English Comprehension Notes: Pronoun
Definition of Pronoun
- A word is used in place of noun is called Pronoun.
- In order to avoid repetition of a noun in a sentence, pronoun is used.
Kinds of Pronoun
Personal Pronoun
- Personal pronoun stands for the three persons, i.e. – First person, second person and third person.
| Form | First Person | Second Person | Third Person |
| Singular Plural |
I, me We, us |
You You |
He, she, it, his, her, its They, their, them |
| Possessive Adjective/ Dependent Pronoun | Possessive Pronoun/ Independent Pronoun |
| Your Her His It Their |
Yours Hers His Its Theirs |
E.g.: – This is your house. Your is a dependent pronoun as it needs an object to finish the sentence.
E.g.: – This house is yours. Yours is an independent pronoun as it does not need object with it.
Rule: – If all the three persons or two out of three persons come in a single sentence, the order is 231.
E.g.:-You, he and I shall study for the exam.
E.g.: – He and I have finished our work.
E.g.: – You and he have done a great job.
Rule: – If all the three persons or two out of three persons come in a single sentence and some mistake is committed by all the three persons together then, the order is 123.
E.g.: – I, You and he have made a mistake to go for salsa classes.
E.g.: – You and he have done this disobedience.
Rule: – If pronouns are in plural form, then the order should be 123.
E.g.: – We, You and they should now get down at Yamuna metro station.
Rule: – An objective case comes after let, like between…and, but, except and all prepositions.
E.g.: – Let me do this task.
E.g.:-There is no conflict between her and me.
E.g.:-Everybody but her was present for the cooking class.
E.g.:-She laughed at me.
E.g.: – everybody attended the housewarming party except him.
Rule: – If there is a comparison between two nominative cases then the pronoun of the nominative case is used after As/than.
E.g.: – She is as fast as me. – wrong
E.g.: – She is as fast as I. – correct
E.g.: – He runs faster than her. – wrong
E.g.: – He runs faster than she. – correct
E.g.: – I know her as much as him.
Last sentence is correct because it means I know her as much as I know him
Rule: – Sentence starting with ‘It’ and followed by any form of ‘be’ has to be in ‘nominative case’.
E.g.: – It is her who is responsible for this failure. – Wrong
E.g.: – It is she who is responsible for this failure. – Correct
E.g.: – It is he who is going to do a business.
It is basically working as a subject to emphasize noun and pronoun.
Uses Of ‘It’
It is used for non- living things, animals, infants and insects whereas in plural form ‘they’ will be used.
E.g.:-France is a developed country. It is a fully efficient in all terms.
E.g.:-Vasant Kunj and Saket are developed colonies of Delhi. They are facing water crisis.
‘It’ is used to point out time, weather, temperature, distance or any other natural event.
E.g.:- It is summer.
E.g.:- It is 8 o’clock.
E.g.:- It is July.
E.g.:- It is afternoon.
Note: – Since we know ‘It’ is a pronoun hence ‘it’ cannot be placed near noun.
E.g.: – It folder is mine. – Wrong
E.g.: – It is my folder. – Correct
Possessive Pronoun
Pronoun that shows possession.
It includes words such as mine, ours, his, hers, theirs.
| Nominative Case | Possessive Adjective | Possessive Pronoun |
| I We He She It They |
My Our His Her Its Their |
Mine Ours His Hers – Theirs |
Rule: – Possessive pronouns are not used before nouns.
E.g.: – Ours school was closed in summer vacations. (Wrong)
E.g.: – Our school was closed in summer vacations. (Correct)
Note: – I) possessive adjectives are used before nouns.
E.g.: – This is my pen.
II) If noun has already mentioned, possessive pronoun is used to avoid repetition.
E.g.: – This pen is mine.
| Possessive Pronouns | Meaning(Possessive Adjective) |
| Mine Ours Yours His Hers Theirs |
My + Noun Our + Noun Your + Noun His + Noun Her + Noun Their + Noun |
III) ‘His’ is acting as both possessive adjective and possessive pronoun.
IV) ‘It’ is used as possessive adjective and cannot be treated as possessive pronoun.
Rule: – Possessive Pronoun can be treated as subject/object of the verb.
E.g.: – Yours is a new car – correct
Your car is a new car.
E.g.: – She has lost my kit as well as yours.
She has lost my kit as well as your kit.
Rule: – Do not use possessive pronoun with separation, leave, excuse, mention, report, pardon, sight, favor.
