Parts of Speech - Pronouns
- The pronoun is a word used in place of a noun, mostly to avoid repetition of nouns in a sentence
- Nouns name objects, but pronouns mention objects without naming them. For example:
- Noun – John told Jane to disappear
- Pronoun – He told her to disappear
Kinds of Pronouns
- Personal Pronouns: This helps us
- to refer to ourselves when speaking (first person). For example, I, we, us, me, etc.
- to refer to others/things (third person). For example, he, she, they, them, it, etc.
- Relative Pronoun: It connects a dependent clause to the main clause in a sentence. They include who, that, which, whom, which, whose. For example:
- The lady, who came last, is my aunt. Here ‘who’ is a relative pronoun while who came last is a relative clause
- That is the house that John built
- Possessive Pronoun: This denotes that something belongs to somebody. For example, mine, his, theirs, its, yours, hers, etc.
- The book is mine
- Reflexive Pronoun: This indicates that the doer of an action is also the receiver of the action. For example, herself, himself, itself, etc.
- Jane cut herself
- Interrogative Pronoun: This is used to ask questions. For example, what, who, which, why, how, etc.
- What has the boy done?
- Demonstrative Pronouns: This is used to identify the person or thing being referred to. For example, these, those, this, that
- These are the books requested by Jane
Correct Use of Pronouns
- Pronouns which are used as subjects, I, we, you, she, they, who, etc., are called Nominative Pronouns. For example:
- I sell many books
- We have a large garden
- Pronouns used as complements to a verb. For example:
- It is I
- It is we (not us)
- The boy is supposed to be he (not him)
- The girls were thought to be they
- Pronouns used as objects to verbs, me, him, her, us, you, etc., are called accusative pronouns, i.e. they can never be used to begin a sentence but are always at the receiving end of the action. For example:
- John visits me every Sunday
- The captain wants you
- Olu did not write her
- Pronouns used as objects of prepositions. For example:
- He looks at me with wonder
- John said much about him
- Please send the book to us
- Pronouns used after adjectives. For example:
- She is as tall as he is (not him)
- Andrew is older than I am (not me)