What Are Personal Pronouns? (With Examples)
Personal
pronouns represent people or things. The personal pronouns are:
·
I
·
you
·
he
·
she
·
it
·
we
·
they
Subjective Personal Pronouns
The list above
shows the subjective personal pronouns. These are the
versions used for the subjects of verbs. For example:
·
You are happy.
·
They won the league.
Objective Personal Pronouns
The objective personal pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them.
These are the versions used when the personal pronouns are objects (like direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions). For example:
·
Paul knows her.
(The personal
pronoun is a direct object.)
·
Paul gave them the letter.
(The personal
pronoun is an indirect object.)
·
Paul went with him.
(The personal
pronoun is an object of a preposition.)
Choosing Personal Pronouns
Native English
speakers rarely make mistakes when selecting which personal pronoun to use.
However, whether we know it or not, we all select a personal pronoun having
first determined its:
·
Number
Is the personal pronoun representing something singular or
plural?
·
Person
Is the personal pronoun representing something:
In the first person? (This is the speaker himself or a group that includes the speaker, i.e., I, me, we, and us.) In the second person? (This is the speaker's audience, i.e., you.) In the third person? (This is everybody else, i.e., he, she,it, they.)
·
Gender
Is the personal pronoun representing something male, female,
or neuter?
·
Case
Is the personal
pronoun representing something which is a subject or an object?
The Personal Pronouns and Their Possessive Versions
The table below
shows the subjective personal pronouns and the objective personal pronouns.
For completeness, it also shows the associated possessive adjectives and
absolute possessive pronouns.
|
Personal pronouns
|
Possessive adjectives
|
Possessive pronouns
|
Reflexive pronouns
|
Object pronouns
|
I
|
my
|
mine
|
myself
|
me
|
you
|
your
|
yours
|
yourself
|
you
|
he
|
his
|
his
|
himself
|
him
|
she
|
her
|
hers
|
herself
|
her
|
it
|
its
|
its
|
itself
|
it
|
we
|
our
|
ours
|
ourselves
|
us
|
you
|
your
|
yours
|
yourselves
|
you
|
they
|
their
|
theirs
|
themselves
|
them
|
Pronoun
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