PRONOUNS
Types of Pronouns with Example
Pronouns can be classified into different types based on their functions. Given below are the
various types of pronouns. Go through the examples carefully to clearly understand each type of
pronoun and its function.
Personal Pronouns are simple pronouns that are used to substitute proper names.
Examples:- I, you, he, she, we, they, him, her, he, she, us and them.
FIRST PERSON (Masculine or Feminine) SINGULAR -- PLURAL
Subject - I -- We
Possessive -- my, mine -- our, ours
Object - me -- us
SECOND PERSON (Masculine or Feminine) SINGULAR/PLURAL
Subject - You
Possessive -- Your, Yours
Object - You
THIRD PERSON SINGULAR -- PLURAL
Masculine -- Feminine -- Neuter -- All Genders
Subject - he -- she -- it -- they
Possessive -- his -- her, hers -- its -- their, theirs
Object - him -- her -- it -- them
1. We go to the gym club together.
2. They speak English in the USA.
3. He loves to play basketball.
4. They sleep in the afternoon.
5. You go on holiday every summer.
6. She is the best basketball player in the team.
Subject Pronouns are pronouns that perform the action in a sentence.
Examples:- I, you, we, he, she, it, they and one.
1. I go to school every day.
2. We are travelling to Paris next week.
3. He will be meeting Nina tomorrow.
4. She is writing a letter to her cousin.
5. Did you get the book you were looking for?
Object Pronouns are pronouns that receive the action in a sentence.
Examples:- me, us, him, her and them.
1. She is hiding something from you.
2. A woman has superpowers like you.
3. They brought several dresses for us.
4. He went to school to wish them.
5. It made me very popular at that time.
6. My mother cooked food for all of us.
Relative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to relate one part of the sentence to another.
Examples:- that, which, where, when, why, what, whom and whose.
Read the following pairs of sentences:
1. I met Hari. Hari had just returned.
2. I have found the pen. I lost the pen.
3. Here is the book. You lent me the book.
Let us now combine each of the above pairs into one sentence. Thus :-
1. I met Hari who had just returned.
2. I have found the pen which I lost.
3. Here is the book that you lent me.
Some more examples:-
1. Sheela, who is a teacher, also works as a social worker.
2. The car that was stolen last month was found in a river.
3. Susan is the girl whom I was talking about.
4. The boy, whose sister is a renowned orator, is an orator himself.
Possessive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to show possession. Examples:- mine,
yours, his, hers, theirs and its.
1. The toy shelf is mine.
2. It is his book.
3. This is my notes.
4. This bag is hers.
5. Is this your crayon?
Reflexive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to refer back to the subject in the sentence.
Examples:-myself, yourself, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves, themselves and
yourselves.
1. I built my house myself.
2. The children made the cookies themselves.
3. You can do your homework by yourself.
4. He bought himself a new phone.
Demonstrative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to point to specific objects.
Examples:- this, that, these and those.
1. This is my favourite shirt.
2. I need you to fix these.
3. This is her car.
4. These are his clothes.
5. Those are migrating birds.
Interrogative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to ask questions.
Examples:-who, what, when, why and where.
1. Who wrote this letter?
2. What is an amphibian?
3. Which is the correct answer?
4. Who is doing this work ?
5. Where are you going ?
Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that do not refer to any particular person, place or thing.
Examples:- someone, somebody, somewhere, something, anyone, anybody, anywhere,
anything, no one, nobody, nowhere, everyone, everybody, everywhere, everything, each, none,
few, and many.
1. Someone ate my lunch.
2. The water splashed everywhere.
3. This note could have been written by anybody.
4. Everybody loves my cooking.
5. Some love sweets, others love chips.
Reciprocal Pronouns are pronouns that are used to express a mutual relationship.
Examples:- each other and one another.
1. We give each other gifts in exchange.
2. The entire class congratulated one another after the exams.
3. The thieves are trying to help each other to rescue the cops.
4. The boats are striking each other because of the tides.
5. Both of them are throwing the pillows at one another while playing.
6. They have settled with each other.
Intensive Pronouns are the same as reflexive pronouns, with the only difference being that you
can remove the intensive pronoun from the sentence, and the sentence would still make sense.
1. Saanvi approved the purchase herself.
2. Mike himself built that house.
3. I'll finish the mural myself.
Type Pronouns in this category Example sentences
Personal I/me, you, they/them, he/him, ● I brought all the snacks.
she/her, it, we/us ● We weren’t planning on staying over.
Relative that, what, which, who, whom, ● My car, which is twenty years old,
whose doesn’t connect to Bluetooth.
● The professor who ran the meeting
ended it promptly.
Demonstrative this, that, these, those ● You’ve seen clear quartz and smoky
quartz, but have you seen these
stones?
● I ordered Hawaiian pizza. I like that a
lot.
Indefinite another, any, anybody, ● We need cashiers up front. Anybody
anyone, anything, both, each, who’s available, please report to the
either, everybody, everyone, front end.
everything, neither, nobody, ● “Why can’t we fix this?” I asked
none, no one, one, other, nobody in particular.
some, somebody, someone,
such
Reflexive myself, yourself/yourselves, ● The car began to swerve, then
themself/themselves, herself, corrected itself.
himself, oneself, itself, ● He made himself a sandwich.
wourselves
Type Pronouns in this category Example sentences
Intensive myself, yourself/yourselves, ● You did all of this yourself?
themself/themselves, herself, ● She herself said it wasn’t an easy
himself, oneself, itself, project.
ourselves
Possessive mine, yours, theirs, his, hers, ● The pool is ours.
its, ours ● That green car is his.
Interrogative what, which, who, whose ● Whose bike is this?
● What is the answer?
Reciprocal each other, one another ● We ran into each other on the
subway.
● They’ve been fighting with one
another for decades.
Distributive Either, each, neither, any, ● Peanut butter or chocolate? I’m good
none with either.
● There were four cats, and none had
long hair.
