PRONOUN : SARKARI LIBRARY

  • Pronouns are words used in place of a noun to avoid repetition. 

1. Personal Pronouns

These refer to specific people or things. They change form based on person, number, gender, and case.

Person Subjective Case Objective Case Possessive Adjective Possessive Pronoun Reflexive Pronoun
First Person (Singular) I me my mine myself
First Person (Plural) we us our ours ourselves
Second Person (Singular/Plural) you you your yours yourself/yourselves
Third Person (Masc. Singular) he him his his himself
Third Person (Fem. Singular) she her her hers herself
Third Person (Neuter Singular) it it its – itself
Third Person (Plural) they them their theirs themselves

Examples:

  • Subjective: She is a doctor. (She is the subject)
  • Objective: Rohan gave the book to her. (her is the object)
  • Possessive Adjective: That is my car. (Modifies the noun ‘car’)
  • Possessive Pronoun: This book is mine. (Replaces ‘my book’)
  • Reflexive: He hurt himself. (Refers back to the subject ‘He’)

2. Demonstrative Pronouns

These point to specific nouns. (This, That, These, Those)

Examples:

  • This is my favorite shirt. (Singular, near)
  • These are delicious. (Plural, near)
  • That was an amazing show. (Singular, far)
  • Look at those! (Plural, far)

3. Interrogative Pronouns

These are used to ask questions. (Who, Whom, Whose, Which, What)

Examples:

  • Who is at the door? (Refers to the subject)
  • Whom did you meet? (Refers to the object)
  • Whose is this bag? (Shows possession)
  • Which is your house? (Used when there’s a choice)
  • What is your name? (General question)

4. Relative Pronouns

These relate a clause to a noun or pronoun. They introduce adjective clauses. (Who, Whom, Whose, Which, That)

Examples:

  • The girl who won the race is my sister. (‘who’ refers to ‘the girl’)
  • The book which you gave me is fantastic.
  • This is the house that Jack built.
  • The man whom I respect is my father.
  • That’s the student whose project won the award.

5. Indefinite Pronouns

These refer to non-specific people or things.

Examples:

  • Singular: Everyone, Someone, Anyone, No one, Each, Either, Neither, One, Much.
    • Everyone has left the building.
    • Is there anyone at home?
  • Plural: Both, Few, Many, Several.
    • Many are called, but few are chosen.
  • Singular/Plural: All, Some, None, Any, Most.
    • Some of the sugar is spilled. (Uncountable – Singular)
    • Some of the mangoes are ripe. (Countable – Plural)

6. Distributive Pronouns

These refer to individual members of a group. (Each, Either, Neither)

Examples:

  • Each of the students received a certificate.
  • You can take either of the two routes.
  • Neither of the answers is correct.

7. Reciprocal Pronouns

These express a mutual relationship. (Each other, One another)

Examples:

  • The two sisters love each other. (Generally for two)
  • The team members support one another. (Generally for more than two)

8. Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns

These end in ‘-self’ or ‘-selves’.

  • Reflexive: The action of the subject reflects back on the subject.
    • She taught herself how to code.
  • Emphatic: Used to emphasize a noun or pronoun.
    • I myself saw the incident. (Can be removed without losing the core meaning)

Important Rules

Rule 1: Subject-Verb Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns

  • Singular indefinite pronouns take singular verbs.
  • Incorrect: Each of the players are fit.
  • Correct: Each of the players is fit.

Rule 2: Use of ‘Who’ vs ‘Whom’

  • Use ‘who’ for the subject and ‘whom’ for the object.
  • Incorrect: Whom is coming to the party? (Here, the pronoun is the subject)
  • Correct: Who is coming to the party?
  • Correct: Whom did you invite? (Here, the pronoun is the object of ‘invite’)

Rule 3: Pronoun Consistency

  • Do not shift pronouns unnecessarily.
  • Incorrect: If one works hard, you will succeed.
  • Correct: If one works hard, one will succeed. OR If you work hard, you will succeed.

Rule 4: Using the correct case after ‘than’ and ‘as’

  • Complete the sentence to decide the case.
  • Example: She is taller than I (am). (Subjective case)

    Example: He likes her more than (he likes) me. (Objective case)

Rule 5: Order of Personal Pronouns

  • For good manners, the sequence is: Second Person + Third Person + First Person.
  • Example: You, he, and I have been selected for the team.

Common Error Spotting Examples

  1. Error: This is one of the best novels that has been published this year.
    Correction: This is one of the best novels that have been published this year.
    (The relative pronoun ‘that’ refers to ‘novels’, which is plural, so the verb should be plural ‘have’.)
  2. Error: Every student must bring their own book.
    Correction: Every student must bring his or her own book.
    (‘Every student’ is singular, so the possessive pronoun must also be singular.)
  3. Error: Between you and I, he is not trustworthy.
    Correction: Between you and me, he is not trustworthy.
    (‘Between’ is a preposition, so it must be followed by the objective case ‘me’.)
PRONOUN : SARKARI LIBRARY