1. What is a Pronoun?

A Pronoun is a word that is used instead of a Noun or Noun Phrase. For better understanding, see the examples given below.

1. The man saw the girls.
2. The girls were playing.
3. However, the girls did not see the man. 
4. The man went on watching the girls.

The above sentences can be rewritten with “Pronouns” as follows:

1. The man saw the girls.
2. They were playing.
3. However, They did not see the man.
4. He went on watching them.

Look now it sounds better. The noun (girls) has not been used repeatedly. Instead of the noun(Girls), we used the pronoun i.e., ‘They’.

Similarly, we also used the pronoun(He) for the Noun(man).

So, now you must have got clarification that ‘pronouns” are used instead of ‘Nouns’. Because, if we use the same noun again and again it sounds bad.

2. Types of Pronouns

Significantly, There are 07 types of pronouns. They are as follows:

1. Personal Pronoun.
2. Demonstrative Pronoun.
3. Interrogative Pronoun.
4. Reflexive Pronoun.
5. Emphasizing Pronoun.
6. Possessive Pronoun.
7. Relative Pronoun.

For clarification let’s study the above 07 kinds of pronouns in detail.

I. Personal Pronouns

A Pronoun that stands for a person or a thing is called a Personal Pronoun.

There are 03 kinds of Personal Pronouns. They are as follows:

PERSON	SINGULAR	PLURAL
1st Person	I	WE
2nd Person	YOU	YOU
3rd Person	He, She, It	They

Examples of ‘Personal Pronouns’

1. I eat ice-cream.
2. We eat ice-cream.
3. You eat ice-cream.
4. You eat ice-cream.
5. He eats ice-cream.
6. She eats ice-cream.
7. It eats ice-cream.
8. They eat ice-cream.

Note: Third person Singular always takes ‘s/es‘ when they are used in Present Tense affirmative form. Further, Does and Does not when they are used in Interrogative and Negative Simple Present forms.

In the above Sentences, the subject (i.e., He, She, and It) examples 5 to 7 are 3rd person singular; for which they have taken ‘s/es’ in their verb.

II. Demonstrative Pronoun

A Demonstrative Pronoun is a pronoun that is used to point out the object or objects to which it refers.

For Example:

1. This is my computer.
2. That is my TV.
3. These are my books.
4. Those are my notes.

In the above sentences, this, that, these, and those are used to point out the object or object for which they are used. This (singular) and These (plural) refer to things near at hand; that(singular) and those (plural) refer to things lying at a distance. They are, therefore called Demonstrative Pronouns.

Demonstrative Pronouns and Demonstrative Adjectives

The words this, that, these, and those can be used both as demonstrative pronouns and as a demonstrative adjective.

For example:

Examples	Description
This is my computer.	“This” stands for the Noun computer and is a Pronoun
This Computer is mine.	“This ” qualifies the Noun Computer, therefore it is an Adjective
Those are books.	“those: stands for the Noun books and is a Pronoun.
Those books are mine.	“those” qualifies the Noun books and is an Adjective.
These are good books.	“these” is a Demonstrative Pronoun
These books are good.	“these” is Demonstrative Adjective

III. Interrogative Pronoun

A pronoun that is used to ask a question is known as an Interrogative Pronoun.

For examples:

1. What is this?
2. Which is your car?
3. Who is he?
4. Whose notes are these?
5. Whom do you want to marry?

What and Which are used for things or ideas. Whereas, Who, whom, and whose are used for persons

IV. Reflexive Pronoun

Reflexive Pronouns are words like myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, and themselves, used as the receiver of action is known as Reflexive Pronouns. See the examples given below:

PERSON	SINGULAR	Examples	PLURAL	Examples
1st Person	Myself	I motivate myself.	Ourselves	We blamed ourselves.
2nd Person	Yourself	Don’t ruin yourself.	Yourselves	Learn yourselves.
3rd Person	Himself, Herself, Itself	1. He/She blamed himself/herself. 2. The dog hurt itself.	Themselves	The monks work themselves.

V. Emphasizing Pronoun

When a Pronoun is used only for the sake of emphasis it is called Emphasizing Pronoun.

For examples:

1. I myself blamed for the sake of ending of quarrel.
2. You yourself must do this work.
3. He himself works out his homework daily.
4. They themselves went to the police station.

The bold words are the Emphasizing Pronouns. Especially, they are used to emphasize the circumstance.

VI. Possessive Pronouns

A Pronoun that shows the possessiveness of something is called a Possessive Pronoun.

For example:

1. This is not your computer. It is mine.
2. That motorbike is not mine. It is yours.
3. This is not her book. It is his.
4. They have bought a new car. That is theirs.
5. Those book books are ours.
6. Rani said that those books were hers.

The words mine, ours, yours, his, hers, its, and theirs do not qualify as Nouns. They show possession. That is why they are Possessive Pronouns.

VII. Relative Pronoun

The Pronouns that combine two sentences and refer back to the Nouns going before them are called Relative Pronouns.

1. I met a teacher whom I had met yesterday. (I met a teacher. I had met him yesterday.)
2. This is the bag that Radhika bought.(This is the bag. Radhika bought it.)
3. He is the comedian whom I met last month. He is a comedian. I met him last month.

Look, the antecedent of whom is the “teacher”. The noun to which a Relative Pronoun refers or describes is called it’s Antecedent.

Subject	Object form
I	Me
WE	us
You	(to) you
he	him
she	her
It	(to) it
They	Them

Exercises (Pronoun)

1. Fill in the blanks with appropriate Pronouns.

1. The car does not belong to __________.
2. Rohit likes to play with Rohan’s toys, but __________ does not care for __________.,
3. Is that __________ your bag?
4. I gifted my friend a pen and __________ gifted __________ a chocolate.
5. Look at the flower. How beautiful __________is ?
6. When went on shopping, __________ bought a t-shirt.

2. Fill in the blanks with interrogative Pronouns.

1. __________ is the new book?
2. __________ told you about his matter?
3. __________ is your father’s name?
4. __________ books are these?
5. __________ is my goal?
6. __________ is this lovely car?

3. Pick out the Interrogative Pronouns in the following sentences.

1. What prize has been given to the winner?
2. Whose responsibility is higher in your country?
3. Who killed the Raban?
4. What does your father do?
5. Which way should I go?
6. What types of movies do you like the most?
7. Who has drawn this drawing?

4. Fill in the blanks with Possessive Pronouns.

1. My friend often encourages me to __________.
2. Generally, we often deceive __________.
3. You should do your homework by __________.
4. She __________ completed all her work.
5. The dog has hurt__________.

5. Rewrite the following sentence as shown.

1. Those toys belong to

1. Those toys belong to us.	Ans: Those toys are ours.
2. That bag belongs to me.	Ans:
3. This camera belongs to him.	Ans
4. These books belong to them.	Ans:
5. Those photos belong to them.	Ans:

for more click on the link: Pronoun

“Don’t Give up on yourself. There’s a reason why you started.”

-Rajesh Huika