Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns represent specific people or things. We use them depending on:

• number: singular (eg: I) or plural (eg: we)
• person: 1st person (eg: I), 2nd person (eg: you) or 3rd person (eg: he)
• gender: male (eg: he), female (eg: she) or neuter (eg: it)
• case: subject (eg: we) or object (eg: us)

We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are talking about. My name is Josef but when I am talking about myself I almost always use "I" or "me", not "Josef". When I am talking direct to you, I almost always use "you", not your name. When I am talking about another person, say John, I may start with "John" but then use "he" or "him". And so on.

Here are the personal pronouns, followed by some example sentences:

Examples (in each pair, the first sentence shows a subject pronoun, the second an object pronoun):

• I like coffee. / John helped me.
• Do you like coffee? / John loves you.
• He runs fast. / Did Ram beat him?
• She is clever. / Does Mary know her?
• It doesn't work. / Can the man fix it?
• We went home. / Anthony drove us.
• Do you need a table for three? / Did John and Mary beat you at doubles?
• They played doubles. / John and Mary beat them.

When we are talking about a single thing, we almost always use it. However, there are a few exceptions. We may sometimes refer to an animal as he/him or she/her, especially if the animal is domesticated or a pet. Ships (and some other vessels or vehicles) as well as some countries are often treated as female and referred to as she/her. Here are some examples:

• This is our dog Rusty. He's an Alsatian.
• The Titanic was a great ship but she sank on her first voyage.
• My first car was a Mini and I treated her like my wife.
• Thailand has now opened her border with Cambodia.

For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or she. There are several solutions to this:

• If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.
• If a teacher needs help, he should see the principal.
• If a teacher needs help, they should see the principal.

We often use it to introduce a remark:

• It is nice to have a holiday sometimes.
• It is important to dress well.
• It's difficult to find a job.
• Is it normal to see them together?
• It didn't take long to walk here.

We also often use it to talk about the weather, temperature, time and distance:

• It's raining.
• It will probably be hot tomorrow.
• Is it nine o'clock yet?
• It's 50 kilometres from here to Cambridge.

Possessive Pronouns

We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or thing/things (the "antecedent") belonging to a person/people (and sometimes belonging to an animal/animals or thing/things).

We use possessive pronouns depending on:

• number: singular (eg: mine) or plural (eg: ours)
• person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd person (eg: his)
• gender: male (his), female (hers)

Below are the possessive pronouns, followed by some example sentences. Notice that each possessive pronoun can:

• be subject or object
• refer to a singular or plural antecedent

• Look at these pictures. Mine is the big one. (subject = My picture)
• I like your flowers. Do you like mine? (object = my flowers) 
• I looked everywhere for your key. I found John's key but I couldn't find yours. (object = your key)
• My flowers are dying. Yours are lovely. (subject = Your flowers) 
• All the essays were good but his was the best. (subject = his essay)
• John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her passport)
• John found his clothes but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her clothes) 
• Here is your car. Ours is over there, where we left it. (subject = Our car)
• Your photos are good. Ours are terrible. (subject = Our photos) 
• Each couple's books are colour-coded. Yours are red. (subject = Your books)
• I don't like this family's garden but I like yours. (object = your garden) 
• These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair. (subject = Their children)
• John and Mary don't like your car. Do you like theirs? (object = their car)

Notice that the following (with apostrophe [']) do NOT exist: her's, your's, their's