What is Pronoun – Definition, Examples and Types

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In the previous chapter, we discussed Noun in detail. In this unit, we will discuss What is Pronoun. Are you ready? Let us begin!

Look at the following two sentences. 

Sajid brought the Mi-A1 smartphone. Sajid loves it very much.

Sajid brought the Mi-A1 smartphone. He loves it very much.

The second sentence looks to be more appropriate. Right? We put He in the Place of Sajid that makes sense. He is a pronoun. Thus a pronoun is a word that is used in place of the noun in order to make sense.

Pronoun Examples Sentences

  • Personal Pronouns Definition

In simple words, Personal Pronouns refers to persons or things. In other words, a personal pronoun is what replaces a noun or name. Personal pronouns can be singular or plural.


Personal pronouns can also be subjective or objective.

We will cover the use of subjective case and objective case in Active Passive Voice unit.

  • Reflexive Pronoun and Emphatic Pronoun

The pronouns ending in -self are Reflexive Pronouns as well as Emphatic Pronouns. These pronouns are formed by adding -self to the personal pronouns. Following is the list of these pronouns.

Myself, Ourselves, Yourself, Yourselves, Himself, Herself, Itself, Oneself, Themselves.

Use as Reflexive Pronouns

Look at the following sentences.

I killed myself.
They will create an android app themselves.
We ruined ourselves by using Instagram.
She forgave herself.

The pronouns myself, themselves, ourselves and herself in the sentences above are acting as objects and the action of the verb is returning to the pronoun (or in other words the doer). Moreover, the subject and the object refer to the same person.

Use as Emphatic Pronouns

Look at the following sentences.

I myself won Candy Crush game.
She herself went to Ranthambore.
They themselves played Despacito song.

The pronouns myself, herself and themselves here emphasize the pronoun or subject (or noun). Emphatic Pronoun can be removed from the sentence without affecting its meaning. However, a reflexive pronoun cannot be removed from a sentence. 

e.g. We can write I myself won Candy Crush game as I won Candy Crush game. However, we cannot remove myself from I killed myself.

We hope that you have understood the basic difference between the two.

  • Indefinite Pronouns

An indefinite pronoun refers to a person or thing in a general or indefinite way. e.g. Everybody, anybody, somebody, all, each, every, some, none, one etc. These pronouns do not refer to any particular noun but instead themselves act as nouns. 

Examples

Nobody would believe that you have bought Apple iPhone X.
Everybody was playing Mini Militia.
Someone might have completed all the missions of GTA San Andreas.
Anybody can go to the moon.

  • Interrogative Pronouns

Simply interrogative pronouns are those which are used to ask questions. e.g. Who, What, Which, Whom etc. 

Examples

Who has used Internet Explorer browser?
What is the gender of android?
Which smartphone is the best?

  • Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are those which are used to connect a subordinate clause to a noun or a pronoun. These pronouns indicate the relationship of the subordinate clause to the rest of the sentence. 

Examples

The boy who was eating pizza is illl now.
The phones that got Andriod Oreo update have more features.
The airplane which I fly does not exist.

In the sentences above, the words who, that and which are relative pronouns and the sentences after them are called relative clauses or subordinate clauses.

  • Exclamatory Pronouns

A pronoun that is used as an exclamation (to express sudden emotion) is called exclamatory pronoun.

Examples

What! Did you meet the Prime Minister of India?
What! Did he buy MacBook Air?

In these sentences, the pronoun What is acting as the exclamatory pronoun.

  • Demonstrative Pronouns

The words This, That, These, Those and Such called Demonstrative Pronouns because they identify or demonstrate the nouns. However, these words can also act as Demonstrative Adjectives (or Determiners).

Look at the following examples to understand their use.

This is incredible!
I will never forget this.
Such is my belief.
These are my facebook friends.
Those are my BMWs.

In these sentences, the words this, such, these and those are referring to persons, places, and ideas and are thus demonstrative pronouns.

In the following sentences, these words are acting as Demonstrative Adjectives or Determiners.

This smartphone has dual-tone flash.
That Mac has 32 GB Ram.
Those trains are mine.
These websites are mine.

So we have just covered Pronoun. In the next unit, Verb will be covered. Be ready!