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Parts of Speech
Pronouns

Pronoun

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun.

The word his replaces the word John's and he replaces the word John, so he and his are pronouns.

Using the pronouns is preferable to the alternative sentence below.

Cases of personal pronouns

Case	Singular	Plural
Subjective	I, you, he, she, it	we, you, they
Objective	me, you, him, her, it,	us, you, them
Possessive	my, your, his, her, its	our, your, their

Notes on the above table:
1. The pronoun you can be both singular and plural.
2. The pronouns you and it do not change form for the subjective and the objective cases.

Personal pronouns also change their case, or form, to show their function.

There are three cases for pronouns:

• subjective (or nominative)
• objective
• possessive

The pronoun will change according to its case in the sentence.

Subjective case

A pronoun that is used as the subject of a verb requires the subjective case.

Because the pronouns he and I are used as the subject of the verb went, they require the subjective case.

Subjective case after a linking verb

A pronoun in the subjective case is required after a linking verb.

All forms of the verb to be, such as is, are, was, and were, are linking verbs.

Though the first sentence may sound wrong to you, the subjective case he is required after the linking verb is.

When you are in doubt, change the order of the sentence.

Objective case

A pronoun that is used as the object of a verb or a preposition requires the objective case.

Because the pronoun her is the object of the preposition to, the objective case is required.

Because the pronoun him is the object of the verb patted, the objective case is required.

Compound subject or object

Students have greater difficulty in choosing the correct case of the pronoun when there is a compound subject or a compound object.

Compound subject: Betty and (I, me) went to the movie.

To help you decide the correct form of the pronoun, mentally eliminate one part of the compound subject, which is Betty and.

Now, would you say I went to the movie or Me went to the movie? The answer is obvious.

Do the same for a compound object.

Compound object: Grandfather gave Betty and (I, me) a ride to the movie.

To help you decide the correct form of the pronoun, mentally eliminate one part of the compound object, which is Betty and.

Now, would you say Grandfather gave I a ride to the movie or Grandfather gave me a ride to the movie? The answer is obvious.

Possessive case

The possessive case of a pronoun is used to show ownership.

Because the pronouns your and his are showing ownership, they use the possessive case.

The possessive form of a pronoun or a noun is used before a gerund, an ing form of a verb used as a noun.

Antecedent

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and gender.
The antecedent is the word or words to which a pronoun refers.

Man is the antecedent of the pronoun his.
Men is the antecedent of the pronoun their.

A singular antecedent (dog) requires a singular pronoun (it, its).
A plural antecedent (dogs) requires a plural pronoun (they, them, their, theirs).
A masculine antecedent (boy) requires a masculine pronoun (he, him, his).
A feminine antecedent (girl) requires a feminine pronoun (she, her, hers).

Correlative conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are conjunctions that are used in pairs, such as either...or, both...and and neither...nor.

If one antecedent is singular and the other antecedent is plural, you must make the pronoun agree with the closer one.

Pronouns after the word than

You also need to be careful of the pronoun that you use after than.

This sentence really means Bill is taller than I am. The verb am is understood, though it is not stated.
However, we are so used to hearing Bill is taller than me that it sounds more natural than Bill is taller than I.
If you feel awkward using the correct sentence, then add the omitted verb so the sentence is Bill is taller than I am.
You would never say Bill is taller than me am.

Let's

Many students have difficulty when they have to use a pronoun after let's.
Should it be Let's you and I go to the movie or Let's you and me go to the movie?
Let's means let us. Us is the objective form of the pronoun we; therefore, the pronoun that comes after let's should be in the objective case.

Pronouns us and we

Students have a similar problem with us and we when they are used before a noun. Should it be we boys or us boys?

Let the case of the noun after the pronoun guide you.

If the noun is in the nominative case, use we.

If the noun is in the objective case, use us.

Other person first

Always place the name of the other person in front of your name, as a matter of courtesy.

Changing pronouns

Do not change pronouns in your speech or writing.

Why would I need to take a break if you are doing the work?

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, and those.
Note that these is the plural form of this, and those is the plural form of that.
Also note that this and that refer to people, animals, or things that are close, while that and those refer to people, animals, or things that are farther away.

Do not confuse demonstrative pronouns with demonstrative adjectives. Remember that an adjective describes a noun or pronoun while a pronoun refers to a noun.

This is a demonstrative adjective because it modifies the noun book.

This is a demonstrative pronoun because it is the subject of the verb is.

Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. They are who? whom? whose? which? and what?

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are words like anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, nobody, somebody, and someone, which do not refer to a definite person or thing. Any pronoun that refers to an indefinite pronoun must be singular.

However, in many magazines and newspapers today you will see sentences in which the writer treats the indefinite pronoun as if it were plural.

In your writing be consistent with the masculine or feminine form of the pronoun that you use to refer to an indefinite pronoun.

Although each of these forms is correct, it is advisable to check with your instructor to determine which form she wants you to use in your assignments. Regardless of the form you eventually choose, you must be consistent with the use of that form throughout the assignment.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are formed by adding self or selves to other pronouns.

