Pronoun A

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Chapter No 3
The Pronoun
The Pronoun:
A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun

i. To avoid repeating a noun that has been either mentioned before; or clearly understood already,
we put another word instead of it, and this word is called pronoun.
The kinds of pronoun
Personal Pronoun Reflexive Pronouns
Demonstrative pronoun Indefinite pronoun
Relative pronoun Interrogative pronoun
Distributive pronoun Reciprocal pronoun
1.Personal Pronoun
The pronoun which are used for three persons are called personal pronouns:
E.g. I, we, they, you, he she, it etc.
i. The first which denotes the person speaking; as I, we
ii. The second, which denotes the person spoken to, as you, yourself
iii. The third, which denotes the person or thing spoken of; as he, she, they etc.
Table of Personal Pronoun:
Possessive Possessive Object Reflective/emphatic
Subject pronouns
adjective pronoun pronoun pronoun
st
(1 Person) I My mine me myself
we Our ours us ourselves
nd
(2 Person) you Your yours You yourself / yourselves
(3rd Person) he his his him himself she her
hers her herself
it its its it itself
they their theirs them themselves
2.Possessive Pronouns:
“Mine, his, hers, ours, yours, and theirs” are called possessive pronouns. They are used:
a. When separated from the noun by a verb between:
The pen is mine
These books are theirs
b. When the noun is not expressed
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My bike and yours (your bike) are both new.
3.Reflexive Pronoun:
‘Self’ or ‘selves’ from of a pronoun is reflexive when the action expressed by the verb reflects back
upon the subject and not upon any other person or thing.
E.g. my self, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, themselves.
A reflexive pronoun plays the role of an object in a sentence therefore the subject and the object is
the same person.
a) I hit myself b) The cat seated itself
c) We hit ourselves d) The cat seated themselves
4.Demonstrative Pronoun:
A demonstrative pronoun demonstrates or points to some noun going before, and is used instead
of it.
This noun is called the antecedent. These pronouns include “this, these, those, that, one. Ones,
none, such.”
5.Indefinite Pronoun:
These pronouns refer to a person or thing in a general way. They do not refer to any person or
thing specifically. Therefore, they are called indefinite pronouns.
e.g. All were saved None of your stories is famous
In these example ‘All’ and ‘none’ are used in a general way. Some of these pronouns are used
singular and some plural.
6.Relative Pronoun:
A relative pronoun relates to some noun or other pronoun going before in the sentence.
The noun or pronoun going before is called the antecedent.
Who, whom, whose, which and that are commonly used relative pronouns. E.g.
a) The ground which we dig will bear a fine crop
b) The students who work hard always succeed.
In these sentence ‘which’ and ‘who’ are used as relative pronouns because they relate to the
nouns
‘ground’ and ‘student’ which are the antecedents of ‘which’ and ‘who’
 The Relatives Pronouns should be placed as near as possible to their Antecedents to avoid
any ambiguity.
7.Interrogative Pronoun:
An interrogative pronoun is one which asks question.
“Who, whom, which, what, and whose” are called interrogative pronouns. They have similar from
for singular and plural
a) Who spoke? (Nominative case to the verb)
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b) Of whom did he speak? (Accusative after preposition)

c) What did he say? (Accusative after verb ‘say’)
d) Which of these boys has won the race? (Nominative to verb)
e) Whose is that book? (Genitive case)
8.Distributive Pronoun:
Those pronouns which refer to one person or one thing at a time are called distributive pronouns.
They are always singular and take singular verbs, “Each, either, neither, everybody, everything,” etc.
are commonly used distributive pronouns. E.g.
a) Each of the students participated in the race.
b) Neither of the candidates arrived.
9.Reciprocal Pronoun:
The reciprocal pronouns are one another and each other. One another is generally used when writing of
more than two people and each other for two persons. Both reciprocal pronouns have possessive and
objective cases
The following sentence illustrate uses of these pronouns:
a) Ali and Ahmad found each other’s company satisfying.
b) All the students sought one another’s assistance.
Worksheet
Rule 1:
Use subject pronoun when it is the doer of some action:
1. Ali and I will travel together.
2. We and our cousins went to the party.
Rule 2:
Use object pronoun when it is the receiver of some action:
1. He helped Hamza and me.
2. They cheated us.
Rule 3:
Use object pronoun after a preposition:
1. He depends on me in all matters.
2. He was sitting between her and me.
3. This gift is for you and him.
Rule 4:
Use a possessive pronoun adjective (my, your, their, etc.) before -ing forms (gerunds):
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1. I don’t mind your going without me.

2. They do not object to his coming with us
Rule 5:
Use possessive adjective (my, your, their, etc.) before somebody/something.
Use possessive pronoun when somebody/something is implied/understood.
1. This is my book and there is yours (your book).
2. Their country is secular and ours (our country) is Islamic.
Rule 6:
Use a possessive pronoun before a body part:
1. She broke her wrist in an accident.
2. Don not use apostrophe to from the possessive of personal pronouns:
• Yours (not your’s)
• Theirs (not their’s) Rule 7:
Use subject pronouns after conjunctions:
1. I do not waste my time but he does.
2. She got good marks although she did not work hard.
3. He earns more money than I.
Rule 8:
“As” when used as a conjunction is followed by subject pronoun.
“Like” when used as a preposition is followed by object pronoun.
1. Everybody comes late as I (as I come).
Everybody comes late like me.
2. They passed the exam as we (as we passed)
They pass the exam like us.
Rule 9:
“Who” is used for persons, “which” is used for things and animals while “that “can be used for persons
and things/animals:
1. My uncle, who is a businessman, travels a lot.
2. The book which I bought yesterday is very interesting.
Rule 10:
“Who” and “which” are used after a comma when the information is additional/non-essential.
“That “does not take comma.
1. Shakespeare, who wrote a number of plays, is the greatest dramatist.
2. The Quran, which is the last book of Allah, is a complete code of life.
3. The rules that we follow are for our own benefit.
OR The rules we follow are for our own benefit. (“that” can be omitted)
Rule 11:
“Who” is equal to “he” and whom is equal to him:
1. A person who is diligent is appreciated everywhere.
2. The man whom we saw yesterday is sitting in the office.
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(we saw him, not he)

Rule 12:
“who” “which” “that” give information about somebody/something, so they should be properly placed:
1. The book is on the table that we received yesterday. Incorrect
The book that we received yesterday is on the table. Correct
2. The man will guide us who is the coordinator. Incorrect
The man who is the coordinator will guide us. Correct
Rule 13:
Do not use an ambiguous pronoun referring to two persons or things, or it will create confusion:
1. Maria told Ayesha that she was not invited to the party. Incorrect
Maria told Ayesha that Maria was not invited to the party. Correct
2. She put the books on the shelves, but first she dusted them. Incorrect She
put the books on the shelves, but first she dusted the books. Correct
Rule 14:
When the doer and receiver of some action is the same body or the same thing, use reflective pronoun:
1. Some language learners can correct themselves on their own.
2. She injured herself while climbing down the hill.
Rule 15:
Use emphatic pronoun to show stress or emphasis:
1. She herself said to her to me.
2. He made the experiment himself.
Rule 16:
Pronoun order is 231 for pleasant sense and 132 for unpleasant sense:
 You he and I have been promoted.
 I he and you have been accused of negligence.

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15

A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun

My bike and yours (your bike) are both new.

b) Of whom did he speak? (Accusative after preposition)

1. I don’t mind your going without me.

(we saw him, not he)

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