Pronouns

Pronouns are words that substitute a noun or another pronoun. Examples of pronouns are he, she, who, themselves... 

Types of pronouns

• Subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)

• Object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them)

• Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves)

• Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs)

• Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, those, these)

• Relative pronouns (who, which, that, whose)

Personal Pronouns: 

Definition: The prefix pro means for or in place of. Pronouns stand in for or replace nouns. This lesson is about personal pronouns, which replace nouns that refer to people or things.

Personal pronouns have:

• Number: They are singular or plural.

• Person: 1st person is the person speaking, 2nd person is the person being spoken to, and 3rd person is the person being spoken about. You can look at the chart below for examples.

• Case: Determines how a pronoun is being used in a sentence (subject, object, or possessive). We'll go over this more in the next lesson.

Reflexive & Intensive Pronouns

Definition: Reflexive sounds like reflection, the image in the mirror that bounces back at you. A reflexive pronoun tells us that whoever performs the action in a sentence is also the one on the receiving end of that action. In other words, the reflexive pronoun reflects back to the subject. A reflexive pronoun can be used as the direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition in a sentence. 

Definition: Intensive is like intense. Something intense is very strong. An intensive pronoun emphasizes a preceding noun, which is often (but not always) the noun immediately before the pronoun. Intensive pronouns look exactly the same as reflexive pronouns, but they are only used for emphasis. 

Interrogative Pronouns

Definition: To interrogate is to ask someone questions. Interrogative pronouns ask questions.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Definition: To demonstrate is to show something. Demonstrative pronouns show or point to objects or people.

This and that refer to singular objects or people.

This is an expensive store.

That is a very tall building.

These and those refer to plural objects or people.

These are very expensive shoes.

Those are the tallest skyscrapers in the city.

Indefinite Pronoun

Definition: If your plans for this weekend are indefinite, or not definite, then you are not sure. An indefinite pronoun is one that doesn't refer to a specific person or thing.