As you can see, pronouns do a lot. And there are a lot of them. To make them even more complicated, many pronouns change forms when they’re used in different positions within a sentence or based on number, gender, person, or case.
Take a look at the different types of pronouns and their forms at a glance:
Type | Pronouns in this category | Example sentences |
Personal | I/me, you, they/them, he/him, she/her, it, we/us | I brought all the snacks.We weren’t planning on staying over. |
Relative | that, what, which, who, whom, whose | My car, which is twenty years old, 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, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, none, no one, one, other, some, somebody, someone, such | We need cashiers up front. Anybody who’s available, please report to the front end.“Why can’t we fix this?” I asked nobody in particular. |
Reflexive | myself, yourself/yourselves, themself/themselves, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves | The car began to swerve, then corrected itself.He made himself a sandwich. |
Intensive | myself, yourself/yourselves, themself/themselves, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves | You did all of this yourself?She herself said it wasn’t an easy project.. |
Possessive | mine, yours, theirs, his, hers, its, ours | The pool is 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, none | Peanut butter or chocolate? I’m good with either.There were four cats, and none had long hair. |
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