A pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun. The purpose of using pronouns is to avoid repetition of nouns in both written and spoken language.

Examples: he, she, they, it, his, her, him, its.

Pronouns can be classified into the following types:

  1. Personal Pronouns
  2. Possessive Pronouns
  3. Demonstrative Pronouns
  4. Reflexive Pronouns
  5. Relative Pronouns
  6. Reciprocal Pronouns

A personal pronoun refers to a specific person, object, or group of things directly.

e.g.  He, she, they, you, I, it, him, her, them, me, who, whom etc.

A personal pronoun describes a person or a thing in the following ways.

• 1st Person: (the person who speaks). e.g., I, we, me, us.
• 2nd Person: (the person who is spoken to). e.g., you.
• 3rd Person: (the person who is spoken about). e.g., he, she, they, it, him, them, them.

Subject and Object Forms of Personal Pronouns: Each personal pronoun has two forms such as 'he & him', and 'I & me'. It means a personal pronoun can be used as a subject as well as an object within a sentence:

• Subject form: used as the doer of an action (actor).
• Object form: used as the receiver of an action or which is acted.

Example:

• He is disturbing me.
  Here, “He” is the subject performing the action, and “me” is the object receiving the action or which is acted upon.

Usage of Personal Pronoun:

	Person	Personal Pronouns
		Subject	Object
Singular	1st Person	I	Me
	2nd Person	You	You
	3rd Person	He, She, It	Him, Her, It
Plural	1st Person	We	Us
	2nd Person	You	You
	3rd Person	They	Them

Examples.

• I am eating an apple.
• He is writing a letter.
• She is singing a song.
• We are playing football.
• I am helping him.
• You are disturbing me.
• She is teaching them.
• He gave her some food.

A possessive pronoun describes ownership, possession, or a close relationship with a noun.

e.g., his, her, theirs, yours, mine, ours, etc.

	Person	Possessive Pronouns
Singular	1st Person	My, Mine
	2nd Person	Your, Yours
	3rd Person	His, Hers, Its
Plural	1st Person	Our, Ours
	2nd Person	Their, Yours
	3rd Person	Their, Theirs

Examples.

• This book is yours.
• I like your shirt.
• This laptop is mine.
• That car is hers.
• She has lost her purse.
• He is washing his car.
• This house is ours, not theirs.
• We love our country.
• Since I have lost my books, I need yours.
• This computer is mine, not yours. 

A reflexive pronoun is used when the subject of a sentence performs an action that affects itself.

e.g., himself, herself, yourself, myself, ourselves, themselves, itself.

A reflexive pronoun always acts as an object in sentence. However, they indicate that indicate that the subject and object are basically the same entity.

	Persons	Subjects	Reflexive Pronouns
Singular	1st Person	I	Myself
	2nd Person	You	Yourself
	3rd Person	He, she, It	Himself, Herself, Itself
Plural	1st Person	We	Ourselves
	2nd Person	You	Yourselves
	3rd Person	They	Themselves

Examples.

• She hurts herself.
• She locked herself in a room.
• He introduced himself.
• He is preparing himself for the exam.
• They considered themselves as the happiest people in the world.
• The people at the party were enjoying themselves.
• You must be proud of yourself.
• She was looking to herself in the mirror.

Emphatic Usage: Reflexive pronouns are also used to emphasize the subject of the sentence.

• She repaired the car herself.
• I will speak to him myself.
• I myself was not in favour of this decision.
• He broke the cup himself.

Combined Usage: Sometimes, reflexive pronouns serve both as an object and as emphasis. In such cases, the pronoun is repeated: the first occurrence functions as a normal object of the verb, and the second occurrence emphasizes the subject or the action..

• While thinking about his past actions, he realized that he had done bad to himself himself.
• Sometimes we need to encourage ourselves ourselves when we are faced with problems.

A reciprocal pronoun is used when two or more nouns (subjects or objects) are reciprocating toward each other in some action. In simple words, the reciprocal pronoun is used when two or more nouns act in the same manner toward each other.

Reciprocal pronouns: each other, one another.

• Each other: Used for reciprocation between two entities.
• One another: Used for reciprocation among more than two entities.

Examples.

• Two kids were pushing each other.
• Sara and John help each other in their studies.
• Two boys in the street are quarrelling with each other.
• The people in the flood were helping one another.
• Many cars collided with one another due to fog on the road.
• The people at the party greeted one another.

A relative pronoun is a word used in relation to a noun that modifies (gives more information about) that noun.

Or

A relative pronoun is a pronoun that connects a relative clause to another clause (containing a noun) and provides additional information about that noun. A relative clause is a group of words beginning with a relative pronoun that modifies the noun in the sentence.

e.g., who, whom, whose, which, that, etc.

Example. I saw a man who was crying.

Here, “who” modifies (provide more information about) the noun “man.” It tells us more about the man I saw—specifically, that he was crying. The pronoun “who” also connects the relative clause “who was crying” to the another clause “I saw a man,” which contains the noun “man.”

Examples.

• We met the boy who had won the competition.
• I saw the man who had helped me last year.
• It is the dog that usually barks at night.
• I saw some boys in the street who were playing football.
• This is the book which I like the most.
• They are the people who have come out for the protest.

A demonstrative pronoun points to a specific noun or nouns.

Examples: this, that, these, those, none, neither.

• Short distance (or time): This (singular), These (plural)
• Long distance (or time): That (singular), Those (plural)

Examples.

• This is a book.
• That is a car.
• These are ducks.
• Those are birds.
• Can you see that?
• Can you bring that chair here?