Chapter Two
Pronouns
I. What Is a Pronoun?
A pronoun is a word used to replace a noun. The purpose of
pronouns is to avoid repetition and make sentences easier to understand.
Some of the most common pronouns are he, she, it, they, and this.
II. Types of Pronouns
We are going to study seven types of pronouns in English: personal
pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, relative
pronouns, indefinite pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and reciprocal
pronouns
1. Personal pronouns
A personal pronoun is a short word we use as a simple substitute for
the proper name of a person. Each of the English personal
pronouns shows us the grammatical person (i.e. first person, second
person, or third person), gender (i.e. feminine, masculine or neuter),
number (i.e. singular or plural), and case (i.e. subjective, objective,
possessive) of the noun it replaces. I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him,
her, us, and them are all personal pronouns.
Subjective personal pronouns are pronouns that act as the subject
of a sentence. Remember that the subjective personal pronouns are I, you,
we, they, you, she, he, and it. For example:
"I walked directly to the party."
"She washed the dishes."
"You're so smart."
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Objective personal pronouns are pronouns that act as the object of
a sentence. The objective personal pronouns are me, you, her, him, it, us,
you, and them. For example:
"The police officer told my brother and me to slow down."
"He pointed to the pedestrians and said to be careful of them."
"The police officer said there are a lot of speedy motorists like us."
Possessive personal pronouns are pronouns that show possession.
They define a person (or a number of people) who owns a particular
object. The possessive personal pronouns are mine, yours, hers, his, its,
ours, and theirs. For example:
"Is this book yours or his?"
"All the books are mine."
"Nobody's house has as many books as theirs, not even ours."
2. Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns point to and identify a noun or a pronoun.
This and these refer to things that are nearby in space or time, while that
and those refer to things that are farther away in space or further away in
time. For example:
"This is the dress I will wear; that is the one I wore yesterday."
"That is not true."
"Please pay for those."
3. Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. The interrogative
pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and what. Remember that who
and whom are used to refer to people, while which is used to refer to
things and animals. Who acts as the subject, while whom acts as the
object. Whose asks about possession. For example:
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"Which is the best restaurant?"
"What did he tell you?"
"Whom should we invite?"
"Whose is that bag?"
"Who is the criminal?"
Note:
There are some words that are not considered interrogative pronouns
at all. Interrogative adverbs are words such as 'how, why, when, where'
that are used to ask a question about a particular aspect of a sentence such
as time, place, frequency, reason or manner. These adverbs are often
placed at the beginning of a question, and they are used to elicit specific
information from the listener or reader.
4. Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns are used to link one phrase or clause to another
phrase or clause. The relative pronouns are who, whom, that, whose and
which. The compounds whoever, whomever, and whichever are also
commonly used relative pronouns. For example:
"Whoever added the bill made a mistake."
"The bill, which included all our meals, was larger than expected."
"The waiter who served us doesn't know how to add."
"This is the girl whose bag was stolen."
"This is the student whom I gave the present."
5. Indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns refer to an identifiable, but not specified,
person or thing. An indefinite pronoun conveys the idea of all, any, none,
or some. Remember the following common indefinite pronouns: all,
another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone,
everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody, and
someone. For example:
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"Everybody got lost on the way there."
"Somebody forgot to bring the map."
"No wonder so few showed up."
6. Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns refer back to a person or thing. They are words
like myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and
themselves. We often use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the
object of a verb are the same. An example is "I cut myself when I was
making dinner last night."
Example:
The puppy saw itself in the mirror.
Explanation: Itself is the direct object in the sentence. The pronoun
itself refers back to the subject. The puppy saw the puppy in the mirror.
7. Reciprocal pronouns
A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun which is used to indicate that
two or more people are carrying out or have carried out an action of some
type. There are only two reciprocal pronouns. We use the reciprocal
pronouns each other and one another when two or more people do the
same thing.
Examples
Peter and Mary helped each other.
= Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter.
We sent one another Christmas cards.
= We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas card.
They didn't look at each other.
= X didn't look at Y and Y didn't look at X.
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Note: We also use the possessive forms each other's and one another's:
They helped to look after each other's children.
The group of students often stayed in one another's houses.
Note that we do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.
Note:
Reciprocal pronouns and plural reflexive pronouns (ourselves,
yourselves, themselves) have different meanings:
John and Fred talk to each other regularly.
= John talks to Fred and Fred talks to John.
John and Fred regularly talk to themselves.
= John talks to himself and Fred talks to himself.
Exercises:
I. Write short notes on the following:
A pronoun .............................................................................................
................................................................................................................
Personal pronouns ................................................................................
................................................................................................................
Subjective personal pronouns .............................................................
................................................................................................................
Objective personal pronouns ...............................................................
................................................................................................................
Possessive personal pronouns ..........................................................
................................................................................................................
Demonstrative pronouns......................................................................
................................................................................................................
Interrogative pronouns..........................................................................
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................................................................................................................
Relative pronouns.................................................................................
................................................................................................................
Indefinite pronouns.............................................................................
................................................................................................................
Reflexive pronouns...............................................................................