E.g.: – Your separation is very painful to her. – Correct
E.g.: – He did make mention of you. – Correct
Reflexive Pronoun
Reflexive pronoun include words such as – myself, yourself, ourselves, themselves, himself, herself, itself, yourselves.
Reflexive Pronoun is used to emphasis personal pronoun.
E.g.: – She herself is the cause of her death.
E.g: – The poor woman poisoned herself and his children.
Rule: – Use Reflexive Pronoun after acquit, avail, reconcile, amuse, resign, avenge, exert, apply, adapt, adjust, pride, absent and enjoy.
E.g.: – The Officers acquitted themselves well during the crisis.
E.g.: – The students exert themselves a lot at the time of examination.
E.g.: – You should avail yourself of this occasion.
Note: – need of reflexive pronoun as below.
They enjoyed the party(noun need of reflexive pronoun)
They enjoyed during vacations(use ‘themselves’ after ‘enjoyed’)
If ‘enjoyed’ is followed by an object, do not use a reflexive pronoun, but if the object is not mentioned, we use a reflexive pronoun.
Also read about Noun as it is a vital part of Speech
Note: – Look at the examples.
1. He was absent – correct
2. He absented herself – correct
If absent is used as a verb, a reflexive pronoun is used.
Rule: – Keep, stop, turn, qualify, bathe, move, rest & hide do not take a reflexive pronoun after them.
E.g.:-You should keep yourself away from bad boys.
E.g.: – the hid himself in the room
Rule: – Reflexive pronoun cannot be used as a subject/object of a sentence unless a noun/pronoun comes before it.
E.g.: – I myself did this work.
E.g.: – Rohit will do the work for myself. – Wrong
E.g.: – Rohit will do the work for me. – Wrong
Distributive Pronoun(Singular Pronoun)
Used for individuals & objects referring to them as one at a time.
Such as, neither, each, every, none, anyone etc.
- Each – is always used for two or more than two.
- Every – is always used for more than two only.
- Either- are always used for only two.
- Neither – are always used for only two.
- Anyone – are always used for more than two
- None – are always used for more than two
Rule: – Either of these 3 friends is naughty (incorrect)
Either of these two pains is blue (correct)
E.g.:- One of these friends is naughty.
E.g.:- Neither is the two girls is active.
E.g.:- None of his 4 sons looked after him.
E.g.:- Every of the 6 volunteers have shown unique skill. – Incorrect
E.g.:- Each of the 6 volunteers has shown unique skill. – Correct
Note: – New born babies, infant use ’its’ rather than his/her. Bees, fly, mosquitoes, temp, sound weather use ‘its’ for these words.
E.g.: – The chilling weather & its consequences.
E.g.: – It’s winter.
E.g.: – It’s 6 o’clock.
E.g.: – It’s morning.
Note: – With collective noun use always ‘it’s’ because collective noun is always treated as non-living.
Reciprocal Pronoun
Words use to point out mutual relationships such as each other, one another etc.
E.g.: – Both of the brothers love each other.
E.g.: – Indian should not fight with one another.
E.g.: – The thief was so afraid that his knees knocked one another.
Demonstrative Pronoun
Used to point out toward noun/nouns.
It consist of this, that, these, those, such, the same.
E.g.: – This is my car.
“This” denotes demonstrative pronoun in above example. Since “This” followed by verb therefore acting as pronoun.
E.g.: – This car is mine.
“This” denotes demonstrative adjective in above example. Since “This” followed by a noun and that is how it qualifies noun and acting as adjective.
They are also used before nouns. In such case they are called as demonstrative pronoun adjective.
Relative Pronoun
Words used for nouns to show them ‘relating to such as who, which, that, whose, whom etc.
E.g.: – Ram is talking to you who has a good knowledge of literature.
| Noun/Pronoun + Who + Verb | |
| Who Whom Whose Which That |
Is always used for persons(as a subject). Is always used for persons (as a object). Is always used for possessive case(used for all). Is always used for non-living and animals. Is used in place of who and which. |
Examples of Relative Pronoun
- In some of the towns there is a scarcity of water which occurrence repeatedly has defeated the system. – Wrong
- In some of the towns there is a scarcity of water whose occurrence repeatedly has defeated the system.- Correct
- It’s your hope which presence makes your life meaningful. – Wrong
- It’s your hope whose presence makes your life meaningful. – Correct
- I saw a tusker whom half tusk was broken. – Wrong
- I saw a tusker whose half tusk was broken. – Correct
- The police caught the gang of robbers who were planning to rob. – Wrong
- The police caught the gang of robbers which was planning to rob. – Correct
- We have concluded some methods whose derive our previous equation. – Wrong
- We have concluded some methods whose derive our previous equation.- Correct
- Have you seen a building which includes hundred floors? – Correct
Rule: – If a Noun + Relative Pronoun(whose) + Noun
Then, relative pronoun must be whose.
