Pronoun and Types of Pronoun

DEFINITION

A pronoun is a word that refers to or takes the place of a noun. For example: There are many different types of pronouns:

Personal, Possessive, Reflexive, Intensive, Demonstrative, Interrogative, Relative, Indefinite, and Reciprocal.

The boy said that he was tired. In this example, the pronoun “he” is referring back to the noun
“boy.”

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRONOUN

i. PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Personal Pronoun are pronouns that refer to a specific person or thing in a sentence and can be divided into two groups:

Nominative and Objective.

• Nominative personal pronouns can act as the subject
  of a sentence (I, you, he, she, it, we, and they).

For example: I went to the store after work.             

You should not go to class if you are sick.

• Objective personal pronouns, on the
  other hand, act as objects of a sentence (me, you, him, her, it, us, them).

For example: Alex came out with Joe and me. Melissa really likes him.

ii. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Possessive   Pronoun are pronouns that show ownership; in other words, something belongs to someone else (my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers, its, our/ours, their/theirs).

For example:

That book is mine. Their shoes are under the bed.

iii. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

Reflexive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to show that the subject of the sentence is receiving the action of the verb (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves).

For example: She can handle the situation herself. We can write the paper ourselves.

iv. INTENSIVE / EMPHATIC PRONOUNS

Intensive Pronouns are pronouns that are used only to place emphasis on the subject and are not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

Note: These pronouns look the same as reflexive pronouns, but they act differently in the Sentence and are always placed next to the subject that they are emphasizing (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves).

For example:  You yourself must go to the police station.

v.  DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that are used to identify nouns and answer the question “which one?” (This, that, these, those) For example: These are the books that John was talking about.

vi. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

Interrogative Pronouns are pronouns that are used only in reference to a question (who, what, which, whom, whose).

For example:

• Which one of these pens is yours?
• Who is that girl?

vii. RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Relative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to connect clarifying information to nouns or other pronouns within a sentence (who, that, which, whom, whose, whoever, whichever, whomever, whatever).

Who vs. Whom

Whom is used when referring to an object.

With whom did Alex go out?

The letter should be addressed to whom?

Who is used when referring to a subject.

Who went to the store after work?

Who sings this song?

Note: Refer back to the Personal Pronouns section on page 1 of this skills page. “Who” works like a nominative pronoun, while “whom” works like an objective pronoun.