Category: 02. Pronoun

When somebody tells you their pronouns, using their pronouns is an act of respect. Think of it like spelling or pronouncing that person’s name correctly—they’re the authority on who they are and how they express themselves, and referring to them the way they’ve asked you to refer to them affirms this. For some gender-neutral and…

You might have noticed pronouns listed in some of your colleagues’ and friends’ email signatures or social media profiles. You might have even been prompted to list your own pronouns in your profiles and communications. While historically only the personal pronouns he/him/his and she/her/hers were used for individuals, based on their perceived gender, pronoun usage is broader and more…

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…

Distributive pronouns refer to nouns as individual elements of larger groups. They enable you to single out individuals while acknowledging that they’re part of a group. Distributive pronouns include the following: Here are a few examples of distributive pronouns in sentences: All of my friends entered the costume contest, and none of them won. Cookies and muffins are available for…

There are only two reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another. These pronouns describe a mutual relationship between two or more elements. Take a look at these examples: Javier and Priya, the two top salespeople on our team, are competing with each other to be named salesperson of the year. All my siblings are blaming one another for letting the boa constrictor out…

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions. These are the interrogative pronouns: Here are a few examples of interrogative pronouns at play: Who wants a bag of jelly beans? What is your name? Which movie do you want to watch? Whose jacket is this?

As their names imply, both possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives show ownership.  Possessive pronouns are sometimes called independent possessive pronouns or absolute possessive pronouns. They show possession of a noun by replacing it. They look like this: When you use an independent possessive pronoun, you drop the noun that the pronoun is expressing a relationship to.…

Intensive pronouns look the same as reflexive pronouns, but their purpose is different. Intensive pronouns add emphasis by repeating their antecedent noun or pronoun. Conceptualizing the difference between them and reflexive pronouns can be challenging because the emphasis isn’t always obvious. Take a look at these examples of intensive pronouns and examine how they’re different from…

Reflexive pronouns are forms of personal pronouns that end in –self or –selves: You can use a reflexive pronoun as the object of a verb or preposition to refer back to the subject of the sentence or clause Here are a few examples: She checked herself out of the hotel thirty minutes before checkout time. Lola made herself a smoothie to bring to…

Indefinite pronouns are used to refer generally to a person or thing that doesn’t need to be specifically identified or has already been mentioned. Here are some common indefinite pronouns: Here are a few examples of indefinite pronouns in sentences: Everybody was late to work because of the traffic jam. It matters more to some than to others. Nobody knows the…