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All about Pronouns

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A pronoun takes the place of an unknown noun.

David returned the shirt David bought last week.

Instead of using David twice in a sentence, we can change the second use to the pronoun he:

David returned the shirt he bought last week.

The Nine Types of Pronoun

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to specific persons, places, or things.

They love football.

I am Spanish.

She called me lazy.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns act as adjectives that show ownership.

My brother lost his phone.

The dog wagged its tail.

It's your choice.

These toys are mine.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are non-specific noun substitutes.

Someone sent me flowers.

Can anyone lend me a pen?

Some of the staff work on Sunday.

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun introduces an adjective clause.

The car which I rented was amazing.

He got what he wanted for Christmas.

Whoever loses has to buy everyone lunch!

Interrogative Pronouns

Pronouns used in questions.

Whose car is that?

Who wrote this?

What did you say?

Demonstrative Pronouns

They indicate which persons, places, or things are being referred to.

These paintings are beautiful.

Those people look lost.

Do you like this colour?

Intensive Pronouns

Emphasises the noun or other pronoun they follow. When the intensive pronoun is removed the sentence still makes sense.

I myself prefer winter to summer.

Ask the man himself what he thinks.

Reflexive Pronouns

Pronouns which refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence.

The politicians voted to give themselves a pay rise.

I bought myself a new video game.

Careful, you could hurt yourself.

Reciprocal pronouns

Pronouns that refer to individual parts of a preceding plural noun.

The young boys wrestled one another to see who was strongest.

We couldn't hear each other.

Now choose the correct pronoun:

  • 1) The man ___ spoke to me was American.





  • 2) He found ___ lying on the carpet.





  • 3) We send ___ letters.





  • 4) We found the way there ___.





  • 5) Has ___ seen my jacket?





  • 6) The computer turned ___ off.





  • 7) What are ___ names?





  • 8) I haven't spoken to __ for days.





  • 9) ___ clothes we saw in the other shop were nicer.





  • 10) That's for ___ to decide.