...............................................................................................................
Reciprocal pronouns ............................................................................
................................................................................................................
II. Give examples for the following:
A pronoun .............................................................................................
................................................................................................................
Personal pronouns .................................................................................
................................................................................................................
Subjective personal pronouns ............................................................
................................................................................................................
Objective personal pronouns ...............................................................
................................................................................................................
Possessive personal pronouns ..............................................................
................................................................................................................
Demonstrative pronouns........................................................................
................................................................................................................
Interrogative pronouns..........................................................................
................................................................................................................
Relative pronouns..................................................................................
................................................................................................................
Indefinite pronouns..............................................................................
................................................................................................................
Reflexive pronouns..........................................................................
................................................................................................................
Reciprocal pronouns .............................................................................
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III. Complete the following:
1. ...................... refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence.
2. ...... are used to link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause.
3. ............. refer to an identifiable, but not specified, person or thing.
4. ................................ are used to ask questions.
5. .................................. point to and identify a noun or a pronoun.
6. ............................ are used in place of nouns.
7. ..................... personal pronouns are pronouns that show possession.
8. ........................ personal pronouns are pronouns that act as the subject of
a sentence.
9. ................. personal pronouns are pronouns that act as the object of a
sentence.
10. There are ....................... types of pronouns in English.
11. ......................... are used to express a 'two-way' relationship.
12. Personal pronouns are of three main types: ...................................,
....................., and ............................................
13. Each other and one another are called .................... pronouns.
IV. Choose the appropriate pronouns to complete the sentences.
1. “____ am happy with the results.” ( I / She)
2. “Could you give the book to ____?” ( her / they)
3. “____ went to the park yesterday.” ( We / Him)
4. Sentence: “The teacher gave ____ homework.” ( us / she)
5. ______ have one sister and one brother. (She / I)
6. Thomas is my brother. ______ is twenty. (he / she)
7. Betty is my sister. ______is thirty-three. (He / She)
8. ______ am eighteen. (We / I)
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9. ______ are older than I am. (She / They)
10. Thomas, Betty, and I are friends. ______ never fight. (We / He)
11. Thomas likes to study. ______ goes to college. (He / She)
12. Betty works at the hospital. ______ is a doctor. (He / She)
13. Betty has a car. ______ is blue. (It / She)
14. Do ______ have brothers and sisters? (he / you)
15. ____ is my car here. (This/ That/ These/ Those)
16. ____ are my children over there in the park. (This/ That/ These/
Those)
17. ____ is my car over there. (This/ That/ These/ Those)
18. ____ are my children here. (This/ That/ These/ Those)
19. ____ bike over there is mine. (This/ That/ These/ Those)
20. Do you know ____ boys over there? (This/ That/ These/ Those)
21. Can I use ____ pencil here? (This/ That/ These/ Those)
22. I love ____ biscuits here. (This/ That/ These/ Those)
23. ______ is my favorite movie. (This/These)
24. ______ are the books I was talking about. (That/Those)
25. ______ is the building where I work. (These/That)
26. ______ are delicious cookies you made. (This/Those)
27. ______ is the best restaurant in town. (These/That)
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Exercise 1: Reflexive Pronoun Exercises for English Grammar
1. She blames (she) for the mistake she made.
2. He cut (he) while cooking dinner.
3. I found (I) lost in the big city.
4. The cat licked (it) clean.
5. They should be proud of (they) for finishing the project on
time.
6. You need to believe in (you) to achieve success.
7. We prepared (we) for the challenging task ahead.
8. She locked (she) out of her house by accident.
9. He taught (he) how to play the guitar.
10. I bought (I) a new book to read.
11. The dog scratched (it) behind the ear.
12. They congratulated (they) on a job well done.
13. You should take care of (you) and get some rest.
14 We enjoyed (we) at the party last night.
15. She looked at (she) in the mirror.
Exercise 2: Reflexive Pronoun Exercises for English Grammar
1. He accidentally hurt (he) while playing sports.
2. I treated (I) to a day at the spa.
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3. She bought (she) a new dress for the event.
4. The bird preened (it) before flying off.
5. They embarrassed (they) by arriving late to the meeting.
6. You should trust (you) more and not doubt your abilities.
7. We took (we) out for a nice dinner to celebrate our
anniversary.
8. He surprised (he) by finishing the race in record time.
9. She taught (she) a new language in just a few months.
10. I found (I) daydreaming during the boring lecture.
11. The cat curled up and groomed (it) in the sun.
12. They rewarded (they) with a vacation after a year of hard
work.
13. You need to protect (you) from the cold weather with warm
clothes.
14. We amused (we) by playing board games during the power
outage.
15. She compared (she) to her siblings, feeling inadequate.
Exercise: Choose the correct answer:
1. Jane made this dress __________.
(herself/ herselfs/hisself/themselves)
2. The children assembled the toy __________.
(ourselves/ himself/itself/themselves)
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3. He painted the house __________ to save money.
