What is a pronoun?
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or a noun phrase.
Examples of nouns are: Lisa, Frank, Australia, girl, book, happiness
Examples of noun phrases are: the girl, a book, that big dog
For example, here is a sentence with nouns:
- Lisa likes Frank.
With pronouns, this becomes:
- She likes him.
Here is a sentence with noun phrases:
- The girl bought a book.
With pronouns, this becomes:
- She bought it.
What is a subject pronoun?
A subject pronoun tells us who or what does the action.
For example:
- You play tennis. → you is the subject pronoun.
- She likes him. → she is the subject pronoun.
What is an object pronoun?
A object pronoun tells us who or what receives the action.
For example:
- George called me. → me is the object pronoun.
- She likes him. → him is the object pronoun.
What are the subject pronouns in English?
| Person | Subject pronoun | Example |
| 1st person singular | I | I play basketball. |
| 2nd person singular/plural | you | You are funny. |
| 3rd person singular masculine | he | He likes music. |
| 3rd person singular feminine | she | She is working. |
| 3rd person singular non-human | it | It is hot today. |
| 1st person plural | we | We are eating. |
| 3rd person plural | they | They went home. |
What are the object pronouns in English?
| Person | Object pronoun | Example |
| 1st person singular | me | She helped me. |
| 2nd person singular/plural | you | I saw you. |
| 3rd person singular masculine | him | We heard him. |
| 3rd person singular feminine | her | I love her. |
| 3rd person singular non-human | it | Lisa fixed it. |
| 1st person plural | us | They invited us. |
| 3rd person plural | them | George thanked them. |
❗In English we use the same pronouns for direct and indirect objects.
For example:
- George called me. → me is the direct object.
- George gave me the book. → me is the indirect object
Notes:
I/me: We always use these to refer to ourselves in English. We do not use our own name to talk about ourselves.
For example:
– My name is Max. I am a teacher.
NOT:
– My name is Max. Max is a teacher.
you: We only have one way to say you in English. It can be singular or plural. In other words, it can be used to talk to one person or to more than one person.
he/him: We use these for men, boys and male animals, e.g. John, the man.
she/her: We use these for women, girls and female animals, e.g. Anna, the woman. We also sometimes use it for boats and ships.
it: We use this for things, situations, ideas, and animals when we do not know the sex or the sex is not important. We also often use it as a dummy subject, for example: It is raining.
we/us: We use these when we talk about ourselves and another person or other people, e.g. Anna and I/me, my friends and I/me, you and I/me.
they/them: We use these for more than one person, animal or thing, e.g. Anna and John, my friends, the dogs, those books.
❗Common mistakes❗
1. Using me instead of I in compound subjects.
For example:
– John and I went to the party.
NOT:
– Me and John went to the party.
2. Using I instead of me in compound objects.
For example:
– She helps my brother and me.
NOT:
– She helps my brother and I.
Note: Number 1 is common in informal speech in some regional varieties of English. Number 2 is common in informal speech in most varieties of English. Many people would therefore not consider these mistakes, but rather nonstandard structures.