English Knowledge - SPLessons
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Pronouns

Pronouns

shape Pronouns

Pronouns are words or phrases that are used as a substitute for a noun so it is not necessary to use noun again and again in a sentence. Using Pronoun brings elegance to the subject and makes the writing structure well-organized.
Examples of pronouns:
  • Raman is unwell, so she will not go to school today.
  • Ram is a football player he won many trophies for his school.
  • Sham is a good boy he treats everybody with respect.


shape Types

There are different types of pronouns:

Indefinite Pronoun: Word which replaces a noun, but not one specific pronoun is known as indefinite pronoun.
Examples of Indefinite pronouns:
  • All are invited to the birthday party tonight.
  • Raman gave that pen to someone and never got it back.
  • Everyone had a great time at the wedding party.

Personal Pronoun:

A word which we use as a substitute for the proper name of a person is known as personal noun such as: I, you, he, she, him, and her.
Examples of proper noun:
  • Raman is a good writer she wrote many books.
  • Sham is an athlete he runs very fast.

Reflexive pronouns: A reflexive pronoun is used when both the object and subject of the sentence are same.

Examples of Reflexive pronouns:
  • He wanted to make her happy, so he cooked the dinner himself.
  • You have to complete all your homework all by yourself.

Demonstrative pronoun: Demonstrative pronouns are those which point out some particular object such as them, are, those and these.

Examples of demonstrative pronoun:
  • This dress is so pretty.
  • That bag belongs to her.
  • These flowers are lovely.
  • Those were the days.

Possessive pronouns: As the name suggests, a possessive pronoun indicates possession or ownership. Possessive pronoun is used to avoid reoccurrence of information which has already been made clear.
Subject Object Adjective Possessive
I Me My Mine
You You Your Yours
He Him His His
She Her Her Hers
It It Its Its
We Us Our Ours
They Them Their Theirs

Examples of possessive pronouns:
  • This pen is mine, not yours.
  • Your dress is more beautiful than mine.
  • I didn’t have book, so she lent me hers.

Relative Pronoun: Relative pronoun comes after a noun to help to find out that which person or thing we are discussing about or to provide us more information about a thing or a person.

Example of relative pronoun:
  • I saw the cat which drank the milk.
  • The thief who stole your bag is in the lockup.
  • Mr. Cruz, who runs a sweet shop, is sitting outside.

Interrogative: Interrogative pronouns are used to make asking questions easy. There are only five interrogative pronouns, which are used to ask specific or indirect questions. These are what, which, who, whom and whose.
Question Answer
Who told you? John told me. subject
Whom did you tell? I told Mary. object
What's happened? An accident's happened. subject
What do you want? I want coffee. object
Which came first? The Porsche 911 came first. subject
Which will the doctor see first? The doctor will see the patient in blue first. object
There's one car missing. Whose hasn't arrived? John's (car) hasn't arrived. subject
We've found everyone's keys. Whose did you find? I found John's (keys). object

Examples of interrogative pronouns:
  • What is your name?
  • Which city do you live in?
  • Who is your sister?
  • To whom you are talking to?
  • Whose car is this?

Reciprocal pronoun: Reciprocal pronouns are used to specify that two or more people are carrying out an action of some type and both receiving the benefits of results of that action simultaneously.
Reciprocal Pronoun Rule Examples
each other use when the group consists of just two people, animals or things two friends helped each other throughout their university years
one another use when the group consists of more than two people, animals or things the team members always cooperate with one another

Examples of reciprocal pronoun:
  • Ram and sham were talking to each other over the phone.
  • We give each other gifts during the festivals.
  • The culprits were blaming each other for the crime they were charged with.

Intensive pronouns: An intensive pronoun is very much similar to a reflexive pronoun. It is a pronoun we generally use self or selves at the end of pronoun. This is the reason that, intensive pronouns are sometimes are called as emphatic pronouns.
Condition Personal Object Pronoun Reflexive/Intensive Pronoun
When First person is singular Me Myself
Second Person Singular You Yourself
Third Person Singular Male Him Himself
Third Person Singular Female Her Herself
Third Person Singular Neuter It Itself
First Person Plural Us Ourselves
Second Person Plural You Yourselves
Third Person Plural Them Themselves

Example of intensive pronoun:
  • He will do it himself.
  • I heard the cries myself.
  • The president himself attended the wreath laying ceremony.

shape Rules

Different rules to follow while using pronoun:
Rule 1: Pronouns when used as the subject of the sentence are called subject pronouns.
Example: I, he, we, they, who are all examples of subject pronouns.
  • He did the work.