(ourselves/ himself/herself/themselves)
4. You'll have to complete the project __________; I can't help you.
(itself/ themselves /yourself/ ourselves)
5. The cat can clean __________ very well.
(itself/ themselves /himself/ herself)
Choose one of the following indefinite pronouns to fill each blank:
something, everyone, anywhere
1. After the parade, __________ met up in the town square.
A. something B. everyone C. anywhere
2. Would you like __________ to drink.
A. something B. everyone C. anywhere
3. I searched all over, but couldn’t find my notes __________ .
A. something B. everyone C. anywhere
Select an interrogative pronoun to fill the blank in each sentence.
1. __________ flavor do you prefer?
A. Whom B. Which C. Who
2. I heard someone at the door but wasn’t sure __________ it was.
A. what B. which C. whom
3. __________ do you want for lunch?
A. what B. which C. who
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Choose the correct personal pronoun to fill each blank.
1. _________ am learning to speak better English.
A. I B. Me C. You
2. Thanks for the package! Please leave _________ on the table.
A. them B. their C. it
3. Ben was surprised when _________ discovered that his friends were
hiding in the living room.
A. she B. he C. they
Reciprocal Pronoun Exercises
Choose the correct reciprocal pronoun to fill the blank, remembering
that reciprocal pronouns include each other and one another.
1. Dan and I waved hello to _________.
A. each other B. one another
2. The students talked to _________.
A. each other B. one another
3. The two boys threw the ball back and forth to _________.
A. each other B. one another
Reflexive Pronoun Exercises
Choose the correct reflexive pronoun to fill the blank.
4. I’m always talking to _________.
A. themselves B. myself C. herself
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5. John likes to do things by _________.
A. myself B. ourselves C. himself
6. You can do it _________.
A. yourself B. himself C. themselves
Relative Pronoun Exercises
Choose the correct relative pronoun to fill the blank.
1. The tallest child, _________ was also oldest, was also most outgoing.
A. who B. that C. whose
2. I don’t recognize the song _________ is playing.
A. which B. that C. who
3. I rode my bike, _________ has a headlight, home in the dark.
A. that B. whom C. which
II. Which object form of the personal pronoun can substitute the
underlined phrase in the sentence?
1. The teacher always gives the students homework.
(a) me (b) them (c) you
2. I am reading the book to my little sister.
(a) her (b) us (c) him
3. The boys are riding their bikes.
(a) it (b) them (c) her
4. My father is writing a letter to John.
(a) me (b) her (c) him
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5. I don't know the answer.
(a) she (b) her (c) it
6. Sally is going to see Anne.
(a) her (b) him (c) me
7. Open the window, please.
(a) it (b) them (c) us
8. Can you tell the people the way to the airport, please?
(a) you (b) them (c) us
9. The books are for Peter.
(a) him (b) her (c) you
10. Can you help my sister and me, please?
(a) her (b) me (c) us
1. Choose the correct indefinite pronoun.
1 I didn’t have to pay …………… for the tickets. They were free.
a nothing b anything c something
2 We didn’t like the city. There were tourists …………… .
a anywhere b somewhere c everywhere
3 I think I’ve missed the train. There’s …………… on the platform.
a anybody b everybody c nobody
4 He can’t lift his suitcase. There’s …………… heavy in it.
a something b everything c anything
5 The law says that …………… has to wear a seat belt.
a everybody b anybody c somebody
6 The restaurant was full. There was …………… to sit.
a anywhere b nowhere c somewhere
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2. The indefinite pronouns in these sentences are incorrect. Rewrite
them correctly.
1 Has somebody seen my passport?
…anybody……………
2 I was hungry because there was anything to eat.
……………………………
3 There wasn’t nobody at the check-in desk.
……………………………
4 We didn’t have nowhere to sleep.
……………………………
5 Can I have anything to drink?
……………………………
……………………………
6 Anybody says that Paris is amazing in the spring.
……………………………
Fill in the blanks with suitable possessive pronouns in the following
sentences.
1. Is this car ___________ (yours/mine)?
2. Don’t touch the phone; it’s not ___________ (yours/mine).
3. The book is not his; It is (mine / her).
4. The clothes over there are (ours / yours).
5. My dog is smaller than (yours / his).
Choose whether each sentence requires a possessive adjective or
a possessive pronoun.
Example: That car is not his. It's mine. (possessive pronoun)
OR That's my car. (possessive adjective)
1. She's not his friend, she's (my/mine).
2. Robert didn't drink his own coffee. He drank (her/hers).
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3. That is one of (hers/her) friends.
4. His neighborhood is safe, while (my/mine) neighborhood isn't.
5. His neighborhood is safe, while (my/mine) isn't.
6. Did (your/yours) mother call?
7. Our garden looks terrible, while (theirs/their) looks incredible.
8. I don't know (theirs/their) daughter very well.
9. I talked to (my/me) grandmother for three hours last night.
10. I think I got my notes mixed up with (your/yours).
V. State whether or not the following sentences are True or False:
1. Each other and one another are reflexive pronouns. (............................ )
2. We can use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.
(............................ )
3. The two sentences below have the same meaning:
John and Fred talk to each other regularly.
John and Fred regularly talk to themselves. (............................ )
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