, Whom) can we ask the way?
(Which, What) did they ask you?
(Which, What) are the objects on the table called?
To (who, whom) does the boutique belong?

Exercise 11

Complete the following sentences with who, whom, or whose.

________________ knows the origin of the Luos?
________________ did you ask about it?
To _______________ did you give the letter?
_________________ is the most attractive painting?
_________________ is likely to receive the Chaguo la Teeniez award?
For ______________ did you buy this doll?
_________________ skill in dancing is the best?
. _________________ is the officer-in-charge here?
_________________ are you looking at?
_________________ are those healthy Merino sheep?

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Reflexive and intensive pronouns end in -self or -selves. These are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, and themselves.
There is, however, one difference between reflexive and Intensive pronouns.
A reflexive pronoun refers to an action performed by the subject of the sentence. The meaning of the sentence is incomplete without the reflexive pronoun.

Examples:
- Monicah bought herself a new dress. (The meaning of the sentence is incomplete without the reflexive pronoun because we do not know for whom Monicah bought the dress).
An Intensive pronoun is used to emphasise a noun or a pronoun. It does not add information to a sentence, and it can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence.
Example
I myself pulled the boy out of the river. (If you remove myself, the meaning of the sentence does not change)

Exercise 12

Identify the Reflexive and Intensive pronouns in the following sentences, labelling them accordingly.

I myself have never tried mountain climbing.
He himself was taking the cows to graze in the forest.
My sister Annastasia mends her clothes herself.
She often challenges herself by doing strenuous activities.
You may ask yourself about the sanity of beer drinking competition.

Special Pronouns Problems

Double Subjects

We all know that every sentence must have a subject. Sometimes we incorrectly use a double subject – a noun and a pronoun - to name the same person, place, or thing.

Incorrect Correct
Jane she is my cousin. Jane is my cousin.
She is my cousin.
Her scarf it is pretty. Her scarf is pretty.
It is pretty.
Jane and she should not be used as subjects together.
The subject her scarf should not be used together with it.
Use only a noun or a pronoun to name a subject.

Pronouns and their Antecedents

The antecedent of a pronoun is a noun or another pronoun for which the pronoun stands.
A personal pronoun, you will remember, is used in place or a noun. The noun is the word to which the pronouns refer and it is therefore its antecedent.
The noun usually comes first, either in the same sentence or in the sentence before it.

Examples:

- We met Mureithi. He is the medical doctor.
(He stands for Mureithi. Mureithi is the antecedent).
- The students had come to school with their mobile phones.
(Their stands for students. Students is the antecedent).
Pronouns may be the antecedents of other pronouns.

Examples:
- Does everybody have his booklet?
(everybody, which is a singular indefinite pronoun, is the antecedent of his).
- All of the students have brought theirs.
(All, which is a plural indefinite pronoun, is the antecedent of theirs).
Now, a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number. Agree here means that the pronoun must be the same in number as its antecedent.
The word number means singular or plural.
If the pronoun is singular, the word that it stands for must be singular, and it must be plural if the word it stands for is plural.

Examples:
Correct: The scientists tested their new discovery
(Scientists is plural; their is plural.)
Incorrect: The scientists tested his new discovery.

Correct: Mr. Kiama turned on his TV.
(Mr Kiama is singular; his is singular)

Correct: Nobody left her workstation
(Nobody is singular, her is singular)
NB: When the antecedent refers to both males and females, it is best to use the phrase his or her.

Use of We and Us With Nouns.

Phrases such as we students and us girls are often incorrectly used. To tell which pronoun to use, drop the noun and say the sentence without it.

Problem: (We, Us) boys study hard.
Solution: We study hard = We boys study hard.

Problem: The DC praised (us, we) students.
Solution: The DC praised us = The DC praised us students

Using the Pronoun Them

The word them is always a pronoun. It is always used as the object of a verb or a preposition, never as a subject.

Examples:

Correct: The president greeted them (direct object of the verb greeted)
Correct: She gave them a Sandwich (Indirect object of the verb gave)
Correct: The information was useful to them (object of the preposition to)
Incorrect: Them they arrived late.

Using Those

Although we previously said that those is used as a demonstrative pronouns, it is sometimes used as an adjective i.e. a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun. If a noun appears immediately after it, those is now an adjective, not a pronoun.

Examples:

Those are the new desks that were bought. (Those is a pronoun, the subject of the verb are).
Those desks are attractive. (Those is an adjective modifying the noun desks).

Exercise 13

Each of the following sentences has a double subject. Write each correctly.

Papa Shirandula he is a good actor.
Many people they find him funny.
The show it was on television for many years.
Their daughter she is also in that show.
The shoes they are beautiful.
People they like our hotel.
My brother he drives a matatu.
Our hotel it is open seven days a week.
The TV it is very clear today.
My brother and sister they work in Nairobi.

Exercise 14

Pick the correct pronoun in the brackets in the following sentences.

(We, Us) students started a school magazine last month.
Many careers are unpromising. (Them, Those) are the ones to avoid.
One of (them, those) motivational speakers was especially interesting.
A financial analyst told (we, us) students about his work.
Finding jobs was important to (we, us) graduates.

Answers