A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a common noun or a proper noun.
The words I, you, he, she, it, we and they are called personal pronouns. They take the place of words for people, animals, places or things.
Examples:
Mona is 5 years old.
She is 5 years old. (She replaces Mona)
Jerry bought a new car.
He bought a new car. (He replaces Jerry)
James and Tom are going home.
They are going home. (They replaces James and Tom)
The vase is broken.
It is broken. (It replaces the vase)
Subject Pronouns
In the following examples, the personal pronoun is used as the subject of the sentences. The subject is the person, animal or thing that does the action shown by the verb. The words I, you, he, she, it, we and they are called subject pronouns.
Examples:
He has bought an ice cream. (He is the subject pronoun and bought is the verb)
She works in the bank. (She is the subject pronoun and works is the verb)
They went to the playground. (They is the subject pronoun and went is the verb)
Object Pronouns
The words me, you, him, her, it, us and them are also personal pronouns for people, animals, places or things. They are called object pronouns. The object pronoun is used as the object of the verb. It is the person, animal or thing that receives the action shown by the verb.
Examples:
Can you please give the things to me? (The object pronoun is me and give is the verb)
Everyone is looking for her. (The object pronoun is her and looking is the verb)
Tell them to be careful. (The object pronoun is them and tell is the verb)
Personal pronoun can be classified as:
first person
(which refers to the person speaking):: I, we
second person
(which refers to the person being spoken to): you
third person
(which refers to the person being spoken about)
: he, she, it, they
We can summarize personal pronouns in the following table.
Subject
Object
First person singular
Second person singular
Third person singular
I
you
he
she
it
me
you
him
her
it
First person plural
Second person plural
Third person plural
we
you
they
us
you
them
Videos
English Lesson – Personal Pronouns
Learning the use of pronouns (Elementary Level)
English Vocabulary – Personal Pronouns
ESL video – Pronouns (Elementary Level)
Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns
This video shows the difference between subject and object pronouns.
English Lesson – Pronouns
This lesson briefly explains the different types of pronouns.
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