Pronouns

Parts of Speech - Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun or a group of words used as a noun. Pronouns are classified in five (5) different categories. They are personal pronouns, relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and interrogative pronouns. Some pronouns can appear in more than one classification. How the pronoun is used in the sentence determines its classification. In the next two weeks we will study the five kinds of pronouns.

Personal pronouns refer to (1) the speaker or speakers, which is called first person, and include the following pronouns: I, my, mine, me, myself, we, our, ours, us, ourselves; (2) those spoken to, which is called second person, and include the following pronouns: you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves; or (3) those spoken about, which is called third person, and includes the following pronouns: he, his, him, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, their, theirs, them, themselves. Personal pronouns can be singular (one) or plural (two or more) just as verbs and nouns.

Find the personal pronouns in these sentences.

1. She hit him on his head.

2. I saw you at your store.

3. He himself will be our new friend.

4. It will be hard for me to see you.

5. They always get angry at her and me.




Answers

1. She, him, his

2. I, you, your

3. He, himself, our

4. It, me, you

5. They, her, me




Pronouns

The word for which the pronoun stands is called its antecedent. It may be in the same sentence, in a previous sentence, or not given at all. An example would be The boy threw the football. He threw it over the fence. Boy is the antecedent for he, and football is the antecedent for it. A pronoun can be an antecedent for another pronoun. He likes his new car. He is the antecedent for his. The antecedent always comes before the pronoun for which it is the antecedent.

Pick out the pronouns and their antecedents in these sentences.

1. He ran after his dad.

2. Jennie wanted her doll for bedtime.

3. The rabbit hopped into its hole.

4. They will help you with your work themselves.

5. The teacher gave us homework everyday, and she made our lives miserable.



Answers

1. He is the antecedent for his.

2. Jennie is the antecedent for her.

3. Rabbit is the antecedent for its.

4. They is the antecedent for themselves, and you is the antecedent for your.

5. Teacher is the antecedent for she, and us is the antecedent for our.



Pronouns

Some personal pronouns are called possessives because they show whose something is. They are the following pronouns: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, and theirs. An example would be The money is mine. Mine tells whose money it is.

Find the possessive pronouns in the following sentences.

1. The new car is his.

2. Yours will be here tomorrow.

3. I like theirs best.

4. Should we go for a ride in his or hers.



Answers

1. his

2. yours

3. theirs

4. his, hers



Pronouns

The personal pronouns myself, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves are compound personal pronouns combining the personal pronoun with self or selves. They are used as reflexive pronouns . Carl hurt himself is an example of a reflexive pronoun.

Find the reflexive pronouns in these sentences.

1. I should understand myself better.

2. Ann bought herself two new hamsters.

3. They can't help themselves.

4. The boy cut himself on the broken glass.


Answers

1. myself

2. herself

3. themselves

4. himself



Pronouns

The personal pronouns myself, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves can also be used as intensive pronouns. An example would be Carl himself won the race.

Find the intensive pronouns in these sentences.

1. We ourselves went to the movie.

2. The man himself wrestled the alligator.

3. Jeanne herself gave us the gift.

4. They themselves had played until dark.



Answers

1. ourselves

2. himself

3. herself

4. themselves



Quiz

Find the personal pronouns. Tell if they are intensive, reflexive or possessive, and if they have an antecedent, name it.

1. I want you yourself to come tomorrow.

2. The decision itself is yours to make.

3. She gave herself up to the police.

4. My brother gave me his pet snake.

5. You can tie your shoe by yourself.


Answers

1. I, you and yourself are pronouns. Yourself is intensive and you is its antecedent.

2. Itself and yours are pronouns. Itself is intensive, and yours is possessive. Decision is the antecedent for itself.

3. She and herself are pronouns. Herself is reflexive and has she as the antecedent.

4. My, me and his are pronouns. My and his are possessives, and brother is the antecedent of his.

5. You, your and yourself are pronouns. Yourself is a reflexive pronoun, and you is the antecedent for your and yourself. Your is possessive.

