Pronoun Types and Examples

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. A pronoun can act as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, or other part of speech and takes the place of any person, place, animal or thing. There are several types of pronouns: personal pronouns, relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, reflexive pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and possessive pronouns.

Types of pronouns

pronouns Type	What it does	pronouns examples
Personal pronoun	Refers to a person, place, thing or idea	I, me, she, we, us, them, it, you, they
Relative pronoun	Refers to another noun in the sentence to add further information	Who, whom, whose, which, that, when, where
Demonstrative pronoun	Refers to nouns that have already been mentioned	This, that, these, those, such, none, neither
Indefinite pronoun	Refers to nouns that are not specified or particular	Anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody, anyone, everyone, no one, someone, anything, everything, nothing, something
Reflexive pronoun	Self-refers to the subject and becomes the object of the sentence	Myself, yourself, yourselves, ourselves, himself, herself, itself, themselves
Interrogative pronoun	Introduces a question and asks about a specific noun	Who, what, which, whose
Possessive pronoun	Denotes possession or ownership of a noun	My, our, your, his, her, its, their

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are used to refer to a particular grammatical person: first person (I), second person (you), or third person (he, she, it, they). Personal pronouns also take different forms depending on the gender, number, and case of the noun it replaces. I, you, he, she, it, we they, me, him, her, us, and them are all personal pronouns.

Antecedents

Pronouns may refer to different persons or things ambiguously if the noun is not specified clearly in the sentence. When using pronouns in a sentence, an antecedent should be used to let the reader know what the pronoun is referring to. An antecedent is a noun or noun phrase that is mentioned at the beginning of a sentence and replaced with a pronoun afterwards.

Unclear/ambiguous pronoun antecedents

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to connect relative clauses and independent clauses in order to add more information about people and things. Relative pronouns are placed directly after the noun or pronoun they modify. Who, whom, whose, which, that, when, and where are all relative pronouns.

Who vs. whom: subject and object pronouns

When to use “who” or “whom” can be confusing. While both can be used as pronouns, their usage differs. “Who” is used to refer to the subject of a sentence, while “whom” is used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to refer to a specific person or thing within a sentence. These pronouns can be used to indicate degrees of time and space. This, that, these, those, such, none, and neither are all demonstrative pronouns.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used to refer to unspecified or general people or things. Similar to “indefinite” articles, these pronouns are used to refer to indefinite people or things. Anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody, anyone, everyone, no one, someone, anything, everything, nothing, and something are indefinite pronouns.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject of the sentence. Reflexive pronouns end in “-self” (singular) or “-selves” (plural). Myself, yourself, yourselves, ourselves, himself, herself, itself, and themselves are reflexive pronouns.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions or find out more information. Who, what, which, and whose are interrogative pronouns.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used to show possession or that something/someone belongs or is associated closely with someone/something. My, our, your, his, her, its, and their are possessive nouns. These pronouns can be used to avoid writing the same word twice and therefore can make sentences more concise.