Pronouns

Pronouns can be called the short set of words that are utilized for the replacement of nouns. It refers to a noun that does not need a particular naming or to a noun that has been used in a context. Personal pronouns are the most commonly used that define a person or any other thing. This pronouns topic falls under the parts of the speech chapter. Pronouns are the most commonly used term while speaking and writing English. Without the pronouns, it is quite unpleasant to speak or write in English. 

What is called a pronoun? 

A pronoun is a type of part of speech that replaces a noun. The noun that gets replaced by pronouns is known as antecedent. For an instance: Steve is an excellent student because he tops every exam. Simply, it can be said that pronouns enable shortening the sentences, making them sound more pleasant and less repetitive. For example, the workers of the factory are building the boundaries. The workers of the factory are going at a good pace. The workers of the factory should complete the work at a particular time. Here all the sentences sound quite unpleasant and repetitive. Due to this issue, it is important to use pronouns in the place of nouns.

Types of pronouns 

There are a total of 10 types of pronouns such as personal pronouns, object pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, intensive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, relative pronouns, and distributive pronouns. All of the above-written pronouns are discussed below.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns function as a substitute for the person’s name. Personal pronouns are also known as subject pronouns that are used for the replacement of a subject. It is used to avoid the repetition of nouns. Personal pronouns examples are I, we, you, he, she, they, we, them, us, me, him, and her. Examples of personal pronouns are mentioned below

• They play soccer in their academy.
• He is completing his home task.
• His father is a lawyer. 
• We should be thankful to them.

Relative pronouns

A relative pronoun is another type of pronoun that is used to link independent clauses with relative clauses. Sometimes, these types of relative pronouns introduce extra information about a subject that is mentioned in a sentence. Relative pronouns consist of the following words.

• That
• Which
• What
• Whom
• Who

Generally, who defines people or person and that and which describes the things or animal Examples of relative pronouns are:

• His bike, which is almost ten years old, is still in good condition. 
• All the dogs that got saved during the flood are in quite a good situation
• The man who called in the morning did not leave a notification. 

Demonstrative pronouns

That, these, those, and this come under this category. Demonstrative pronouns replace a noun phrase or noun that is mentioned in a sentence. 

‘This’ is a demonstrative pronoun used to describe a singular noun that is nearby. ‘That’ is also used in the place of a singular noun that is in a far distance. The distance can be metaphorical or physical. ‘Those’ are used to denote more than two things when they are in a far distance. ‘These’ are used to denote more than two things that are nearby. 

Examples of demonstrative pronouns

• What a brilliant match it was! This was one of the best matches I have seen.
• A place like that would be a great option to live in.
• These are kind of nice shoes but they are uncomfortable.
• Those were the times that we lived happily.

Indefinite pronoun

These kinds of pronouns do not define things or people in a specific manner. Few indefinite pronouns used in a sentence are other, none, everyone, everybody, nobody, anybody, somebody, some, and none. 

Examples of indefinite pronouns

• Everybody in the house was in a panic when it was on fire.
• No one is allowed to enter the military bases.

Reflexive pronouns

These kinds of pronouns end with themselves or self.

Examples of reflexive pronouns are yourself, herself, our self, itself, and yourselves. 

Intensive pronouns

It looks similar to reflexive pronouns but their purpose is different. It is used to emphasize the sentence. Examples of intensive pronouns are he, she, and oneself. 

Possessive pronouns

This type of pronoun shows possession. Examples- He destroys my bike; His house is decorated in a good manner. 

Interrogative pronouns

These types of pronouns are used in questions. Examples are what, which, where. 

• Who does not need good marks?
• What is his name?

Reciprocal pronouns

Two kinds of reciprocal pronouns are present namely: one another and each other

Example

•  The two contestants are competing with each other to win the swimming competition.
• All the boys are blaming one another.

Distributive pronouns

It is used to refer to people, objects, or animals, particularly within a group. Example- Neither the summer nor the winter is preferable to him.

Examples of pronouns

Examples of pronouns are discussed below. The first person singular pronouns are I, me, myself, and mine. Second person pronouns are you, yourself, and yours. Third-person pronouns are he, she, his, him, hers, herself, himself, it, itself, its. First-person plural pronouns are we, our, ourselves, ours, us.

Conclusion

Pronouns  are one of the frequently used parts of speech in the English language. There are different types of pronouns to indicate different types of functions like demonstration. possession, reciprocity, emphasis, etc. One should be careful to follow the proper rule of placing a pronoun in order to avoid any misuse of the terms.