What is Pronoun?
A Pronoun is a word used for a noun.
A Pronoun saves the repetition of Noun; as,
Rajesh asked Aditya’s servant to go to his house to bring his raincoat.
Here in both the places the word ‘his‘ stands for Aditya’s, the noun in the possessive case, singular number and masculine gender. The word ‘his‘ is, therefore, a Pronoun.
Note: A Pronoun must be of the same number, gender and person as the Noun it stands for; as,
| Incorrect | Correct |
|---|---|
| Each of the servants got their salary. | Each of the servants got his salary. |
| He is one of those boys who does not do his home-task. | He is one of those boys who do not do their home-task. |
| It is I who is doing my best. | It is I who am doing my best. |
Kinds of Pronouns:
Pronouns fall under two classes, Definite and Indefinite.
Definite Pronouns:
(1) Personal Pronouns– used for the names of persons; as, I, we, you, he, she, my, her, etc.
Personal Pronouns stand for three persons; First Person or the person speaking (I, we, me, us, our, etc.); Second Person or the person spoken to (you, thou, thee, thine, you, etc.); Third Person or the person spoken of(he, she, it, they, him, them, her, etc.).
(2) Reflexive Pronouns– Pronouns of this kind are formed by adding self or selves to the Personal Pronouns of Possessive Case; as, myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, himself, herself, themselves.
(3) Relative Pronouns– These are the Pronouns that stand for the preceding noun or nouns; as, who, which, that, whom, whose, etc.
(4) Interrogative Pronouns– Pronouns of this kind are used in asking questions; as, who? , which? or what?
(5) Demonstrative Pronouns– Pronouns of this kind point to nouns going before them; as, this, that, these, those, such, etc.
Note: When a Demonstrative Pronoun is followed by a Noun; it becomes a Demonstrative Adjective; as,
| Demonstrative Pronoun | Demonstrative Adjective |
|---|---|
| This is my book. | This book is mine. |
| Those are sweet mangoes. | Those mangoes are sweet. |
Indefinite Pronouns:
(1) Indefinite Pronouns– refer to persons or things in a general way but do not stand for particular persons or things; as, one, none, all, each, anybody, nobody, etc.
(2) Distributive Pronouns– are those pronouns which show that the persons or things are taken singular in groups; as, each, every, either, neither, etc.
Examples-
- Each of them was paid his due.
- Neither of them has paid his school fee.
