Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or a noun phrase. Rather than using the same noun over and over again, we use English pronouns.

Without pronouns, our language would be quite tiresome:

• Mr. Hurshee was eating Mr. Hurshee's breakfast on Mr. Hurshee's way to work. Unfortunately, Mr. Hurshee's milk dribbled down the front of Mr. Hurshee's shirt. Now, Mr. Hurshee needs to ask Mr. Hurshee's sister to bring Mr. Hurshee a clean shirt.

English pronouns (italicized) simplify the passages:

• Mr. Hurshee was eating his breakfast on his way to work. Unfortunately, his milk dribbled down the front of his shirt. Now, he needs to ask his sister to bring him a clean shirt.

English pronouns are the words (such as he, she, it, we, they) we use to refer to people, places, and things that have already been mentioned. Pronouns are italicized in the examples below.

• Andres kicked the ball, and he watched it fly over Wally's head.

In the sentence above, the pronoun he replaces "Andres," and the pronoun it replaces "ball."

Antecedents

The noun or noun phrase to which the pronoun refers is called the antecedent. The prefix ante means "before", and the root ced means "go." The antecedent usually "goes before" the pronoun.

Notice the antecedents for the pronouns her and it in this sentence:

The antecedent of the pronoun her is "Melissa," and the antecedent of the pronouns it is "armchair."

Often we find an antecedent in an earlier sentence.  Sometimes the antecedent comes after the pronoun, or it might be another pronoun.  A pronoun can also have more than one antecedent. Likewise, a noun can serve as the antecedent for more than one pronoun.

• Otis (antecedent) had the flu when he ran his first race.

Each pronoun needs a clear antecedent. The meaning of the sentence below is unclear because the antecedent is unclear:

The doctor said she eats too much sugar.
Who eats too much sugar?
What is the antecedent of she?

The following sentences are unclear because they each contain a pronoun that has more than one possible antecedent:

Yin and Eunice painted her fence.
Whose fence?
Yin's? Eunice's?

To make our meaning clear, we can use nouns instead of pronouns, we can rearrange a few words, or we can rewrite the whole sentence:

Yin and Eunice painted Yin's fence.

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Types of Pronouns

There are five main categories of pronouns: personal, relative, indefinite, interrogative, and demonstrative.

Personal Pronouns

Just like nouns, personal pronouns refer to people and things (and also places, if you think of a place as an "it"). In the following sentences, the personal pronouns are italicized.

He will help them.
Do you have my jacket?

There are three forms of personal pronouns: person, number, and case.

Person

First person is the speaker: I, me, mine, we, us, ours.

I shall vote today.
We live in a democracy.

Second person is the person being spoken to: you, yours.

Will you vote also?
All of you are important.

Third person is the person being spoken about: he, she, it, him, her, his, hers.

He and she will vote.
They shall vote also.

Number

Some personal pronouns are singular:

I, me, mine, you, yours, he, him, his, she, her, hers, it

Others are plural:

we, us, ours, you, yours, they, them, theirs

Notice that you and yours appear in both lists. These words can be either singular or plural. In fact, we cannot always tell which is meant.

Case

Just like nouns, pronouns appear in cases. Case shows the job the pronoun is performing in the sentence. The following chart helps us to sort out the three personal pronoun case forms: (1) If a pronoun is a subject or predicate nominative, it is nominative case. (2) A pronoun used as a direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition is objective case. (3) If a pronoun shows possession, it is possessive case.

The pronoun case form depends on how the pronoun is used in the sentence.

Some pronouns are used as subjects:

• He eats clams. They want some too. I don't. Does she save the shells?

Others are used as objects:

• Elle eats *them also. (direct object)
• Bert gave *her the last one. (indirect object)
• James is waiting for *us. (object of a preposition)

Some pronouns show possession:

• Is this yours?
• Claude lost his.
• I hid mine.