These are the correct forms of the reflexive pronouns.

These are the incorrect forms of the reflexive pronouns.

Reflexive pronouns are used mainly for emphasis.

However, the reflexive pronoun can never be used as the subject of a verb.

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and gender.

Using the wrong pronoun to agree with its antecedent is probably the most common error in writing today. You will see numerous examples in magazines and newspapers.

(For more information on this topic, see Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement.)

Relative Pronouns

The relative pronouns are who, which, and that.

These words are pronouns because they refer to a noun, but they are also subordinate conjunctions because they link a principal clause to a subordinate clause.

Use who to refer to people.

Use which to refer to animals and things.

Use that to refer to people, animals, or things under certain conditions.

In each of these sentences, we need the clause to identify the person, animal, or thing that we are referring to, so we use that instead of who or which.

Note that the relative pronouns in these sentences link one part of the sentence to the other part, so they are conjunctions. At the same time, however, they are also pronouns because they are the subjects of verbs.

Cases of relative pronouns

Of the three relative pronouns, only who changes its form according to the case.

Subjective case	Objective case	Possessive case
Who	Whom	Whose

Subjective case: This is the man who visited us last week.
Who is subject of the verb visited, so it requires the subjective case.

Objective case: This is the man to whom we loaned our car.
Whom is object of the preposition to, so it requires the objective case.

Possessive case: Whose house is this?
Whose modifies the noun house, so it requires the possessive case.

Comma or no comma?

Should a relative clause be separated from the principal clause by a comma? The answer will depend on whether the relative clause is restrictive or non-restrictive.

A restrictive clause is one that is necessary to identify something in the principal clause.
A non-restrictive clause is one that is not necessary to identify something in the principal clause.

Do we know which man we are referring to without the relative clause who won the lottery last night? The answer is no, so the relative clause is restrictive. We need it to identify man in the sentence. Therefore, it is not set off by a comma.

Do we know which man we are referring to without the relative clause who won the lottery last night? The answer is yes, so the relative clause is a non-restrictive clause. Therefore, it is set off by a comma.

Who, which, that

Students often have difficulty knowing which relative pronoun to use in certain sentences.

Usually, you use who to refer to people and which to refer to things and animals. However, there are exceptions to these rules.

The exception is caused by the use of that.

Use that to refer to people, animals, or things, if you need the information following that to identify the person, animal, or thing that you are talking about.

We can eliminate which as a possible answer because we are dealing with people, while which deals with things or animals.

We know that it was Mother who overheard our plans for the weekend, so we do not need who was in the living room to identify her. Therefore, who was in the living room is a non-restrictive clause.

Because it is a non-restrictive clause, we use who instead that in the sentence. In addition, the clause who was in the living room should be set off by commas because it is non-restrictive.

However, all choices are not that simple. Consider the sentence below and the choices.

We can eliminate who as a possible answer because we are dealing with a thing, while who deals with people.

The decision we now have to make is whether who or which is on the deck is a restrictive or non-restrictive clause. Do we need that clause to identify which barbecue needs a new propane tank?

If the speaker has only one barbecue, we do not need the clause to identify which one needs a new tank. However, if he has more than one barbecue, we need that clause.

A search of the context does not inform us of the correct choice. Either answer could be correct.

However, when an instructor is testing such a sentence, he will usually have a clue in the context to inform you whether the clause is restrictive or non-restrictive.

The commas inform us that the clause is non-restrictive; therefore which is the correct choice.

Here is another example for your consideration.

We can eliminate who as a possible answer because we are dealing with a thing, while who deals with people.

The decision we now have to make is whether which or that is in the garage is a restrictive or non-restrictive clause. Do we need that clause to identify which car needs to be repaired?

We cannot tell from the context how many cars the person has. However, when the instructor places a comma in the test item, we know that there is only one car. Therefore, the clause is non-restrictive.

There is no doubt about the choice in the next sentence.

Since we have the name of the program that the speaker was watching, we do not need the subordinate clause (which, that) we did not find informative to identify the program. Therefore, the clause is non-restrictive, so which is the correct choice and the clause needs to be set off by a comma.

Relative pronoun understood

Relative pronouns are sometimes understood but not stated.

One would think that the above sentence consists of two sentences:

• This was the best gift.
• We could have given our parents.

However, it consists of a principal clause This the best gift and a subordinate clause that we could have given our parents. The relative pronoun that is understood, though not stated.

Practice

Instructions: Identify the 20 pronouns in the following sentences.

1. During the half marathon, John did his best to pace himself, as he thought, but he was not successful, even though everyone was cheering for him.
2. He debated which of the two routes would give him the better chance of beating his opponent.
3. Too late he realized that this was a good choice for his competitors but not for himself.
4. Each did his best but only one runner could be the winner in this competitive sport, unfortunately.
5. John soon realized that those with the most training and the greatest stamina would be the runners to pass him as they struggled toward the finish line.

Test your skill

Now that you have studied the rules of subject and verb agreement, it is time to test your knowledge of these rules. Click on the button to the right to take a test of 20 sentences in which you apply these rules.

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