Pronouns

Pronouns are short words we use instead of a noun, so we don't repeat it: ⟦Mia is late. She missed the bus.⟧ English pronouns change their form with their job in the sentence: doing the action, receiving it, or showing who something belongs to.

Key facts

  • Subject pronouns do the action, before the verb: ⟦I, you, he, she, it, we, they⟧. ⟦She likes tea.⟧
  • Object pronouns come after a verb or a preposition: ⟦me, you, him, her, it, us, them⟧. ⟦I can see him.⟧ ⟦Come with us.⟧
  • Possessive adjectives come before a noun: ⟦my, your, his, her, its, our, their⟧. ⟦This is my bag.⟧
  • Possessive pronouns stand alone, with no noun after them: ⟦mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs⟧. ⟦The bag is mine.⟧
  • Reflexive pronouns are for doing something to yourself: ⟦myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves⟧. ⟦He hurt himself.⟧
  • With another person, take the other person out to test it: ⟦Leo and I went home⟧ (⟦I went home⟧); ⟦Mum called Leo and me⟧ (⟦Mum called me⟧).

Worked examples

Example 1

Replace the noun with a pronoun: ⟦Omar is tall. ___ plays basketball.⟧

  1. ⟦Omar⟧ is one boy, and he does the action (plays).
  2. The subject pronoun for a boy or man is ⟦he⟧. It starts the sentence, so it has a capital.
  3. ⟦Omar is tall. He plays basketball.⟧

Answer: ⟦He⟧: ⟦Omar is tall. He plays basketball.⟧

Example 2

Choose ⟦she⟧ or ⟦her⟧: ⟦I gave the book to ___.⟧

  1. The pronoun comes after ⟦to⟧, a preposition.
  2. After a preposition we use an object pronoun: ⟦her⟧.
  3. ⟦I gave the book to her.⟧

Answer: ⟦her⟧: ⟦I gave the book to her.⟧

Example 3

Choose ⟦their⟧ or ⟦theirs⟧: ⟦That car is ___.⟧

  1. There is no noun after the gap: the sentence ends.
  2. On its own we use a possessive pronoun: ⟦theirs⟧. (With a noun we would say ⟦their car⟧.)
  3. ⟦That car is theirs.⟧

Answer: ⟦theirs⟧: ⟦That car is theirs.⟧

Example 4

Correct the mistake: ⟦Me and Sipho played chess.⟧

  1. Take ⟦Sipho⟧ out: ⟦Me played chess⟧ is wrong; ⟦I played chess⟧ is right.
  2. So it is ⟦I⟧, and it is polite to put yourself last.
  3. ⟦Sipho and I played chess.⟧

Answer: ⟦Sipho and I played chess.⟧