Pronouns

The subject of a sentence is a person or thing that performs the action of the verb.

Subject pronouns are used to replace the subject (person or thing) of a verb.

We do NOT normally say:

• John is tall and John is intelligent.

Saying the word “John” twice is repetitive and does not sound natural.

We replace the Subject (John) that appears the second time with a subject pronoun to avoid repetition (and in this case to avoid saying the name John again.)

So we would say:

• John is tall and he is intelligent.

We replace the second “John” with the Subject Pronoun “He”.

When do you use – It?

IT is normally used when we refer to objects, things, animals or ideas (and not normally people).

• The dog is big. It is also hairy. (It = the dog)
• My bed is small but it is comfortable. (It = my bed)

Sometimes when we don’t know the sex of a baby (we don’t know if it is a boy or girl), then we can use IT.

• Their baby is very small. It only weighs 2 kilos. (It = the baby.)

We use IT when we talk about the time, weather or temperature.

• It is five o’clock (= the time is five o’clock)
• It is cold today. (= the weather is cold today.)
• It is 30º outside right now. (= the temperature is 30º outside right now)

Let’s see more examples of: Subject Pronouns:

I (e.g., I am going to the store.)
You (e.g., You are my friend.)
He (e.g., He is reading a book.)
She (e.g., She is cooking dinner.)
It (e.g., It is raining outside.)
We (e.g., We are going to the movies.)
They (e.g., They are playing in the park.)

The basic pronouns have one form when they are used as subjects and another form when they are used as objects.

Subjects are what the sentence is about.
Objects are what is affected by the action of the subject.

• I like orange juice. (I is the subject).
• I read books. (Books is the object as it is receiving the action).

Object pronouns are used instead of nouns, usually because we already know what the object is. It makes the sentence easier to read and understand and avoids repetition. We normally use object pronouns after a verb or a preposition.

The Object Pronoun – it

Be careful when using ‘it’ as an object pronoun because it is only in the correct context that it has meaning. It needs to have already been mentioned or obvious to the listener what you are referring to. Compare;

• You are sitting on it! (The listener probably doesn’t know what the speaker refers to).
• The letter is on the sofa. You are sitting on it! (It is obvious in the second sentence that the reference is to the letter)

Let’s see more examples of Object Pronouns:

Me (e.g., He gave the book to me.)
You (e.g., I saw you at the party.)
Him (e.g., She is talking to him.)
Her (e.g., They invited her to the event.)
It (e.g., The cat chased it.)
Us (e.g., Can you help us?)
Them (e.g., I met them yesterday.)

Sometimes, things get tricky when you’re dealing with two pronouns at once. Should people speak to she and I? Should they speak to me and her? Or should they speak to she and me?

But there are a couple of ways to make this easy. First, don’t mix cases. Both of the pronouns will be in either the subjective or objective case.

Correct She and I went to the movies.

Correct If you have any questions, you can ask either her or me.

Incorrect She and me are old friends.

Second, to decide whether to use subjective or objective case, try removing one of the pronouns from the sentence.

Correct I went to the movies.

Incorrect Me went to the movies.

Correct She and I went to the movies.

Incorrect Her and me went to the movies.

Possessive Pronouns: These pronouns show ownership or possession.

My/Mine (e.g., This is my book. The book is mine.)
Your/Yours (e.g., Is this your pen? The pen is yours.)
His (e.g., That’s his car.)
Her/Hers (e.g., She found her keys. The keys are hers.)
Its (e.g., The dog wagged its tail.)
Our/Ours (e.g., This is our house. The house is ours.)
Their/Theirs (e.g., Those are their bikes. The bikes are theirs.)

Reflexive Pronouns: These pronouns are used when the subject and object of a sentence are the same person or thing.

Myself (e.g., I hurt myself.)
Yourself (e.g., You should be proud of yourself.)
Himself (e.g., He cooked dinner himself.)
Herself (e.g., She dressed herself.)
Itself (e.g., The cat groomed itself.)
Ourselves (e.g., We fixed the car ourselves.)
Themselves (e.g., They enjoyed themselves at the party.)

Demonstrative Pronouns: These pronouns point to specific items:

This (e.g., This is my favorite song.)
That (e.g., Look at that beautiful painting.)
These (e.g., These cookies are delicious.)
Those (e.g., Those flowers are lovely.)