WHAT IS A PRONOUN?

A pronoun is a word that refers to or takes the place of a noun. The noun being referred to is
called the antecedent. The identity of the pronoun is made clear by the antecedent. For exam-
ple:






There are many different types of pronouns: personal, possessive, reflexive, in-
tensive, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, indefinite, and reciprocal.
The boy said that was tired. he
In this example, the pronoun he is refer-
ring back to the noun (antecedent) boy.
Pronoun Antecedent
Personal Pronouns are pronouns that refer to a specific person or thing in a sen-
tence 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,
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.
Possessive Pronouns 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.
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, themselves). For example:

She can handle the situation herself. We can write the paper ourselves.



Personal
(Nominative)
Personal
(Objective)
Possessive Reflexive
I me my/mine myself
you you your/yours yourself
he him his himself
she her her/hers herself
it it its itself
we us our/ours ourselves
they them their/theirs themselves
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.
*Here, the pronoun yourself is used only to place emphasis on the subject you and does not change the meaning of the sentence.
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.
*Here, the pronoun these identifies which books John was talking about.
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?
Relative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to connect clarifying infor-
mation 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 pro-
noun, while whom works like an objective pronoun.


Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that are used in reference to a person
or thing that is not specific or not known. Indefinite pronouns are also
used to identify a general group of people or things (i.e. everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody,
somebody, most, all, each every, some, none, one, few, both, many, several). For example:

Everybody has to take the Writing Proficiency Examination in order to graduate.
All of the seniors were excited for graduation.

Note: Singular indefinite pronouns must always take singular verbs. For more information on indefinite pronouns, see
the skills page on Pronoun Antecedent Agreement.
Reciprocal Pronouns are pronouns that are used to refer to a mutual
set of people (each other, each others, one another, one anothers).
For example:

We need to help one another survive.
They had remembered each others phone numbers.

Note: It is also important to be clear when using pronouns. For example: He really should not do that.
(Who is he? What is that?)
For more information, please refer to the skills page on Pronoun Antecedent Agreement.


Last modified 8/11/11
Who vs. That


That vs. Which
Who is used to refer to people or animals with names.
Liz, who wrote the review, got in trouble.
That is used to refer to things.
The paper that I wrote last night vanished.
That is used in essential clauses (clauses necessary for understanding the subject of a sentence).
The pizza parlor that is down the street from the college is great.

*The subject is unclear without the additional information. Which pizza parlor? The one that is down the street from the college.
Which is used in nonessential clauses (clauses unnecessary for understanding the subject of a sentence).
My moms jewelry was stolen, which upset her very much.

*The subject is clear without the additional information.
Note: For more information on essential and nonessential clauses, see the skills page on Independent and Dependent
Clauses.