The pronoun is a
word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition and monotony in speech or
writing. In replacing the noun, however, the pronoun must reflect gender and
number of the noun.
Types of pronoun
Pronouns replace
nouns perfectly and perform the roles the nouns they replace perform. Apart
from the known functions of the noun, pronouns also add special meaning to
sentences. This will be seen in the types of pronouns and their peculiarities:
Personal Pronoun
These refer to the person or thing that is
involved in the action either as subject or object. The pronouns also have
singular and plural forms while they also reflect the first person, second
person and third person.
Examples:
Singular Plural
First person I We
Second person You You
Third person He/ She/ It They
The examples above show the personal
pronouns as subject.
Singular Plural
First person Me Us
Second person You You
Third person Him/ Her/ It Them
Above are examples of the
personal pronouns as subjects and objects
I kicked him
She scolded them
You need to emulate her
They surprise me with their
conduct
He paid us the debt his father
owed
a.
Possessive
pronouns
These show possession or
ownership of items. These pronouns also have two forms. One form functions as
adjectives and is known as pronominal adjective while the other functions as
pronouns and is known as such. The following table shows the possessive as
pronoun and adjective:
Singular Plural
Pronoun Adjective Pronoun/Adjective
First person: mine my ours/ our
Second person: Yours Your Yours/ Your
Third person: His/hers his/her/Its Theirs their
Examples: This pen is mine
(pronoun ‘mine’ is subject complement)
This is my pen, (Adjective ‘my’
modifies the noun, ‘pen’)
b.
Reflexive/Intensive
Pronouns
These pronouns refer to or
reflect the subject of the sentence and also show emphasis. They have ‘-self’
ending for the singular and ‘-selves’ for the plural.
Singular Plural
First person: myself ourselves
Second person: Yourself Yourselves
Third person: Himself/ Themselves herself/Itself
Avoid the wrong use of the reflexive pronoun in examples like “John and myself did the work’ and “the food is for you and myself”. The personal pronoun should be used instead. So the sentences should be: “John and I did the work” and “the food is for you and me”.
Avoid the wrong use of the reflexive pronoun in examples like “John and myself did the work’ and “the food is for you and myself”. The personal pronoun should be used instead. So the sentences should be: “John and I did the work” and “the food is for you and me”.
c.
Interrogative
Pronouns
These types of pronouns are
used in asking questions. They include who, whom, whose, what, which, where, when,
and how.
Example
1 Who
are you looking for?
2 For
whom did you vote?
3
Whose
car did she drive?
4
Which
do you prefer?
5
How
did you come?
d.
Relative
Pronouns
The relative pronouns are used
to describe or modify antecedent nouns and also to introduce subordinate
clauses to main clauses. The pronouns include who, whom, whose, which, that,
where, when and how.
Examples
The man who helped him has come
The boy whom I told you about
is crying.
This is the woman whose dog you
killed.
I saw the book which he wrote.
She knows the boy that stole
the money.
We suspected how it must have
happened.
That was the time when I came
in.
Mama went to the place where
she first met father.
e.
Demonstrative
Pronouns
These pronouns include: this,
that, these and those.
They are used to point out specific persons, places or objects. This and that
are used for singular, while these and those are for plural. ‘this’
and ‘these’ are used for objects that are near, ‘that’
and ‘those’ are for objects that are far.
Examples:
This is my sister
These are my friends
That is her house
Those are the goats he bought.
f.
Reciprocal
Pronouns
These are pronouns that come in
pairs to show the involvement of more than one person in the action expressed
by the verb. They are: ‘each
other’ and ‘one another’
Examples: My papa and mama love
each other.
Jesus said we should love one
another.
*Each
other are usually used when two people are involved in the action, while one
another are used for more than two.
g.
Indefinite
pronouns
These are pronouns that do not
refer to any person or object in specific. Examples of the indefinite pronouns
are: any, some, few, all, none, little, many, and several. Others are all words
that have the following endings; -one, -body, -thing.
Some of these pronouns are seen
as singular, while others are regarded as plural.
Examples:
Everybody says he is good.
No one believes in his touted
ability.
Many are called
Few are chosen.
Some indefinite pronouns are post modified
by adjectives, e.g., He will do everything possible to retrieve it.
*Previous post in part of speech is Nouns
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