Pronouns

Pronouns

     One of the first things you learn in English are the pronouns, but sometimes the students get confused about how to apply them on a phrase and make some mistakes that can be easily corrected. A pronoun is used to replace a noun. Sometimes it is also used to avoid repetition.

     Here are some pronouns and their uses. Let’s learn a little bit more?!

Personal Pronouns

1. Personal Pronouns: These pronouns are used to start a phrase, no matter if it’s a negative, affirmative or interrogative one. They are the subject of the phrase.

Personal Pronoun	Example
I	I’m tired.
You	You don’t like vegetables.
He	He lives in São Paulo.
She	She didn’t understand.
It	Is it cute?
We	We haven’t bought the car.
You	You aren’t teachers.
They	Are they great singers?

2. Reflexive Pronouns: These pronouns are used to talk about an action or situation referring to the subject.

Subject Pronoun	Reflexive Pronoun	Example
I	Myself	I made that cake myself.
You	Yourself	Please, do it yourself!
He	Himself	He fixed the car himself.
She	Herself	She, herself, decorated the house.
It	Itself	It can’t get water by itself.
We	Ourselves	We painted beautiful pictures ourselves.
You	Yourselves	Yourselves should do the job.
They	Themselves	They will rule the company themselves.

3. Prepositional Pronouns: These pronouns are used, commonly used in any part of the statement and they are referring to person that can be the direct object or indirect object of the phrase.

Personal Pronouns	Prepositional Pronouns	Example
I	Me	Maria is living with me for a couple of weeks.
You	You	I wasn’t able to talk to you.
He	Him	I love him!
She	Her	Her mother is not a great example.
It	It	Please, you can’t bring it in.
We	Us	Why doesn’t she talk to us?
You	You	I’d like thank you all!
They	Them	Please, bring them on!!!

3.1. Prepositional Pronouns (Object Form): These pronouns are used, commonly used in any part of the statement and they are referring to person that can be the direct object of the phrase. In this case you just have the direct object.

Personal Pronouns	Prepositional Pronouns	Example
I	Me	Are you talking to me?
You	You	I don’t know you, sorry!!
He	Him	It was a pleasure to meet him.
She	Her	I can’t wait to meet her.
It	It	She can’t afford it.
We	Us	Nobody understands us.
You	You	See you later!!
They	Them	I don’t get on well with them.

     3.2. Prepositional Pronouns (Indirect Form): These pronouns are used, commonly used in any part of the statement and they are referring to person that can be the indirect object of the phrase. In this case you have the direct object and indirect object.

Personal Pronouns	Prepositional Pronouns	Example
I	Me	Can you do me a favor?
You	You	Did she give you the message?
He	Him	Could you ask him a moment?
She	Her	I gave her a present.
It	It	I bought a new house to it.
We	Us	Maybe she gives us the pleasure to travel together.
You	You	Did he give the gift to you?
They	Them	Sarah brought a package of Cd’s to them.

4. Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives: These pronouns and adjectives are used to show the possession. And they can be used in two forms:

      4.1. Possessive adjective + object: Here you have to use a noun otherwise the sense is not complete.

    

Personal Pronouns	Possessive Pronouns	Example
I	My	Is that my book?
You	Your	That’s your car, isn’t it?
He	His	I don’t know if that is his car.
She	Her	Susan is her mother.
It	Its	I think it is its food.
We	Our	Those are our brothers.
You	Your	These are your sisters.
They	Their	I don’t know if those are their suitcases.

     4.2. Object + possessive pronoun: Here you have use the noun before the pronoun to avoid a repetition.

Personal Pronouns	Possessive Pronouns	Example
I	Mine	That book is mine.
You	Yours	This car is yours.
He	His	My name is Robbie and his?
She	Hers	I don’t know if that house is hers.
It	Its	That’s not my food it’s its.
We	Ours	Those dogs and cats are ours.
You	Yours	Those problems are yours.
They	Theirs	This is my car, those are theirs.

