English
What is a pronoun?
Quick answer
A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun so you don't have to repeat it, such as he, she, it, they, we, me, mine or who.
In one sentence
A pronoun is a short word that takes the place of a noun, so writing does not keep repeating the same name.
Explained
Read this: Ayo picked up Ayo's bag and Ayo ran to catch Ayo's bus. It is clumsy. With pronouns: Ayo picked up his bag and he ran to catch his bus. Much better. The pronoun he points back to Ayo, the noun it replaces.
The main kinds of pronoun are:
- Personal pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they (when they do the action) and me, you, him, her, it, us, them (when the action happens to them). She called me. I called her.
- Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. They stand alone: That pencil is mine.
- Reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves. The cat washed itself.
- Relative pronouns: who, which, that, whose. They start a relative clause: the girl who won the race.
They can also refer to one person when you do not know or do not need to say who it is: Someone left their coat; they will be cold.
Be careful that it is clear who a pronoun refers to. Sam told Ben he was late could mean either boy. Use the name again if it helps: Sam told Ben, "I'm late."
Words like my, your and their look like pronouns but sit in front of a noun (my bag). In current grammar teaching in England these are called possessive determiners.
Examples
| Instead of... | Write... |
|---|---|
| Mum lost Mum's keys. | Mum lost her keys. |
| The children said the children were hungry. | The children said they were hungry. |
| This book belongs to me. | This book is mine. |
| I know a boy. The boy plays drums. | I know a boy who plays drums. |
Common mistakes
- "Me and Jo went." Take the other person out to check: I went, so Jo and I went.
- "Between you and I." After words like between, with and for, use the object form: between you and me.
- Confusing its and it's. Its shows belonging; it's means it is.
Quick quiz
Pronouns
Check what you know with 4 quick questions.
Question 1 of 4
Which pronoun could replace Grandad in: Grandad made soup.
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For grown-ups
Related topics
Nouns
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or idea, such as teacher, Lagos, pencil or happiness.
Proper nouns
A proper noun is the name of one particular person, place, day, month or thing, like Zainab, Paris or Tuesday. Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter.
Determiners
A determiner is a word that comes before a noun to show which one or how many, such as a, an, the, this, those, my, some, every or three.
Sentences
A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense on its own. It starts with a capital letter, ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, and usually has a verb.
Apostrophes
An apostrophe has two jobs. It shows where letters are missing in a contraction (can't, it's) and shows that something belongs to someone (the dog's bone, the girls' team).
Present tense
The present tense is the verb form for things happening now, things that are always true, and habits, like I walk, she walks or we are walking.