PRONOUNS

What are Pronouns?

A pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun.

Example –

Ram is playing cricket. Ram is very good at it.

Ram is playing cricket. He is very good at it. “He” is a pronoun here. It helps in avoiding repetition of the
noun.

Though the idea of pronoun is very simple, there are various rules associated with it. Let us learn the rules
along with examples.

Rule 1 – Some pronouns are used as the subject of the sentence.

 Pronouns used for subjects in 1st person are - We, I,

Example – We are good friends.

 Pronouns used for subjects in 2nd person are - You

Example – You are a good person.

 Pronouns used for subjects in 3rd person are – It, He, She, They

Example - Ram is playing cricket. He is very good at it. / They are good friends. / It is a wonderful
software.

Rule 2 – Some pronouns are used as the object of the sentence.

 Pronouns used for objects in 1st person are – me, us

Example – Shyam told me to go home. / Shyam told us to stay quiet.

 Pronouns used for objects in 2nd person are - You

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Example – I have informed you earlier about the deal.

 Pronouns used for objects in 3rd person are – It, him, her, them

Example – Shyam told them to stay quiet. / I tried to move it from my room to the balcony.

Rule 3 – Some pronouns are used to indicate possession

 Pronouns used to indicate possession in 1st person are – my, mine, our, ours

Example – The pen on the table is mine. / India is our country.

 Pronouns used to indicate possession in 2nd person are – your, yours

Example – These pens are yours. / The pen on the table is yours.

 Pronouns used to indicate possession in 3rd person are – its, theirs, his, her, hers

Example – The books on the table are theirs. / His book on Physics is interesting.

Rule 4 – Pronouns after prepositions are pronouns that are used for objects as per Rule 2

Example – Do you see the table? Keep the pens on it. / The responsibility is upon me.

“it” is a pronoun as per Rule 2C as we have a preposition “on”.

“me” is a pronoun as per Rule 2A as we have a preposition “upon”.

Rule 5 – Pronouns after Let, But, Between, Except also take pronouns that are used for objects as
per Rule 2

Example – Let me inside the room / Do not come in between us. I can tolerate anyone but him.

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Rule 6 – Sometimes pronouns are used as object to refer to the subject itself.

Example - He paid himself a compliment.

The pronoun “himself” is referring to “him”. It would be wrong to say – He paid him a compliment. Other
such pronoun examples are ourselves, themselves, herself, myself, itself.

Rule 7 – The type of pronouns in Rule 6 should not be used to refer to the subject directly.

Example – Raju and I went to the park.

It would be incorrect to say - Raju and myself went to the park

Rule 8 – If a pronoun comes before the verb, use pronouns mentioned in Rule 1 (as subject). If the
pronoun comes after the verb, use pronouns mentioned in Rule 2 (As object)

Example - He gave her a gift.

“he” is as per Rule 1C and “her” is as per Rule 2C.

Rule 9 – If the pronoun is referring to a noun, the pronoun should agree with the verb and number
of the noun.

Example – The company is doing well. It has grown exponentially.

The initial part mentions “company is” which indicates it is singular. Thus, “it has” is used subsequently to
indicate singularity again.

Rule 10 – When comparisons are being made using – as much as, than, as good as etc, we should
use pronouns that are used for subjects as per Rule 1 and not pronouns that are used for objects
as per Rule 2.

Example - I am as good as he is in playing cricket. (“he is” cannot be replaced by him)

Example – This team did not play as well as they did. (“they did” cannot be replaced by “them”)

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Rule 11 – “it” can be used as a dummy pronoun, that is, without any noun. The usage is common
while talking about temperature, distance, time.

Example – It is hot today. / It is 2 PM now. / It is 4 kms away.

All the above “it” usages do not have any preceding noun.

Rule 12 – “it” can be used to refer to animals / babies apart from non-living things.

Example – I saw an injured cat. It looked like it was in pain. / My baby is growing up. It is able to crawl
now.

Exception to the rule – If the animal is a pet, “he” or “she” is allowed.

Example - My pet dog, Tara is unwell. She is feeling so since last week.

Rule 13 – To put additional stress into a noun, “it” pronoun is used.

Example – It is the coach who is responsible for the downfall of the team.

We could have simply said - The coach is responsible for the downfall of the team.

But to put more stress into the coach, we use “it is..” before the noun.

Rule 14 – Pronouns for question

 If we are talking of the subject – Who, Which

Example – Who are you? (“Who” is used for people)

Example – Which pen do you need? (“Which” is used for things)

 If we are talking of object – Whom, Which

Example – Whom are you talking to? (“Whom” is used for people)

Example – Which is the item you are looking for? (“Which” is used for things)

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 If we are talking of possession – Whose, Which

Example – Whose pens are these? / I watched a movie whose name I cannot recollect now. (“Whose” is
used for people and things. If it is a question, “whose” has to refer to people.)

Example – The pen is on the table, the ink of which has dried up. (“which” is used for things)

Rule 15 – “That” pronoun

 That is used to refer People and Things.

Example – That is my pen. (“Who” is used for people) / Ram is that boy from the 4th class (“that” is used
for people and things)

 That is used when we use superlative before.

Example – Shyam is the best student that I have ever taught. (not who)

In this case, that is followed by superlative, best.

 That is used with all these words – no, nobody, everybody, any, everything, none, all

Example – I have given you everything that I had. / I have given you all that I had.

Rule 16 – Which vs. What – “Which” is used for questions where you are presented with choices
while “what” is open ended. Usually, “What” can replace “Which” but not the other way around.

Example – Which flavor of ice cream would you like?

(There are choices present and one has to pick. What flavor of ice cream would you like – is also
acceptable.)

Example – What would you like for dinner?

(Here we can’t say “Which” would you like for dinner as this is an open ended question)

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Rule 17 – If you want to use a pronoun without mentioning exactly who or what- you need to use
these pronouns –

For people - Anyone, Anybody, Someone, Somebody, No one, Nobody, Everyone, Everybody

For things – Anything, Something, Nothing,Everthing

Example – Someone was speaking about Physics in the party / Do you have anything to drink?

These pronouns take singular verbs.

Example – Someone is talking. (not are) / Everybody likes him.(not like)

Rule 18 – Usage of “Some/Any/All/More/Most/None/Such” (It depends)

This depends on the subject that is being spoken about.

Example – All of the money is gone.

 There is no plural form of money. It is used in singular form only. Hence, it is singular

Example – Most of the children are good.

Children is the plural of child. Thus, the verb “Are” is used.

Rule 19 – Usage of “Each”

 If each comes before the noun, the verb should be singular.

Each of X takes singular.

Example – Each of these shirts is good.

 If Each comes after the noun or main subject, verb is plural.

Example – They each are well-skilled.

Rule 19 – Summary for identification of singular/plural pronouns -

Always singular pronouns – Each of X, either, enough, everyone, everybody, everything, anyone, anybody,
anything, nobody, no one, nothing, somebody, someone, something, another, much, little (uncountable),
neither

Always Plural – Both, Few, many (countable),

Depends on context (the main subject) – All, any, more, most, none, some, such.