Pronouns

Relative pronouns join dependent clauses to independent clauses. They are who, whose, whom, which, and that. For example, He found his money that he had lost. That joins the two clauses together into one sentence. Clauses will be taught in detail later.

Find the relative pronouns in the sentences, and see how many other pronouns you can find as a bonus.

1. I want the house, which is brick.

2. Jack ordered the meal that we picked up.

3. Freddie is the girl who won the contest.

4. Jon is a man on whom I can rely.

5. The student whose answer was wrong turned bright red.



Answers

1. Which is the relative pronoun, and I is also a pronoun.

2. That is the relative pronoun, and we is also a pronoun.

3. Who is the relative pronoun.

4. Whom is the relative pronoun, and I is also a pronoun.

5. Whose is the relative pronoun.




Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that point out. They are this, that, these, and those. That is my hat. I like these not those.

Find the demonstrative pronouns in these sentences.

1. That is a great idea.

2. I will take those.

3. How much money do you want for this?

4. These are the shoes I want.



Answers

1. that

2. those

3. this

4. these




Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not point out specifically. They point out generally. They include such words as another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, many, neither, nobody, none, no one, one, other, others, some, somebody, and someone.

Find the indefinite pronouns in the following sentences.

1. Everybody loves someone sometime.

2. Both of the students should hand in everything they have completed.

3. I didn't see anyone I knew.

4. If no one helps others, nothing gets done.

5. Somebody said that one should touch neither of them.



Answers

1. everybody, someone

2. both, everything

3. anyone

4. no one, others

5. somebody, one, neither



Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns ask questions. Who, whom, whose, which, and what are interrogative pronouns.

Find the interrogative pronouns in these sentences.

1. What is that?

2. Who is going with me?

3. Which is the right answer?

4. Whose was right?

5. To whom did you want to speak?



Answers

1. what

2. who

3. which

4. whose

5. whom




This lesson is a review of the five kinds of pronouns.

Find each pronoun and tell what kind it is. It is either personal, relative, demonstrative, indefinite, or interrogative.

1. From whom did you get that?

2. Neither of my brothers would read me the story.

3. You need someone who will be kind to others.

4. What does this have to do with me?

5. I liked the play that you hated.



Answers

1. whom - interrogative, you - personal, that - demonstrative

2. neither - indefinite, my - personal, me - personal

3. you - personal, someone - indefinite, who - relative, others - indefinite

4. what - interrogative, this - demonstrative, me - personal

5. I - personal, that - relative, you - personal



Quiz
Find each pronoun. Tell if it is personal, relative, demonstrative, indefinite or interrogative. List the antecedent if there is one. For each personal pronoun tell if it is possessive, intensive, or reflexive.

1. He himself had helped my mother do something.

2. Which is the right room for this?

3. These are mine. Whose are these?

4. This is the book that I would recommend to you.

5. Everyone has talents. Some have many. No one has none.

6. He found himself lost in his dream.

7. I myself heard him blame himself in front of everybody.

8. Neither of them has anyone who will help us.

9. Who would have guessed that that was wrong?



Answers

1. he - personal, himself - personal, intensive, my - personal, possessive. He is the antecedent for himself. (something is a noun)

2. Which - interrogative, this - demonstrative

3. These - demonstrative, mine - personal, possessive, Whose - interrogative, these - demonstrative

4. this - demonstrative, that - relative, I - personal, you - personal

5. everyone, some, many, no one, none - all are indefinite

6. he - personal, himself - personal, reflexive, his - personal. He is the antecedent for himself and his.

7. I - personal, myself - personal, intensive, him - personal, himself - personal, reflexive, everybody - indefinite. I is the antecedent for myself, and him is the antecedent for himself.

8. neither - indefinite, them - personal, anyone - indefinite, who - relative, us - personal

9. who - interrogative, that - relative, that - demonstrative