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns play the part of subject or object in clauses. Relative pronouns often refer to nouns that have preceded them, making the sentence more compact.

• WORDY:
  Mrs. Wong cares for two patients, and the patients came from New Zealand.
• COMPACT:
  Mrs. Wong cares for two patients, who came from New Zealand.

Simple Relative Pronouns

The following are simple relative pronouns:

who, whom, whose, what, which, that

WHO REFERS TO PEOPLE (OR TO ANIMALS THAT ARE PERSONIFIED OR "NAMED"):

• The girl who lives next door smiled at me.

WHICH REFERS TO ANIMALS OR THINGS, BUT NOT PEOPLE:

• The bird, which had already eaten, still clung to the feeder.

THAT REFERS TO PEOPLE, ANIMALS, OR THINGS:

• He is the kind of person that everyone loves.

Notice that we do not use which for people.

Errors to Avoid

The relative pronoun who can cause problems, because it changes form depending on the part it plays in the clause:

Do not confuse whose and who's. Whose is a possessive or interrogative pronoun. Who's is a contraction for "who is." Possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes.

In the sentences below, we diagram the dependent clause to show how the pronoun is used.

• SUBJECT:
  Mrs. Cruz, who is my friend, will call today.

• OBJECT:
  Mrs. Cruz, whom you met, will call today.

• POSSESSIVE:
  Mrs. Cruz, whose friendship I value, will call today.

Compound Relative Pronouns

The following are compound relative pronouns:

whoever, whomever, whosoever
whatever, whatsoever, whichever

• He may choose whichever color he wants.
• Whatever you do, be there on time.

Notice that we carefully choose whoever or whomever depending on the part the compound relative pronoun plays in the clause.

• You may invite whomever you want. (object)
• Whoever is hungry may come for snacks. (subject)

Interrogative Pronouns

When a relative pronoun introduces a question, it is called an interrogative pronoun. Who, whom, whose, what, that, which, whoever, whichever, and whatever are interrogative pronouns.

Who is there?
What do you want?

A sentence doesn't have to end with a question mark in order to contain an interrogative pronoun. Sometimes an interrogative pronoun introduces a question that is contained inside a declarative sentence:

• She asked who was there.
• Wakefield wondered what they wanted.
• I don't know which is best.

Indefinite Pronouns

A pronoun that does not have a known antecedent is called an indefinite pronoun. It refers to a person or thing only generally.

Singular

Some indefinite pronouns refer to only one person or thing. They are singular and take singular verbs:

Everybody wants success.
Each of the students tries hard.
Nothing is impossible.

Plural

The following indefinite pronouns refer to more than one person or thing. They take plural verbs:

Both are fine.
Few were quiet.

Singular or Plural

The following indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural depending on their use in the sentence.

They are plural when they refer to things that can be counted.

Most offices are closed on holidays.

They are singular when they refer to something that cannot be counted.

Most of the pizza is gone.

Agreement with Antecedents

If an indefinite pronoun is the antecedent for a personal pronoun, the personal pronoun must agree in number, person, and gender with its antecedent.

Demonstrative Pronouns

This, that, these, and those are demonstrative pronouns. Some people call them "pointing pronouns" because they seem to point out the person or thing being referred to, distinguishing it from others.

This is an amazing world.
That is a flying squirrel.

A demonstrative pronoun must agree in number with its antecedent (the noun that it points out).

• SINGULAR: This is a plateau.
• PLURAL: These are plateaus.

This, These

We use this and these to point out persons or things that are nearby in space, time, or awareness.

This is a calico cat.
These are my ideas.

That, Those

We use that and those to point out persons or things that are farther away.

That was a foolish idea.
Those were the exciting games.

Adjective or Pronoun?

When the pronouns which, whose, or all of the indefinite or demonstrative pronouns come before nouns, they are adjectives. When they stand alone, they are pronouns.

Which boot goes on the right foot? (adjective)
Which goes on the right foot? (pronoun)