English Part of speech "Pronoun"

Unit4  Pronouns

I-   Definition

Pronouns are words that substitute a noun or another pronoun. Examples of pronouns are he, she, who, themselves...

In the example:

Mike likes his daughter.

Mike and his daughter can be replaced by he and her:

He likes her

 II-    Kind of pronouns

• Subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)
• Object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them)
• Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves)
• Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs)
• Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, those, these)

·         Relative pronouns (who, which, that, whose)

A). Subject Pronouns

     A subject pronoun, also called subjective or subject personal pronoun, is used as substitute for proper and common nouns.

Examples:

John is a doctor - He is a doctor
The laptop is on the desk - It is on the desk

A subject pronoun is used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence.

Example:______ did the job.

I, you, he, she, it, we, and they all fit into the blank and are, therefore, subject pronouns.

A subject pronoun indicates:

·         number: singular or plural,

·         gender: male or female,

·         person: first, second or third person.

Examples:

-       I (first person singular)

-       you (second person singular)

-       She (third person singular female)

-       He (third person singular male)

-       It (third person singular inanimate )

-       We (first person plural)

-       You (second person plural)

-       They (third person plural)

       The words "I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they" are subject pronouns. They refer to a person or thing in speech or in writing.

B). Object Pronouns

An object pronoun, also called objective pronoun, functions as the object of a verb or preposition, as distinguished from a subject or subjective pronoun, which is the subject of a verb.

Examples:

·         He begged her to live with him. (her is the object of the verb begged and him is the object of the preposition with)

·         She told them the truth. (them is the object of the verb told)

       Object pronouns are used instead of object nouns, usually because we already know what the object is.

·         She's my friend. I really enjoy being with her.

·         I like this film. I saw it last week.

       Object pronouns in English are the following:

me, you, him, her, it, us, them

       Object pronouns come after either a verb (e.g "like") or a preposition (e.g "to").

Examples:

·         I like you but you don't like me.

·         Do you really hate her?

·         She loves sitting next to him.

·         She always writes e-mails to us.

·         He's talking to her about it.

Object pronouns differ from:

·         Subject pronouns,

·         possessive adjectives,

·         possessive pronouns,

·         and reflexive pronouns

C). Reflexive Pronouns

     Reflexive pronouns are used when the object is the same as the subject. For example, in the sentence "he hurt himself", he and himself refer to the same person.

       Reflexive pronouns are also used for emphasis. In this case, they are referred to as intensive pronouns. For example, in the sentence "I spoke to the president himself", the speaker emphasizes that he spoke to the president personally NOT somebody else.

"I always do my homework myself. Nobody helps me."

"He never does his homework himself. The teacher always helps him."

In the above examples, the reflexive/intensive pronouns can be removed without changing the meaning.

List of reflexive pronouns

Subject Pronouns	Reflexive Pronouns
I	myself
you	yourself
he	himself
she	herself
it	itself
we	ourselves
you	yourselves
they	themselves

Uses of reflexive pronouns

1. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object refer to the same thing:

·                     He blames himself for what happened.

·                     You might cut yourself.

·                     We will enjoy ourselves in the party.

2. Reflexive pronouns may be used as the object of a preposition:

·                     He made a cup of coffee for himself.

·                     He was talking to himself.

·                     She did the job by herself.

Every morning...

I look at myself in the mirror.

3. Reflexive pronouns are also used for emphasis. In this case they are called intensive pronouns. Intensive pronouns can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence.

·                     I met the king himself.

·                     The president himself announced the news.

·                     He sent the letter himself

D). Possessive Pronoun

     Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the noun following it in order to show possession.

Examples:

·         I'll get my bag.

·         Is this your luggage?

Possessive adjectives are often confused with possessive pronouns.

Examples:

·         Your bike is blue. (your is an adjective which modifies bike)

·         Mine is yellow. (mine is a pronoun which functions as the subject of the verb is)

Examples

Subject Pronouns	I	you	he	she	it	we	you	they
Possessive Adjectives	my	your	his	her	its	our	your	their

Examples:

·         Why didn't you clean your room?
(your modifies the noun room)

·         Mary doesn't like her dress.
(her modifies the noun dress)

·         The chameleon can change its color.
(its modifies the noun color)

Her hair is long.His hair is short

Things to remember:

1. Possessive adjectives are different from possessive pronouns.

·         This is your (possessive adjective) book and this is mine (possessive pronoun).

2. its, their are possessive adjectives.

·         Its color is beautiful.

·         Their car is in their garage.

3. it's, they're and there are not possessive adjectives — its is a contraction of it is or it has; they're is a contraction of they are; there is an adverb of place.

·         It's not my book = It is not my book.

·         My house is big. It's got five bedrooms = It has got five bedrooms.

·         Nancy and Alan are from New York. They're my friends = They are my friends.

·         Please, put the chair there. (adverb)

E). Demonstratives - This, that, these, those

     Demonstratives are words that show which person or thing is being referred to. In the sentence:

'This is my brother',

'this' is a demonstrative

The demonstratives in English are this, that, these, and those

Ø  Demonstrative pronouns vs demonstrative adjectives

       A distinction must be made between demonstrative adjectives (or demonstrative determiners) and demonstrative pronouns (or independent demonstratives).

       A demonstrative adjective modifies a noun: This apple is good. I like those houses. (This modifies 'apple' and those modifies 'houses') .

       A demonstrative pronoun stands on its own, replacing rather than modifying a noun: This is good. I like those. (This and those don't modify any nouns they stand alone and replace other nouns).

Ø  Use of demonstratives

Demonstratives differ according to:

·         distance: near or far,

·         or number: singular or plural.

Here are the main distinctions:

·         This modifies or refers to singular nouns that are near to the speaker.

·         That modifies or refers to singular nouns that are far from the speaker.

·         These modifies or refers to plural nouns that are near to the speaker.

·         Those modifies or refers to plural nouns that are far from the speaker.

Demonstratives	Singular	Plural	Near	Far
This		-		-
That		-	-
These	-			-
Those	-		-

F). Relative Pronouns

     A relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause within a complex sentence.

In the example:

Mike found the keys that he had lost. “that”  is a relative pronoun which introduces the relative clause that he had lost.

In English the relative pronouns are who, whom, which, whose, and that.

Ø Relative pronouns

who - subject or object pronoun for people

They caught the lady who killed her baby.

I know the man who you met.

which - subject or object pronoun

I read the book which is on the table.

I visited the town which you told me about.

which - referring to a whole sentence

They were unsuccessful which is disappointing.

whom - used for object pronoun for people, especially in non-restrictive relative clauses (in restrictive relative clauses use who)

The boy whom you told me about got the best grades in mathematics.

that - subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in restrictive relative clauses (who or which are also possible)

I like the vase that is over there.