THE PRONOUN
(1. Personal Pronoun, 2. Reflexive Pronoun, 3. Emphatic Pronoun, 4. Demonstrative Pronoun, 5. Relative Pronoun, 6. Interrogative Pronoun, 7. Indefinite Pronoun, 8. Distributive Pronoun)
Definition :
A pronoun is a word used instead of a common noun or a proper noun. The word pronoun means for a noun and it called a noun’s deputy.
"Pro" + "noun" typically means "in place, of, instead of" a noun or a noun phrase. Pronouns, then, replace nouns (David met Joe; he [Joe] talked for an hour) and can also refer back to nouns (David is absent, because he is ill).
CASE
Nominative Case |
I | We | You |
He | She | It |
They | | |
Accusative Case |
Me | Us | You |
Him | Her | Them |
It | | |
Instrumental Case |
With me | By me |
With you | By you |
With him | By him |
With her | By her |
With it | By it |
With us | By us |
With you | By you |
With them | By them |
Dative Case |
To me | To us | To you |
To him | To her | To them |
To it | | |
Ablative Case |
From me | From us | From you |
From himFrom | From her | From them |
From it | | |
Genitive Case |
My | Our | Your |
His | Her | Their |
It | | |
Locative Case |
in me | with me |
in you | with you |
in him | with him |
in her | with her |
in it | with it |
in us | with us |
in you | with you |
in them | with them |
What is a noun phrase?
A noun phrase includes a noun and all of its modiļ¬ers. These modifiers include determiners and adjectives
Noun Phrase + Verb | Pronoun + Verb |
Tom eats | He reads |
The little boy eats |
The Noun ‘Tom’ and ‘boy’ is replaced by the Pronoun ‘he’
PRONOUN TAKES the place of a noun in a sentence when the noun repeated more than once.
e.g.
Incorrect | Call David. I must speak to David. |
Correct | Call David. I must speak to him. |
More Definition :
The noun represented by a pronoun is called its antecedent. The word ante means "before," and cede means "come." So the literal meaning of antecedent is "comes before." Usually, the antecedent comes before the pronoun in a sentence.
Pronouns ahve masculine and feminine gender, singular and plural forms and have nominative, possessive and objectives cases
Pronouns are used as performers/subjects or as words which receive action.
e.g.
PERFORMER / SUBJECT PRONOUNS | PRONOUNS WHICH RECEIVE ACTION |
I | me |
we | you |
you | them |
he | his |
she | her |
it | it |
they | him |
who | whom |
Types of Pronouns by Function
More Definition :
There are several different types of pronouns, each type serving a different function in the sentence.
1. Subject Pronouns
Definition :
Pronouns that are found to the left of the main verb are called subject pronouns because they tell us who or what the doer of the verb is, or who or what is described by the verb.
Subject Pronouns |
Singular | Plural |
I | we |
you | you |
he | they |
she |
it |
2. Object Pronouns
Definition :
Object pronouns are another type of pronoun. These are pronouns that replace nouns or noun phrases in object position in the sentence. Object position means that the noun or noun phrase receives the action of the verb.
Phrase | Function |
The boy reads | noun phrase in subject position |
Boy reads | subject pronoun |
The boy reads books | noun phrase in object position |
1. The boy is the subject of the verb reads. The noun phrase The boy answers the question Who reads?, a question that helps tell us who (or what) the subject of the verb is.
2. Since The boy is in subject position and refers to a single male person, the subject pronoun she can replace The boy
3. Books is the object of the verb reads. The words books answers the question What does the boy (or he) read?, a question that helps tell us what (or who) the object of the verb is.
Following is a list of the most common pronouns:
Singular | Plural | Both Singular and Plural |
I, me | we, us | any |
she, her | they | none |
he, him | them | all |
it | these | most |
anyone | those | more |
either | some | who |
each | that | which |
many a | both | what |
nothing | ourselves | you |
one | any | |
another | many | |
everything | few | |
mine | several | |
his, hers | others | |
this | | |
that | | |