Rule 2: Subject pronouns are also used if they rename the subject. They will follow to be verbs, like is, am, were, will be etc.
Examples: It is she. It is we who are responsible for the downfall of the company.
Rule 3: This rule surprises even the masters of the language. Situations where ‘who’acts as a i.e. I, you, she, we etc. pronoun that agrees with it should be used.
Example: Correct sentence: It is I who am sorry. (I am). Incorrect: It is I who is sorry.
Rule 4: Other than subject pronouns, there are also object pronouns, which are commonly known as direct object, indirect object and object of a preposition. Object pronouns include me, him, herself, themselves.
Examples: Raman saw him. Here ‘him’ is the direct object of the verb saw.
Give her a pen. Pen is the direct object of give and indirect object is her.
Words ‘to’ or ‘for’ are always placed prior to the indirect objectives.
For example:
  • Give (to) her the pen.
  • Do (for) me a favor.
  • Are you talking to me? (Here object of the preposition is ‘Me’)

  • Rule 5: The singular and plural verbs depend on whether the subject is singular or plural. If subject is singular then singular verb, if subject is plural then plural verb.
    For example:
    • He is the only one of those teachers who is always on time. (The word who refers to the single individual. Therefore, use the singular verb is.)

    Sometimes we have to look carefully to find a verb’s true subject. For example:
    • She is one of those women who are always on time. (Here the word who is referring to the women. Therefore, always use the plural verb “are”.)

    Rule 6: Singular pronouns such as I, he, she, everyone, anyone, no one, somebody, either, neither, etc. require singular verbs. This rule is often skipped while using the pronouns like each, neither, either, followed by and of. All these three pronouns always take singular verbs.
    For example:
    • Each of the boys dances well.
    • Either of us is efficient enough of doing this job.
    • Neither of them is available to complete the task.

    Rule 7: To decide whether to use the subject or object pronoun after the words than or as, mentally complete the sentence.
    For examples:
    • Raman is as good looking as she/her.
    If we speak the complete sentence, we would say Raman is as smart as she is. So, she is the correct answer.
    • Sham is shorter than I/her.
    If we speak the entire sentence, we would have said said Sham is shorter than I am.
    • Raj would rather talk to her than I/me.
    This sentence can be explained in two ways.
    1. Raj would rather talk to her than to me.
    2. OR
    3. Raj would rather talk to her than I would.
    The meaning of the sentence can be changed depending on the pronoun that the writer choses.
    Rule 8: Possessive pronouns like yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, and whose doesn’t need apostrophes. Don’t make mistakes like her’s and your’s.
    Rule 9: an apostrophe is used with itn when it has a relation with is or has. The word oneself has no apostrophe. So avoid using it.
    For example:
    • It’s been a cold night.
    • She’s the one who’s always punctual.
    • He’s the one whose kids are always on time.

    Rule 10: reflexive pronouns are those which end with self or selves. The types of reflexive pronouns are myself, herself, yourself, itself, oneself, ourselves and themselves. When the subject and the object of verb are the same thing or person, then reflexive pronouns are used.
    For example:
    • Raman helped herself.
    • If the object of a preposition refers to a previous noun or pronoun then use a reflexive pronoun.
    • Sham bought it for himself.

    shape Errors

    Some common mistakes done while using pronouns are as follows:
    Incorrect: Each of these players play cricket well. Correct: Each of these players plays cricket well.
    Incorrect: Each of these four roads lead to the mall. Correct: Each of these four roads leads to the mall.
    (After each of we use a plural noun or pronoun and a singular verb.)
    Incorrect: Both didn’t sleep. Correct: Neither slept.
    (While framing negative sentences, we usually use neither rather than both.)
    Incorrect: We all were not ready for the party. Correct: None of us were ready for the party.
    (Use of none is appropriate while explaining negative sentence in-spite of all.)
    Incorrect: Each teacher and each student were given a book. Correct: Each teacher and each student was given a book.
    Incorrect: My all novels are lost. Correct: All of my novels are lost.
    Incorrect: Let he go. Correct: Let him go.
    Incorrect: Let we dance. Correct: Let us dance.
    Let is a verb, which is accompanied by an objective pronoun.
    Incorrect: Your house is bigger than me. Correct: Your house is bigger than mine. OR
    Correct: Your house is bigger than my house. Incorrect: Whoever performs the best he will get a prize.
    Correct: Whoever performs the best will get a prize. Incorrect: I and she are sisters. Correct: She and I are sisters.
    Incorrect: I and Tony are friends. Correct: Tony and I are friends.
    Pronouns ought to dependably go in the best possible request – the individual addressed, first; the individual talked about, second and the speaker, third.