Learn Pronouns as Part of Speech for Bank & SSC Exams - English Notes in PDF Are you preparing for Banking or SSC Exams? If you aim at making a career in the government sector & get a reputed job, it is very important to know the basics of English Language. To score maximum marks in this section with great accuracy, it is important for you to be prepared with the basic grammar & vocabulary. Here we are with a detailed explanatory article on Pronouns as Part of Speech with relevant examples. So, read the article carefully & then take our Online Mock Tests to check your level of preparation. Before moving ahead with Pronouns, let s have a look at what are parts of speech in brief: Parts of Speech Parts of speech are the basic categories of words according to their function in a sentence. It is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions. English has eight main parts of speech, namely, Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions & Interjections. In grammar, the parts of speech, also called lexical categories, grammatical categories or word classes is a linguistic category of words. Pronouns as Part of Speech 1
Pronouns as part of speech are the words which are used in place of nouns like people, places, or things. They are used to avoid sounding unnatural by reusing the same noun in a sentence multiple times. In the sentence Maya saw Sanjay, and she waved at him, the pronouns she and him take the place of Maya and Sanjay, respectively. The other examples of pronouns are I, you, she, her, it, everyone, somebody, hers, theirs, etc. Types of Pronouns as Part of Speech 1. Personal Pronouns: Personal pronouns are used for the first person (the speaker - I) and the second person (the person spoken to - you). We use he, she, it and they to refer to other people and things (third person) when it is clear from the context what we are referring to. Hina isn t coming with us. She has to finish homework. Like nouns, pronouns can function as subjects as well as objects. Additionally, there is a possessive case. As the name implies, it marks possession of a personal pronoun. The possessive case can further be divided into two as follows: Possessive determiners: They function grammatically like adjectives, modifying a noun or nouns. However, they cannot function as nouns in a sentence. My father s house is being sold off. (My modifies father to show his relation to the speaker.) Possessive Pronouns: They are personal pronouns in the possessive case which have the grammatical function of nouns. Those shoes are mine. 2
Consider the following: Those goods are my. (incorrectly used possessive pronoun) Those are my goods. (correctly used possessive determiner) Those goods are mine. (correctly used possessive pronoun) Forms of Personal Pronouns as Part of Speech: 1 st person singular 2 nd person singular 3 rd person singular 3 rd person impersonal 1 st person plural 2 nd person plural 3 rd person plural Subject/ Nominative Object Possessive Determiners Possessive Pronouns I Me My Mine You You Your Yours He/ She Him/ Her His/ Her His/ Hers It It Its We Us Our Ours You You Your Yours They Them Their Theirs 2. Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns: 3
We use a reflexive pronoun as object of the verb when it refers to the same thing as the subject. Reflexive pronouns are formed by adding -self (singular) or -selves (plural) to the end of my, your, our, him, her, it or them (as well as the indefinite pronoun one). I treated myself with a cookie. She imagined herself as the heroine of the movie. They introduced themselves to the captain of the team. One should conduct oneself properly. Pronoun Reflexive Pronoun He/ Her/ Himself/ It Herself/ Itself They Themselves I Myself You Yourself We Ourselves One Oneself *Exceptions: Transitive verbs like keep, stop, bathe, turn, rest qualify, hide, etc. do not use reflexive pronouns. Consider the following: 4
Incorrect - You should keep yourself away from intoxicating substances. Correct - You should keep away from intoxicating substances. Incorrect - He qualified himself in the competitive exams. Correct - He qualified in the competitive exams. Singular and Plural forms of Personal and Reflexive Pronouns as Part of Speech: Singular Plural He, she, it They Him, her, it Them His, her, Their, hers, it theirs Himself, Themselves herself, itself 3. Demonstrative Pronouns: They are used to indicate specific people or things and signify whether they are singular/plural and whether they are close or far from the speaker. Some of the demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these and those. Consider the following examples: This is my pen. (Singular + close by) Fetch me that. (Singular + not close) 5
These are really tasty. (Plural + close by) I want those books right now. (Plural + not close) 4. Indefinite Pronouns: The Indefinite Pronoun is used in place of a noun that is not being specified in the sentence. They are used depending upon whether the nouns being represented are person or thing and whether the noun is singular or plural. Some of the indefinite pronouns are any, somebody, none, whatever, all & many. Somebody is knocking at the door. (Person + Singular) None of these apples are rotten. (Thing + Plural) 5. Distributive Pronouns: They are the pronouns in which members of a group are considered separately, rather than collectively. Some of the distributive pronouns are each, every, neither, etc. Each ate his own apple. (Pronoun) Each boy ate his own apple. (Determiner) 6. Reciprocal Pronouns: 6
These pronouns are used when two or more people act as the subject of a verb and both individually and equally receive the verb s action. Some of the reciprocal pronouns are each other, one another, etc. Mary and I love each other. 7. Relative Pronouns: These are used to connect relative clauses (or adjective clauses) to the main clause in a sentence. Some of the relative pronouns are who, which, what, whose, etc. There s the man who extorted money from me. The letter that I wrote has reached its destination. 8. Interrogative Pronouns: The Interrogative Pronouns are used to ask questions. There are only five of these which are Who, whose, whom, which & what. Who is your class teacher? Rules to use Pronouns as Part of Speech and Tips to Remember them: Use a subject pronoun, not only as the subject of a sentence but after to be verbs (is, are, was, were, will be, maybe, may have been, etc.) when the pronoun renames the subject. Do not use object pronouns following to be verbs. 7
Examples - 1. She is my wife (She is the subject, therefore use subject pronoun after to be verb) 2. It is me who whispered. (Incorrect as me is an objective pronoun and should not come after to be verb is ) It is I who whispered. (Correct as I should come after to be verb and renames the subject it. Therefore, use subject pronoun.) 3. Incorrect - It could have been them. Correct - It could have been they. When who refers to a personal pronoun (I, you, he, she, we, they), it takes the verb that agrees with that pronoun. Examples - 1. It is I who am wrong. (Correct: I am) It is I who is wrong. (Incorrect) 2. It is you who are right. (Correct: you are) It is you who is right. (Incorrect) Use an object pronoun when the pronoun is the direct object, the indirect object, or the object of the preposition. 1. Maya met him at the stadium. (Him is the direct object.) 2. Maya will give him his watch back. (Watch is the direct object and him is an indirect object.) 8
3. He eats with them. (Correct: them is the object of the preposition with) He eats with they. (Incorrect) The objective pronoun is used after 'Let. Let we leave. (Incorrect) Let us go. (Correct) Let they enjoy. (Incorrect) Let them enjoy. (Correct) Difference between 'my' & 'mine': 'My' is used before the noun and 'mine' is used after the noun. This is my book. This book is mine Difference between 'your' and 'yours': 'Your' is used before the 'noun' and yours' used after the ' noun'. This is your pen. This pen is yours. 9
Singular pronouns (I, he, she, everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, no one, nobody, someone, somebody, each, either, neither, etc.) require singular verbs. This rule is frequently overlooked when using the pronouns each, either, and neither, followed by of. These three pronouns always take singular verbs. Each of the women knits well. Either of us is capable of doing the job. Neither of them is available to speak right now. Reflexive pronouns are used when both the subject and the object of a verb are the same person or thing. Jai bought the car for himself. They saw me being myself. My sister and myself painted it. (Incorrect) My sister and I painted it. (Correct) Please call Priya or myself. (Incorrect) Please call Priya or me. (Correct) Now that you have read the Pronouns as Part of Speech, know more about the other five parts of speech by clicking on the button below: Learn Adjectives as Part Learn Nouns as Part of 10
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