5. Demonstrative Pronouns: These pronouns are used to show the existence of an object or a person and they are classified into plural or singular. And you also have to observe if the object(s) is (are) near or far from you.

     5.1. Singular Demonstrative Pronouns. They are always related to one person or object.

Proximity	Demonstrative Pronoun	Example
Near (Close)	This	This is my new house. Isn’t is beautiful?
Far (Distant)	That	That is her mother. Her name is Sheyla.

     5.2. Plural Demonstrative Pronouns. They are always related to two or more objects and people.

Proximity	Demonstrative Pronoun	Example
Near (Close)	These	Whose cats and dogs are these?
Far (Distant)	Those	Those are my mother and my father.

6. Relative Pronouns: These pronouns are used to connect phases replacing person, thing, place, time, possession and cause.

Reflexive Pronouns	Replacing	Example
Who	Person	A doctor is a person who takes care of people.
Which	Thing	Where is the book which I bought in Boston?
That	Who or Which	·        A gardener is a person that takes care of gardens. ·        Where is the book that I bought in Boston?
Where	Place	São Paulo is a city where people can find a lot of cultural options.
When	Time	My childhood was a time when I was happy and I didn’t know!
Why	Cause or reason	He is the reason why she’s crying.
Whose	Possession	That’s the boy whose mother is a hooker

7. Interrogative Pronouns: These pronouns are used to build questions and generally used at the beginning of the phase.

Interrogative Pronouns	Meaning of the Pronouns	Example
What	Thing	What is your nationality?
How	Way	How are tou, Ted?
Why	Reason / Cause	Why are you crying?
Which	Choice	Which color do you prefer?
Who	Person	Who is your favorite singer?
Where	Place	Where were you born?
When	Time	When did she start using drugs?
How much	Uncountable nouns	How much money do you have?
How many	Countable nouns	How many cats do you have?

8. Indefinite Pronouns: These pronouns are used to replace people, things and places when you don’t want to be specific.

Indefinite Pronoun	Use	Example
Anyone / anybody	Negative or interrogative	Has anyone called me? Anybody hasn’t called you.
Someone / somebody	Affirmative	Somebody is calling me pressingly.
No one / Nobody	Affirmative with negative sense	Nobody deserves a stupid brother.
Any	Negative or interrogative	Is the any salt on the food? No, there isn’t any.
Some	Affirmative	There are some cats here.
No	Negative Affirmative with negative sense	There’s no Brazilian singer on the Billboard.
Anything	Negative or interrogative	Is there anything strange in the air between us? No, there’s not anything.
Something	Affirmative	Something strange is going on here.
Nothing	Affirmative with negative sense	Nothing is better than freedom.
Anywhere	Negative or interrogative	You can’t live anywhere if you don’t respect the cultural aspects.
Somewhere	Affirmative	“Somewhere over the rainbow...”
Nowhere	Affirmative with negative sense	Drugs lead you to nowhere.
A lot	All forms	There’s a lot of tension here.
Every	All forms	“Every time I say goodbye I die a little bit.”
Each (one)	All forms	Each one has to take care of his or her own life.
Certain	All forms	There’s a certain doubt in the air.
More	All forms	Can you bring me more cookies?

Much	All forms	I know that much is yet to come.
Many	All forms	Many boys think they are irreplaceable.
Less	All forms	There are less green areas in big cities.
Little	All forms	“Give a little bit of your love to me”
Few	All forms	Few people really understand the meaning of the word education.
Such	All forms	Jesus, this room is such a mess.
Whole	All forms	The whole world is fighting against the violence.
Every	All forms	Every girl I know is looking for a lasting love.
Everyone	All forms	I can’t feel sorry for everyone here, just a few of you.
Everything	All forms	You can’t have everything you want.
Everywhere	All forms	I can’t forget him, everywhere I look he’s there.
Several	All forms	She bought several books, I don’t know what the themes are.