Pronouns

What are pronouns?

Pronouns represent nouns in a sentence. They are often substituted in when referring to a person, place, or thing. In this lesson, we will go over the different types of pronouns you need to write effectively.

In this lesson, we will be using the terms “subject” and “object” frequently. The difference between these two terms can be slightly tricky. Before we begin, let’s take a quick look at the difference between them.

• Subject refers to the person or thing that is doing something in the sentence. The subject will be what is driving the sentence and carrying out an action.
• The object in a sentence will always have something being done to it.

See the difference?

What are antecedents?

Before we discuss pronouns, it is important to understand antecedents. An antecedent is a noun that goes before a pronoun. The antecedent is often replaced by the corresponding pronoun later in the text to reduce redundancy. Let’s take a look at some examples.

• Example → “My mother really loves animals. She has three cats and two dogs!"

The antecedent in this text is “my mother” and the pronouns that corresponds to this antecedent is “she.”

• Example → “My colleagues love to play cards during lunch. They play cards almost everyday."

Here the antecedent is “my colleagues” and the pronoun is “they.”

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns substitute for a noun or phrase that has already been made clear in a previous sentence. There are four demonstrative pronouns:

• This
• That
• Those
• These

Let’s look at some examples.

• Example → “My mother got me this hat for my birthday. Where do you think she got this?"

Note: “This” is substituted for “hat.”

• Example → “A job such as that would be amazing!"

Note: “That” is ...