Pronoun

What is a Pronoun?

Pronouns are words that can be used instead of a more specific noun.

Antecedents

Pronouns are used after the noun it refers to has been used. If you didn't, you wouldn't know who "he" or what "it" was. The noun that comes before the pronoun that refers to it is known as an antecedent, which is Latin for "that which comes before."

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to people and things. They come in several flavors, depending on who is speaking and what they are talking about :

First Person

First person pronouns are pronouns that refer to the person speaking. If the person speaking is talking about himself, a first person pronoun is singular. If the he is speaking about himself in as a part of a group, then it is plural.

In English, the first person singular pronouns are : I, my, mine, me

The first person plural pronouns are : we, our, ours, us

Second Person

Third Person

Possessive Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are the -self,-selves form of the personal pronouns and usually refer to the subject of a sentence when they do something to themselves — usually something stupid :

  • He shot himself in the foot.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used as interrogative pronouns in questions. They are the basic Who? What? Which?

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to point out people and things. In English, they are : this, that, that, these, and those.

Indefinite Pronouns

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