Pronouns

What is a pronoun?

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns stop us from repeating the same noun over and over.

Without pronouns: Sam grabbed Sam’s backpack because Sam was late for Sam’s bus.
With pronouns: Sam grabbed his backpack because he was late for his bus.

The noun that a pronoun replaces is called its antecedent. In the example, Sam is the antecedent of he and his.

Subject and object pronouns

Subject pronouns do the action. They usually come before the verb.

Object pronouns receive the action, or come after a preposition.

• She called me.
• We gave the flowers to them.

The "cover-up" trick

When a pronoun is paired with another person, cover up the other person to hear which pronoun is correct.

Maya and (I / me) went to the park. → Cover Maya and: I went to the park. ✓
Dad drove Maya and (I / me). → Cover Maya and: Dad drove me. ✓

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership. Some come before a noun and some stand alone.

This is my hat. The hat is mine.

Possessive pronouns never use an apostrophe: hers, yours, its, not her’s or it’s.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves. They point back to the subject.

myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

• I taught myself to knit.
• The cat cleaned itself.

Do not use them in place of I or me: Call Jen or myself ✗ → Call Jen or me ✓.

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point to something.

• this (one, near) and these (more than one, near)
• that (one, far) and those (more than one, far)

This is delicious. Those are my shoes.

Other useful pronouns

• Indefinite pronouns do not name a specific person or thing: everyone, someone, nobody, anything, all, few. Most singular ones take a singular verb: Everyone is here.
• Interrogative pronouns ask questions: who, whom, whose, what, which.
• Relative pronouns connect extra information: who, which, that. The girl who won the race is my cousin.

Clear pronouns

A pronoun should point clearly to one antecedent.

Ella told Grace that she won. Who won, Ella or Grace? It is unclear.
Better: Ella told Grace, "You won!"

Pronoun agreement

A pronoun should match its antecedent in number.

The students packed their bags. (plural)
The dog wagged its tail. (singular)

Worked examples

Example 1: Find the pronouns and their antecedents. Leo lost his ball, so Mom helped him find it.
his → Leo; him → Leo; it → ball.

Example 2: Choose the correct pronoun. Between you and (I / me), this is easy.
→ me. Between is a preposition, so it takes an object pronoun.

Example 3: Fix the possessive. The bird flapped it’s wings. → its wings.

Common mistakes

• Me and Jo went home. ✗ → Jo and I went home. ✓
• Her and I are friends. ✗ → She and I are friends. ✓
• it’s (it is) vs its (belonging to it).
• theirselves ✗ → themselves ✓

Try it yourself

1. Replace the repeated nouns: Nadia fed Nadia’s fish before Nadia left.
2. Choose: The coach gave (we / us) new jerseys.
3. Choose: (Who / Whom) is at the door?
4. Fix it: Everybody brought their lunch, and Jake and me shared ours.

Answers: 1. Nadia fed her fish before she left. 2. us. 3. Who. 4. Jake and I shared ours. (Everybody brought their lunch is widely accepted today; his or her lunch is the more formal option.)

Tip for families

Retell a short story while leaving out every pronoun ("Goldilocks ate Goldilocks’s porridge…"). Kids will laugh at how clumsy it sounds and quickly understand why pronouns matter.

Quick recap

• Pronouns replace nouns; the noun they replace is the antecedent.
• Use subject pronouns for doers and object pronouns for receivers.
• Possessive pronouns never use apostrophes.
• Reflexive pronouns point back to the subject.
• Make every pronoun clear and in agreement with its antecedent.