What is a Pronoun?
A pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun, noun phrase, or another pronoun in a sentence. The word or phrase that a pronoun replaces is called its antecedent. We primarily use pronouns to avoid awkward and unnatural repetition in our speech and writing.
Pronouns generally function exactly like nouns and can act as the subjects, objects, or complements of a clause.
Categories of Pronouns
Pronouns are divided into several specific categories based on their grammatical functions:
1. Personal Pronouns Personal pronouns refer to specific people, places, or things. They are the most heavily inflected words in English, meaning they change their form based on four grammatical elements:
- Person: First person (I, we), second person (you), and third person (he, she, it, they).
- Number: Singular (I, he, it) or plural (we, they).
- Gender: Masculine (he), feminine (she), or neuter/gender-neutral (it, they).
- Case: Subjective (I, she, they), objective (me, her, them), or possessive (mine, hers, theirs). (Note: Possessive determiners like "my" and "her" function like adjectives but are closely related).
2. Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns These pronouns end in -self or -selves (e.g., myself, yourself, themselves).
- Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of the verb are the exact same person or thing (e.g., I cut myself).
- Intensive pronouns use the exact same forms but are used purely to add emphasis to an antecedent (e.g., I myself will do it). Unlike reflexive pronouns, intensive pronouns can be deleted without changing the sentence's grammatical meaning.
3. Demonstrative Pronouns Demonstrative pronouns—this, that, these, and those—substitute for nouns to indicate specific things. They indicate whether the item is singular or plural, and whether it is nearby (this, these) or far away in space or time (that, those).
4. Interrogative Pronouns These are used to ask questions. The primary interrogative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and what.
5. Relative Pronouns Relative pronouns connect a modifying subordinate clause (a relative clause) to a main clause, giving more information about the antecedent. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that. (e.g., The dress that I would like is too expensive).
6. Indefinite Pronouns These pronouns refer to nonspecific people or things (e.g., everyone, somebody, anything, nobody, all, both, few, some). Determining whether they are singular or plural can be tricky; words ending in -body, -thing, or -one are always singular, while words like both and several are plural.
7. Reciprocal Pronouns Reciprocal pronouns refer to two or more people who are mutually receiving or benefiting from an action in the same way. The two reciprocal pronouns in English are each other and one another.
8. Dummy (Expletive) Pronouns These are words that function grammatically as pronouns but do not actually replace an antecedent. Instead, they fill an empty subject or object slot so the sentence functions properly. The two dummy pronouns are it and there (e.g., It is raining; There is a ship in the harbor).
Crucial Pronoun Rules
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person, number, and gender. For instance, a singular feminine noun must be replaced by a singular feminine pronoun (she/her).
- The "Singular They": English lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun for people. Consequently, using the plural pronouns they, them, and theirs to refer to a single person of unspecified gender (e.g., Somebody left their phone) is becoming widely accepted, replacing the clunky "his or her".
Clear Pronoun Reference Because pronouns are merely stand-ins, their meaning relies entirely on clarity.
- Avoid Ambiguity: If a pronoun could refer to two different nouns, the sentence must be rewritten (e.g., instead of The pitcher broke when Gloria set it on the table, write When Gloria set the pitcher on the table, the pitcher broke).
- Implied Nouns: A pronoun cannot refer to a noun that is merely implied. The antecedent must be explicitly stated.
- Broad References: Be careful when using this, that, which, or it to refer to an entire previous idea or sentence. If the reference is too broad or vague, supply an explicit noun (e.g., change Patients respond to this... to Patients respond to this advertising...).
Pronoun Case Using the correct form (case) of personal pronouns often trips writers up:
- Use the subjective case (I, he, she, we, they, who) for the doers of the action, as well as for subject complements following linking verbs (e.g., It was she at the front desk).
- Use the objective case (me, him, her, us, them, whom) for direct/indirect objects and the objects of prepositions (e.g., Credit goes equally to them).
- Pronouns before Gerunds: If a pronoun modifies a gerund (an -ing verb functioning as a noun), it must be in the possessive case. For example, write The coach doesn’t like my swimming (not me swimming) and Carrie hates my auditioning (not me auditioning).