Pronouns

There are seven types of pronouns. A brief explanation of each type of pronouns will help you understand how pronouns work in sentences.

Seven Types of Pronouns

Pronouns take the place of nouns.

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1. Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns represent persons or things.

Dad, will you help weed the garden?

Personal Pronouns are divided into first, second and third persons.

1st Person – person speaking (i, we, me, us)
2nd Person – person spoken to (you)
3rd Person – person spoken about (he, she, him, her, it they, them).

2. Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. To interrogate a person is to ask a question.

The interrogative pronouns are: who, whom, whose, which and what.

Who is there?

Please note that when an interrogative is used alone it is a pronoun. However, if it is used in conjunction with another word, then it is an adjective.

Which one? One is the pronoun here and which is the adjective.

3. Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show possession or ownership.

Possessive pronouns are: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs.

These dvds are mine.

4. Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns demonstrate or point to something.

The demonstrative pronouns are: this, that, these and those.

Throw me that!

Please note that when this, that, these and those do not replace the noun, they become adjectives.

These oranges are very sweet.

5. Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are not definite about which ones.

Some made millions from the mistake.

Here is a list of indefinite pronouns: any, anybody, anyone, anything, all, another, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, whoever, many, more, most, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, none, one, two, three, hundreds, others, several, some, somebody, someone, something.

6. Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns relate to a noun or another pronoun in the sentence.

Relative pronouns are: who, whom, whose, which and that.

The bus driver who was warned for speeding lost his job.

7. Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns reflect back to a person. They end in -self or -selves.

Here are some examples of reflexive pronouns. Myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

I saw myself in the mirror.

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