PRONOUNS
Pronouns
Are used to refer to people.
Subjective Personal Pronouns/Subject Pronoun
A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the
sentence.
Examples:
1.When she was a young woman, she earned her living as a coal miner.
2. We will meet at the library at 3:30 p.m.
Objective Personal PronounsMe Us
You Them
Him
Her
It
For example:
She does her work.
Subject
Object
Exercise: 1. He/Him is hiding under the house.
2. What did you say to she/her to make she/her change her mind?
3. I/Me cannot remember meeting he/him before.
4. They/Them are starting to make we/us angry.
5. Why cant they/them be quiet?
6. If you want I/me to help you, all you have to do is ask.
7. Come and see we/us soon.
8. When will we see you/he/she again?
9. He/Him told I/me that he/him was not going to the party.
10. They/Them are angry with we/us because we/us did not meet they/them.
Answer: 1. He/Him is hiding under the house.
2. What did you say to she/her to make she/her change her mind?
3. I/Me cannot remember meeting he/him before.
4. They/Them are starting to make we/us angry.
5. Why cant they/them be quiet?
6. If you want I/me to help you, all you have to do is ask.
7. Come and see we/us soon.
8. When will we see you/he/she again?
9. He/Him told I/me that he/him was not going to the party.
10. They/Them are angry with we/us because we/us did not meet they/them.
A reflexive pronoun shows that when someone or something
affected by an action is the same as the person or thing doing it.
Reflexive Pronouns
The forms of reflexive pronouns
Personal Pronoun Reflexive Pronoun I myself
you (singular) yourself
you (plural) yourselves
he himself
she herself
it itself
we ourselves
they themselves
Examples:
1. She looked at herself in the mirror.
2. He washed himself.
When to use a reflexive pronoun
When the subject and object are the same
I hurt myself.
The band call themselves "Dire Straits".
I bought a present for myself.
As the object of a preposition, referring to the subject
That man is talking to himself.
I'll do it myself. (No-one else will help me.)
When you want to emphasize the subject
They ate all the food themselves. (No-one else had any.)
Exercise: Fill in the blanks in the sentences below, using reflexive forms.1. I went to see for _____ what the college was
like.
2. He wanted to see the place for _____.
3. You should try it _________.
4. We are going to Singapore _________.
5. She turned _______ into a bitter woman.
myself
himself
yourselves
ourselves
herself
Forms of Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives
Person Possessive Adjective
1st singular mine my
2nd yours your
3rd (female) hers her
3rd (male) his his
3rd (neuter) its its
1st plural ours our
3rd plural theirs their
Possessive pronouns
Are used to show ownership and are usually placed at
the end of a sentence.
Example:
This is her house .
This house is hers.
Possessive Pronoun.
Possessive Adjective
Exercise: Underline suitable pronouns.
She was walking back to (her/hers) house when she heard the sound of a
car behind her. It sounded familiar, ‘Wasn’t it (her/hers)? Why was
(her/hers) car not in (it/its/it’s) usual place under the tree?’
She turned around. It was indeed (her/hers) car. But there were two men driving it. Who were they?
WHO, WHOM, WHOSE, WHICH, THAT
To show person
WHO
WHOM
WHOSE
Example:
The student, who won the competition, is my best friend.
To show creatures and things
WHICH
THAT
Example:
The house, which/that looks old
and grey, is haunted.
Exercise:
1. That man, ______ is standing by the fence, is my teacher.
2. The couple, ______ daughter is graduating as a doctor, are my neighbours.
3. To _______ should I give these test papers?
whom
whose
who
4. There was so much talk in the film ______ I was bored to tears.
5. The book _____ has a torn cover is mine.
6. Oh dear! The laptop ____ was on the table is now missing!
7. I know _______ girl in the brown dress.
which
which
that
that
THIS, THAT, THESE and THOSE
We can use this, that, these and those as pronouns. We use one
of these words depending whether the thing we are referring
to is near or far.
Near Far Usually refers to things
Usually refers to people
Can be used when
identifying
people or
saying who
they are
Singular This That This, That
- This, That
Plural These Those These, Those
These, Those
These, Those
Example:
1. This is my father.
2. These are delicious
3. That is fantastic idea. It will surely sell a lot of palm oil.
4. Those are not to be touched.
‘NEAR’ and ‘FAR’ in time:
Present Tense
This
These
Past Tense
Those
When a thing is near/close to you, use:
THIS
Example: This is my handbag
‘NEAR’ and ‘FAR’ in Distance:
When thing is far from you, you use:
That
Example: That is your book.
Exercise: Fill in the blanks below with pronouns. Make sure that the pronoun
agrees with the noun which is being referred to.
1. Mrs Koh lived a hard life. ______ had no money to spend on luxuries.
2. Susan felt very tired. What _______ needed was sleep.
3. I told the man that ____ should forget about doing business here.
She
she
he
4. The walls are now green. ______ have just been painted.
5. Rashid has a Siamese kitten. ____ has blue eyes.
6. I wish the baby would stop crying. ____ kept me up all night.
7. Malaysia is a prosperous country. _____ has a fast-growing economy.
They
It
It
It/She
8. Mangosteens are delicious but, be careful, ______ may stain your clothes.
9. I need to sleep more. _____ am feeling tired.
10.Mr Singh, the lecturer, is late. I don’t think we should wait for _____.
11.The kittens are playing under the house. I hope no one disturbs ________.
they
I
him
them