Subsections

Lesson 5 - Pronouns
1. Personal Pronouns
2. Reflexive Pronouns
3. Relative Pronouns
4. Possessive Pronouns
5. Demonstrative Pronouns
6. Indefinite pronouns
7. Interrogative Pronouns
8. Reciprocal Pronouns
9. Intensive/Emphatic Pronouns

The list above shows the different types of pronouns.

A pronoun is a word used to take the place of a noun, which can be a person, place, animal, or thing. We use a pronoun to avoid repeating a noun that has already been mentioned. A pronoun usually comes after the noun it replaces.

  • Jim has a toothbrush . He uses it every day.

He and it in the second sentence are pronouns used to replace Jim and toothbrush : He is for Jim and it is for toothbrush . By using pronouns, we don’t have to write or say Jim and toothbrush again.

A pronoun may come before a noun that it replaces. In such an order, it has to be made clear so that a reader or listener knows which noun the pronoun takes the place of.

Examples:

  • She , Jenny , is my elder sister.
    ( She is a pronoun that replaces the noun Jenny , which is also known as an appositive .)
  • The only millionaire in the village, he i s also the oldest.
How to identify a pronoun in a sentence. A pronoun can also be a determiner , so how can we tell whether it is a pronoun or a determiner? It all depends on how it is used. As a pronoun, it is used independently, that is on its own without a noun following it.

Examples:

  • This is a big house.
    ( This is a pronoun. It is not followed by a noun)
  • This house is big.
    ( This is no longer a pronoun as it is followed by the noun house . It is a determiner that describes or modifies the noun house , which a pronoun does not do.)