Personal Pronouns Lesson: Definition, Uses and Examples

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Updated: Feb 3, 2025

Lesson

Personal pronouns are an essential part of sentences. They help identify the speaker, listener, or others, making conversations, stories, and instructions clearer. Words like I, you, he, and they are small but powerful words that simplify how we talk and write about people, making language more efficient and easier to understand..

What Are Personal Pronouns?

Personal pronouns are words used to replace nouns that refer to people, groups, or things in a sentence. They help avoid repetition and make sentences more concise.

Personal pronouns indicate the person speaking (first person), the person being spoken to (second person), or the person or thing being spoken about (third person).

Examples:

First person: I, we (I am learning. / We are studying.)
Second person: you (You are listening carefully.)
Third person: he, she, it, they (He is reading a book. / They are playing outside.)

Personal pronouns simplify sentences by avoiding repetition of names or nouns. For example:

Instead of: Sara said Sara will join the team.
Use: Sara said she will join the team.

Take This Quiz :

Personal Pronoun Quiz Questions and Answers

Types of Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are classified based on their roles in a sentence. Below are the main types with explanations:

Subject Pronouns

Subject Pronouns replace the subject (the person or thing performing the action) in a sentence. They help avoid repetition and make sentences clearer.

These pronouns act as the subject of a sentence, performing the action.

Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
Example Sentence: They are preparing for the competition.

Take this quiz :

Subject Pronoun Quiz: Test!

Object Pronouns

Object Pronouns are pronouns that receive the action in a sentence. They replace nouns that are the objects of verbs or prepositions, helping to avoid repetition and making sentences clearer.

These pronouns act as the object, receiving the action of a verb or preposition.

Examples: me, you, him, her, it, us, them
Example Sentence: The teacher praised him for his effort.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns are pronouns used to show ownership or possession. They replace nouns to avoid repetition while indicating who or what owns something.

Examples: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
Example Sentence: The blue notebook is mine.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns are pronouns that refer back to the subject of the sentence, emphasizing that the subject and the object are the same person or thing.

Examples: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Example Sentence: She solved the puzzle by herself.

Take this quiz :

Personal and Reflexive pronouns sytina

Rules of Personal Pronouns

Using personal pronouns correctly is essential for clear and grammatically accurate sentences. Below are key rules to remember when using personal pronouns:

Subject Pronouns as Subjects
Subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) are used as the subject of a sentence, performing the action.
- Example: He plays football.
- Incorrect: Him plays football.
Object Pronouns as Objects
Object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) are used as the object of a verb or preposition, receiving the action.
- Example: She gave the book to me.
- Incorrect: She gave the book to I.
Possessive Pronouns Show Ownership
Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs) replace nouns to show ownership.
- Example: This pen is mine.
- Incorrect: This pen is my.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent (the word it replaces) in number, gender, and person.
- Example: Sarah loves her dog. (Singular antecedent, singular pronoun)
- Incorrect: Sarah loves their dog.
Avoid Ambiguity
A pronoun should clearly refer to a specific noun to avoid confusion.
- Example: John and Mike are here. He is waiting outside. (Unclear: Who is "he"?)
Use Reflexive Pronouns Correctly
Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) are used when the subject and object refer to the same person or group.
- Example: She prepared herself for the exam.
- Incorrect: She prepared her for the exam.

Personal Pronouns List

Personal pronouns are categorized based on their function in a sentence: subject, object, possessive, and reflexive. Below is a complete list organized by category and person.

Category	Singular	Plural	Example Sentence
Subject Pronouns	I, you, he, she, it	we, you, they	She is reading a book.
Object Pronouns	me, you, him, her, it	us, you, them	He gave the ball to her.
Possessive Pronouns	mine, yours, his, hers, its	ours, yours, theirs	This car is mine.
Reflexive Pronouns	myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself	ourselves, yourselves, themselves	They taught themselves to code.