A Pronoun is a word which is used in place of a Noun
E.g.: John is a good boy. He does not hate anybody.
The sentence mentioned above means:
"John is a good boy. John does not hate anybody".
But instead of saying the second sentence in this manner, that is, instead of repeating the Noun "John", we use the word "he" (which of course, reads better). Thus "he" is a Pronoun which has been used instead of the noun "John".
KINDS OF PRONOUNS
Pronouns are divided into the following kinds.
1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS
These are further classified into
First Person (the person who is speaking.)
e.g.: I, my, me, our, mine, ours, etc
Second Person (the person to whom one speaks)
e.g.: you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves, thou, etc .
Third Person (the person spoken of.)
e.g.: he, she, it, their, her, his, hers, him, theirs, etc.
Rules for the use of personal pronouns.
1. No noun is to be used with a Possessive Pronoun, such as:
Yours, mine, hers, theirs, etc. e.g. That book is mine.
Never try to write Your's. It's wrong
2. Whenever in a particular sentence the Pronouns of different persons are used, it is necessary that the second person should be placed first, the third person after that and then the first person should be used, such as
You, she and I left for Kashmir.
You and he went to Agra.
He and I work together, etc.
3. Â But whenever the confession of guilt is expressed, the usual order of the person, i.e. First, Second, Third Persons should be used, such as:
I, you and he committed a theft.
You and he were to blame.
2. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
The Pronouns which tells us to whom something belongs, that is, which shows ownership or possession, is called a Possessive Pronoun. It answers the question, "Whose?"
E.g.: mine, ours, yours, his hers, it's theirs etc.
- The Possessive Pronouns, mine, ours, are used when we speak of things which belong to us.
E.g.: Â This book is mine.
These books are ours.
- The Possessive Pronoun, yours, is used when we speak of things which belong to the person (or persons) we are speaking to.
E.g.: Â This is my calculator. Which is yours?
Is this calculator yours?
- The possessive Pronouns, his, hers, theirs, are used when we speak about other people's things.
Example: This car is his; that is hers.
This car is theirs.
3. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
RELATIVE PRONOUNS are related to a Noun or Pronoun which generally precedes it. This noun or pronoun before a relative pronoun is called the antecedent.
E.g.: who, whom, whose, which, that, what and sometimes as and but. Who is used for persons.
- who, whom and whose (usually used to refer to persons)
Here is the man who broke his leg.
Here is the man whose leg was broken
Here is the man whom the doctor treated for a broken leg.
- which, (used for creatures (living things) and things.)
He found his bag which he lost yesterday.
The dog which ran away is my neighbour's.
- that, (used for persons, creatures and things)
This is the house that Jack built
He is the naughtiest boy that I've ever met.
Discard the fruits that are rotten.
- what, (used for things only. Also it does not refer to anything before it.)
I mean what I say.
I have done what I can.
What is done cannot be undone.
- Sometimes relative pronouns are omitted.
She is the naughtiest girl_I've ever met.
These are the things_she owns.
This is the book_I bought yesterday.
4. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNSare used in asking questions. In other words these are pronouns which are used to introduce questions. The common interrogative pronouns are who, whose, which and what.
Who brought the letter here?
Whose is this umbrella?
Which is the best solution?
What is your number?
Who is only used to refer to persons. What and which are used for both personal and non-personal reference. What used for persons is not common.
Who phoned you?
What is her address?
Which do you prefer: coffee or tea?
Which fool misled you?
In questions about a person's job, what is commonly used.
What is your father?
He's a doctor.
Who's that woman?
She's Merlyn Munro.
What is she?
She's a beautician.
5.DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
Demonstrative pronouns are used to refer to objects mentioned earlier or which are already present in the speaker's mind.
E.g.: this, that, these, those, such, one, etc.
Is this your car? (This stands for this car)
That was my mother. (That stands for my mother)
These are lovely flowers. (These stands for these lovely flowers)
Those are our dogs. (Those stands for our dogs)
Which tie do you want? I want the blank one. (one here stands for the black tie)
 6. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
The indefinite pronouns refer to persons or things in an indefinite sense; not to any particular or thing. (Any, more, neither, all, many, anybody, each, little, something, few, enough, everyone, much, either.)
E.g.
One must face difficulties with courage.
Some are born great.
Some achieve greatness.
Many came to see the strange animal.
None but the brave deserve the fair.
All were present.
Few people are so great as Mahatma Gandhi.
One must do one's duty.
Someone has come to meet you
They say that accidents have increased nowadays.
7. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
These pronouns are used when the object (direct or indirect) of a verb is the same person/thing as the subject of the verb. These pronouns are used in two different ways as under:
(a) As objects to verbs:
1. History keeps repeating itself.
2. The soldiers formed themselves into a circle.
3. You must ask yourself what to do
4. She stared at herself in the mirror
5. What do you thing of yourself?
b. For emphasis:s
1. He did the job for himself.
2. We ourselves had to do this job.
3. The king himself rose to welcome the saint.
4. The town itself was very small indeed.
5. I myself was surprised to hear his words.
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