Pronoun – Definition and Types of Pronouns, Rules and Examples. Definition of Pronouns, Rules of Pronouns with Examples. What is a Pronoun? Types of Pronoun.
Pronouns are one of the most powerful tools in the English language, and if you know how to use them properly, they can help you communicate with clarity and precision. But what are pronouns? How many types are there?
In this post, you will learn about pronoun with definition, types, rules and examples. After reading this post, you will be able to tell what pronouns are, the different types of pronouns, and how to use them in sentences.
Pronoun – Definition and Examples
Definition of Pronoun: A pronoun is a word which is replaced a noun or a noun phrase. It can refer to people, animals, objects, ideas, and more. Pronouns are used to avoid repeating one name over and over again in a sentence. They also help us improve our writing and speaking skills.
Examples:
- The boy is coming. He is my friend.
- The girl is reading. She is a student.
- The ball is red. It is red.
- What are you doing there?
- I am reading about pronouns right now.
- The boys are playing there. They are outside.
- The girls are singer. They are singing.
Explanation: Instead of saying, “John ate the apple. John liked the apple. John threw the apple away,” we can say, “John ate it. He liked it. He threw it away.” Here, the pronouns “it” and “he” are used to refer to “John” and “the apple.”
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Types of Pronouns
There are eight types of Pronouns in English Grammar;
- Personal Pronouns
- Reflexive Pronouns
- Emphatic Pronouns
- Indefinite Pronouns
- Demonstrative Pronouns
- Distributive Pronouns
- Reciprocal Pronouns
- Interrogative Pronouns
1. Personal Pronouns
Definition of Person Pronouns: The pronouns which are used in place of persons, living beings or things are called personal pronoun.
Examples:
- I live in Delhi.
- He plays brilliant cricket.
- That is my book.
- My name is Krishna.
- They are learning.
- He is a good player.
- She is singing a song.
- We are good friends.
- She is telling a story.
- It is my new book.
Types of Personal Pronouns
There are three types of personal pronouns;
- First Person
- Second Person
- Third Person
First Person Personal Pronouns:
The pronouns used for the speaker is called the personal pronoun of the first person. For examples: I and We.
- I am very happy.
- We are studying English grammar from this website.
Second Person Personal Pronouns
The pronoun used for the listener is called the third person personal pronoun. For example; You.
- You are good at English.
- I don’t like you.
Third Person Personal Pronouns
The third person personal pronoun is used to talk about someone when speaking to others. Fir examples: He, She, It and They.
- He will write a short description.
- She may join us tomorrow.
- It was raining heavily outside.
- They have taken a bath in the river.
Person Pronouns Chart
| Person | Subject Pronoun | Object Pronoun | Possessive Adjective | Possessive Pronoun | Reflexive Pronoun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | I | me | my | mine | myself |
| 2nd | you | you | your | yours | yourself |
| 3rd (singular) | he/she/it | him/her/it | his/her/its | his/hers/its | himself/herself/itself |
| 3rd (plural) | they | them | their | theirs | themselves |
2. Reflexive Pronouns
Definition: The pronouns which show that the action done by the subject reflects directly upon the subject are called reflexive pronouns.
Examples:
- I hurt myself.
- They hurt themself .
- I myself did this work.
- The boys hid themselves.
- The old man hanged himself .
- If you do so, you will hurt yourself.
- I covered in myself with a blanket.
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2. Emphatic Pronouns
Definition: Pronouns that are used to emphasize the things or object are called emphatic pronouns.
Examples:
- I myself with do it.
- He himself said so.
- She herself says so .
- They themselves admitted their guilt.
- It was told so by the teacher himself.
Read also:
- Noun Exercises
- Pronoun Exercises
- Adjective Exercises
- Verbs Exercises
- Tense Exercises
- Parts of Speech Exercises
3. Indefinite Pronouns
Definition: The pronouns which refer to persons or things in a general way and not to any person or thing in particular are called Indefinite pronouns.
Examples:
- Did you ask anybody to come ?
- Somebody has stolen my watch?
- Nobody can help you in this issue.
- I am waiting for someone .
- We good to others.
- All are not same.
- Some are born great.
- Many of them were Indians.
- All work drowned.
- Do good to others.
- We did not see any of them.
4. Demonstrative Pronouns
Definition of Demonstrative Pronouns: The pronouns which are used to point out of particular person , object or place are called demonstrative pronouns.
Examples:
- This is my bat.
- This is my homework notebook.
- These are my old books.
- Those are plastic bags.
- These are fresh flowers.
- Those are black horses.
- This is my new wall.
- That is her new smartphone.
Read also:
- Tense Definition and Examples
- Simple Present Tense Rules and Examples
- Present Continuous Tense Rules and Examples
- Present Perfect Tense Examples and Rules
- Present Perfect Continuous Tense Rules and Examples
- Simple Past Tense Examples with Rules
- Past Continuous Tense Rules and Examples
- Past Perfect Tense Rules and Examples
- Past Perfect Continuous Tense Rules and Examples
- Simple Future Tense (Future Indefinite Tense)
- Future Continuous Tense
5. Distributive Pronouns
Definition of Distributive Pronouns: Distributive pronouns refer to persons or things one at a time.
Examples:
- Neither of you can go.
- Each of the boys will get a prize.
- Neither of you will pass this year .
- None can do it.
- Either of you can go.
6. Relative pronouns
Definition: Relative pronoun refers to a noun mentioned before and joins sentences together.
Examples:
- I know the man who came here yesterday.
- Here is the boy that is my friend.
- Where are the boys who want to see me?
- The boys who works hard must succeed.
- Those whom the gods love die young.
- The boy whose purse was lost is my student.
- The men who are there are working for my project.
- The umbrella which you bought yesterday was red.
7. Reciprocal Pronouns
Definition: The pronoun that express relation between two persons or among more than to persons is called a reciprocal pronoun.
Examples:
- The two men hate each other.
- These people do not talk to each other.
- We don’t hate each other.
- They are not abusing each other.
8. Interrogative pronouns
Definition: Interrogative pronouns are used for asking questions.
Examples :
- What is your name?
- Why are you talking?
- Where are your room?
- Where are you going?
- What are you doing?
- What does Sanju want to sell?
- Who teaches you?
- Why do you not go to school ?
- Where does she live?
- When do they go?
Conclusion
In this post, you have read about the definition of pronoun with examples, types and rules in detail. Now we know that Pronouns are used in place of nouns in English Grammar. You are advised to learn about pronouns properly because they are very important in English grammar. We can’t express ourselves without them. Everyone must learn about the pronouns in the right way. After learning the pronouns we can use them in the sentences easily.
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