A pronoun is defined as a word or phrase that is used as a substitution for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns are short words and can do everything that nouns can do and are one of the building blocks of a sentence. Common pronouns are he, she, you, me, I, we, us, this, them, that

Pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    Billy, Caren, and I were playing poker with friends -> We were playing poker with friends.
    Ellie loves watching movies. -> She loves watching movies, especially if they are comedies.

1. Indefinite pronouns – those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places, such as someone, anybody, nothing. Notice in the examples below that there is no set position for where an indefinite pronoun will appear in a sentence.
Indefinite pronoun examples:
1. Anyone
2. Somebody
3. Whichever

2. Personal pronouns – those associated with a certain person, thing, or group; all except you have distinct forms that indicate singular or plural number. Personal pronouns are always specific and are often used to replace a proper noun (someone’s name) or a collective group of people or things. Personal pronouns have two main groups, one referring to the subject of the sentence and one to the object.
The first is used to replace the subject of the sentence: I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they. Notice that you is repeated as you can be singular, addressing one person, or plural, addressing a group of people.

Personal pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    Jack and David are friends. They play basketball together.
    I have more money than he
The second group of pronouns replaces the object of the sentence: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them. Consider the sentence again:

We will be late if you don’t hurry up.

In the above example, we is the subject of the sentence, but you is the object. Other examples of pronouns replacing the object:

    Peter sang the song to me.
    Missing the train will cause us to be late.

She packed them tightly in the suitcase.

3. Reflexive pronouns – those preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which they refer, and ending in –self or –selves. Reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject or clause of a sentence. The list of reflexive pronouns includes: Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
Reflexive pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    Count yourselves
    Annie only had herself to blame.

4. Demonstrative pronouns – those used to point to something specific within a sentence. There are only four demonstrative pronouns – this, that, these, those – but the usage can be a bit tricky at times. This and that are singular, whereas these and those are plural. As you may have noticed, there can be some crossover with indefinite pronouns when using this and that.
Demonstrative pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    I prefer this.
    These are beautiful, but those belong to Danny.

5. Possessive pronouns – those designating possession or ownership. Examples include: mine, its, hers, his, yours, ours, theirs, whose. Consider the example:

    This cat is mine.

Mine is indicating possession, that the cat belongs to me. Incidentally, this in the sentence is not a pronoun but demonstrative adjective as it qualifies the noun cat. You will find that possessive pronouns often follow phrases that contain demonstrative adjectives.

Possessive pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    Are these bananas yours?
    This money is ours.

6. Relative pronouns –those which refer to nouns mentioned previously, acting to introduce an adjective (relative) clause. They will usually appear after a noun to help clarify the sentence or give extra information. Examples include: who, which, that, whom, whose. Consider the following sentence:
The man who stole the car went to jail. The relative pronoun who acts to refer back to the noun man. It acts to open a clause by identifying the man as not just any man, but the one who stole the car.Relative pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    The table, which sits in the hallway, is used for correspondence.
    The car that crashed into the wall was blue.

7. Interrogative pronouns –Those which introduce a question. Examples include: who, whom, whose, what, which. We can usually identify an interrogative pronoun by the fact that they often appear at the beginning of a question.
Interrogative pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    Who will come to the party?
    Which one do you prefer?
    What do you need?

8. Reciprocal pronouns –Those expressing mutual actions or relationship; i.e. one another.
There are just two reciprocal pronouns in English: one another and each other. They are mainly used to stop unnecessary repetition in a sentence, but also to reinforce the idea that collective and reciprocal actions are happening to more than one person or thing.John and Mary gave each other gifts. Using each other allows us the sentence to be more efficient than: John gave Mary a gift and Mary gave a gift to John. The countries worked with one another on national security. In this example, one another works to suggest that the action of working is being reciprocated back and forth by more than one country.

Reciprocal pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    The boxers punched each other

The couple love one another deeply

9. Intensive pronouns – those ending in –self or –selves and that serve to emphasize their antecedents. These are almost identical to reflexive pronouns, but rather than just referring back to the subject of the sentence they work to reinforce the action. In many cases, the sentence would still make sense without the intensive pronoun.
Intensive pronoun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

    I will do it myself.
    We made this pie ourselves.

Pronouns that refer to myself are I, my, mine, and me.

Write the correct one of these pronouns on each line

1. John used _____ bicycle today.
2. _____ cannot go to the park today.
3. Will you show _____ your new knife?
4. Your knife is larger than _____.
5. _____ expect to get another on _____ birthday.

Pronouns that refer to someone else and myself are us, our, we, and ours.

Write the correct one of these pronouns on each line.

1. Both of _____ may go with Harry.
2. Harry says _____ both may ride a pony.
3. My father asked _____ to rake the leaves.
4. _____ may go when _____ work is finished.
5. It was _____ who did the work in the yard.
6. Mary asked _____ if _____ had brought _____ books.
7. Those books on the shelf are _____.
8. _____ left _____ other books on the table.
9. One of _____ will bring _____ game.
10. _____ both need not bring _____.

Circle the correct pronoun or pronouns in the numbered sentences.

The counseling session attracted many couples. We discussed ways to strengthen the marriage
relationship. 1. The discussion between (they, them) and (we, us) emphasized the need for better
husband-wife communication. 2. Jerry and (I, me) discovered some useful practices.
3. One lady talked about something done by her husband and (she, her). 4. (She, Her) and her
husband spent some time each day talking together. 5. (He, Him) and (she, her) usually sat down for a
chat over a cup of coffee. 6. They never poured out their problems as (he, him) or (she, her) returned from a hard day’s work
The Fujishimas told of their practice. 7. (He, Him) and (she, her) improved their relationship by
doing some things together, away from the children. 8. Akira said, “Time away from the children is good
for (they, them) and (we, us). 9. Miyo and (I,me) got out to a movie and dinner for a drive at least once a
week.”
Possessiveness and jealousy had been a problem for one couple. 10. The other couples and (we,
us) told them that each person had to be an individual. 11. (He, Him) and (she, her) could enjoy a life
together and still have self-fulfillment.
12. (We, Us) couples realized that disagreements must occur between husband and wife. We
learned that a healthy quarrel is preferable to bottling up irritations. 13. During arguments, Jerry and (I,
me) will center our discussion on the problem, not on other issues. 14. (He, Him) and (I, me) are going to
make a real effort to communicate better with each other.

Correct the errors in the following sentences.

1. Tony he plans to attend the nearest university.
2. Most of we boys attend the meetings.
3. I and Jane were nominated for office.
4. The team members they are quite thrilled about their success.
5. Them are my kind of people.
6. Our neighbors were nice enough to deliver the papers for me and Eddie.
7. Us ladies are planning to defeat the men in our company sports this year.
8. The kitten it wouldn’t harm anyone.
9. Are them too large?
10. Them are the shoes to buy if you are looking for comfortable shoes