Kinds of Pronouns: Identifying Pronouns and Their Functions

KINDS OF
PRONOUNS
IDENTIFYING PRONOUNS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS
The What & Why of
Pronouns
 A pronoun is a word that replaces or refers to a noun
 Used to avoid repetition
 Antecedent= is the noun that the pronoun replaces or refers to (ante, before;
cedo, go)
EXAMPLE: Juan is my cousin. He (Juan) is in your English class.
 Juan = antecedent. He = pronoun.
7 KINDS OF PRONOUNS
1. PERSONAL = refers to persons, (he, she, us)
2. REFLEXIVE = refers back to the subject (himself)
3. INTENSIVE = emphasizes the subject (myself)
4. DEMONSTRATIVE = points to with gesture (that)
5. INDEFINITE = has no definite antecedent (someone, all, some,
many)
6. INTERROGATIVE = question words, who
7. RELATIVE = relates 2 sentences (which)
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
have
SINGULAR PLURAL
1st person 1st person
 I, me, my  we, us, our
2nd person 2nd person

 you, you, your  you, you, your
3rd person 3rd person

 he, him, his
she, her, her  they, them, their

it, it, its
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
HAVE GENDER
FEMININE NEUTRAL
MASCULINE
He She It, its

Him, his Her,hers
himself herself
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
also have
SUBJECTIVE CASE: OBJECTIVE CASE
PROUNOUNS;
Are used in place of subjects
and predicate Are used in place of words
nominatives in sentences in the objective case in
sentences
1st person
 I or we 1st person
us
2nd person
 you 2nd person
 you
3rd person
 he, she, it 3rd person
 them
them
PRONOUNS MUST AGREE IN
NUMBER, GENDER, AND CASE
WRONG RIGHT
 She (Molly) could not  She (Molly) could not
get (Molly’s) HIS car get (Molly’s) HER car
to start. to start.
(Disagreement in
gender)
 John and I went to the
 John and ME went to
store.
the store. (error in
case)
 One of the girls left  One of the girls left
their sweater there. her sweater there.
(disagreement in
number)
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS--reflect
back to the subject of a sentence.
 I saw myself in the
mirror.
 Kim wrote a note to
herself.
 Dick shot himself on
the foot.
 They served
themselves last.
INTENSIVE PRONOUN
An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent.
 I myself saw him.

 She herself organized the concert.
 The president himself has denied the rumor.
DEMONSTRATIVE
PRONOUNS
POINT OUT SPECIFIC

PERSONS / THINGS
I hate this.
Did Megan give you that?
She wants these.
Will you be using those?
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
 Some like it hot. But here, these are
 None wants it used as
cold. Indefinite
 All are happy.
adjectives:
 All are equal,
Some people like
it cold.
but some are
more equal than All animals are
others. equal, but some
animals are
more equal.
PROBLEMS WITH
PRONOUNS
 Everyone and Everybody are always
SINGULAR!!
 MOST, SOME, MUCH AND OTHER
PRONOUNS LIKE THESE DEPEND ON THE
ANTECEDENT TO DETERMINE NUMBER
AND AGREEMENT:
FOR EXAMPLE:
 SOME OF THE BUTTER IS LEFT.
 SOME OF THE GIRLS ARE STILL HERE.
PROBLEMS WITH
PRONOUNS The story was exciting, but they

didn't explain what happened
at the end.
 William was very angry with
Jonathan, but no one knew
AMBIGUOU 
what he had said.
The catalog says that you must
S (unclear) pay all fees by May.
I saw the ad in the paper, but
REFERENC

now I can't find it.
E  If they do not do something

about Syria, we may find
ourselves in a war.
INTERROGATIVE
PRONOUNS
PRONOUNS USED TO INTRODUCE
QUESTIONS:
 What is the answer to the last question?
 Whose book is this?
 Who are you?
 Whom did you send to the store?
Who, Whom, Whose, What, When, Where,
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
ARE
 RELATIVE She is a woman.
PRONOUN She runs for mayor.
RELATES TO A
PRECEDING WORD
 She is the woman, who
(ANTECEDENT) runs for mayor.
AND JOINS TO IT A You saw the house.
DEPENDENT
It is historical landmark.
CLAUSE
 The house that you saw
 2 JOBS: A PRONOUN
is a historical landmark.
+ A CONNECTOR
Summary
7 KINDS OF PRONOUNS
 PERSONAL = REFERS TO PERSONS
 REFLEXIVE = ACTION BACK TO SUBJECT
 INTENSIVE = EMPHASIZES ACTION
 DEMONSTRATIVE = POINTS WITH A GESTURE
 INDEFINITE = UNSURE SOME OR FEW
 INTERROGATIVE = QUESTION WORDS
 RELATIVE = JOINS SENTENCES

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KINDS OF

2nd person 2nd person

3rd person 3rd person

she, her, her  they, them, their

He She It, its

An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent.

 I myself saw him.

POINT OUT SPECIFIC

E  If they do not do something

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