Rule: – If a Collective noun + Relative pronoun + Verb
Then, relative pronoun must be which.
Examples For whom and which
1. Jawahar was an honorable man who they thought had parted the nation. – Correct
Subject no.1 – Jawahar
Helping verb no.1 – was
Subject no.2 – who
Helping verb no.2 – had
Subject no.3 – they
Helping verb no.3 – thought
2. She is a hardworking girl whom we supported has qualified the exam.- Wrong
She is a hardworking girl Who we supported has qualified the exam. – Correct
Subject no.1 – she
Helping verb no.1 – is
Subject no.2 – who
Helping verb no.2 – has
Subject no.3 – we
Helping verb no.3 – supported
3. Everybody greets Vishal who she treats a terrorist – Wrong
Everybody greets Vishal whom she treats a terrorist – Correct
Subject no.1 – Everybody
Helping verb no.1 – greets
Subject no.2 – she
Helping verb no.2 – treats
4. You can defeat Ashish whom has defeated everyone – Wrong
You can defeat Ashish who has defeated everyone – Correct
Subject no.1 – You
Helping verb no.1 – can
Subject no.2 – who
Helping verb no.2 – has
5. Raman is your very good friend whom everyone can trust.- Correct
Subject no.1 – Raman
Helping verb no.1 – is
Subject no.2 – everyone
Helping verb no.2 – can
6. They hate everything and everybody who reminds them of their past life.- Wrong
They hate everything and everybody that reminds them of their past life. – Correct
7. Everything stands for non-living things and everybody stands for persons.
8. It is a fact that all the humans and all the animals which are present there can’t be my friend – Wrong
9. It is a fact that all the humans and all the animals that are present there can’t be my friend.-Correct
Rule: – Number of subjects must be equal to number of helping verbs.
Note: – By placing who subject increases and by placing whom subject decreases.
Rule: – Who + Which = That
Use ‘that’ when which and who are equally required in a sentence.
Rule: – Words like everything, the only, nothing, any, all, everyone, none, no, nobody, much, little, the few, the little will take ‘that’ after them.
E.g.: – My father has given me everything that I needed.
E.g.: – This is the only pen that I bought yesterday.
E.g.: – My wife has spent the little money that I gave her.
Rule: – Sense of repetition also use ‘that’.
E.g.: – This could be the highest peak that you can reach.
E.g.: – The only help that you can give me is your time.
E.g.: – He is the man that helped me yesterday.
Indefinite Pronoun
Words used for noun in vague or general meaning such as everybody, somebody, nobody, anybody, everybody, someone, no one, anyone, everything, something, nothing, anything, all, some, any, both, another, much, few, little.
Rule: – If one is used as the subject, nominative case ‘one’ and objective pronoun – ‘oneself’ is used.
E.g.: – One should do one’s duty oneself.
E.g.: – One should keep one’s promise.
E.g.: – She hardly talks to everyone in the class.- Wrong
She hardly talks to anyone in the class.- Correct
Hardly – gives negative sense
Rule: – Hardly, Scarcely, rarely, very rare, seldom – all such words give negative sense. So these words use anyone as an objective pronoun.
E.g.: – They haven’t tried every competition in their life. – Wrong
They haven’t tried any competition in their life. – Correct
E.g.: – Who is a better of the two? – Wrong
Which is a better of the two? – Correct
Note: – In case of selection – use which.
E.g.: – Oneself can do one’s better than others – wrong
One can do one’s better than others – correct
Oneself is a reflexive pronoun which can be placed as a subject or object in a sentence.
Interrogative Pronoun
Words used for asking questions are called interrogative pronouns.
Such as who, which, whom, whose, etc.
E.g.: – what do you do for living?
E.g.: – Whom do you think could qualify for Olympics?
Rule: – Preposition + whom can be used but not preposition who.
E.g.: – By whom was the Mahabharata written?
E.g.: – Who was the Ramayana written by?
Note: – If preposition is used at the end of the sentence, then who comes at the beginning of the sentence.
These notes have been provided by Plutus Academy.
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