Pronouns are words that replace nouns to avoid repetition and make sentences smoother. The table below lists different types of pronouns along with examples and example sentences to show how each type is used in context.
| Pronoun | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | Personal – subjective (1st person singular) | I am learning to code. |
| you | Personal – subjective (2nd person singular/plural) | You seem ready. |
| he | Personal – subjective (3rd person singular) | He runs every morning. |
| she | Personal – subjective (3rd person singular) | She loves books. |
| it | Personal – subjective (3rd person singular, nonhuman/abstract) | It is raining. |
| we | Personal – subjective (1st person plural) | We will help you. |
| they | Personal – subjective (3rd person plural or singular, gender-neutral) | They are on their way. |
| me | Personal – objective (1st person singular) | The teacher saw me. |
| you | Personal – objective (2nd person singular/plural) | I called you. |
| him | Personal – objective (3rd person singular) | We met him yesterday. |
| her | Personal – objective (3rd person singular) | I thanked her. |
| it | Personal – objective (3rd person singular, nonhuman/abstract) | Keep it safe. |
| us | Personal – objective (1st person plural) | They invited us. |
| them | Personal – objective (3rd person plural or singular, gender-neutral) | I texted them. |
| my | Possessive determiner (dependent) | This is my bag. |
| your | Possessive determiner (dependent) | Is that your car? |
| his | Possessive determiner (dependent) | We saw his idea in action. |
| her | Possessive determiner (dependent) | Her project was selected. |
| its | Possessive determiner (dependent) | The cat licked its paws. |
| our | Possessive determiner (dependent) | Our team won. |
| their | Possessive determiner (dependent) | Their house is nearby. |
| one’s | Possessive determiner (generic) | It’s wise to know one’s limits. |
| whose | Possessive determiner (interrogative/relative) | Whose keys are these? |
| mine | Possessive pronoun (independent) | That seat is mine. |
| yours | Possessive pronoun (independent) | Is this book yours? |
| his | Possessive pronoun (independent) | The umbrella is his. |
| hers | Possessive pronoun (independent) | The decision was hers. |
| ours | Possessive pronoun (independent) | Victory is ours! |
| theirs | Possessive pronoun (independent) | The fault was theirs. |
| whose | Possessive pronoun (interrogative/relative) | Whose is this? |
| myself | Reflexive/Intensive | I taught myself guitar. |
| yourself | Reflexive/Intensive (singular) | You should be proud of yourself. |
| himself | Reflexive/Intensive | He prepared himself well. |
| herself | Reflexive/Intensive | She blamed herself. |
| itself | Reflexive/Intensive | The door shut itself. |
| ourselves | Reflexive/Intensive | We organized it ourselves. |
| yourselves | Reflexive/Intensive (plural) | You should enjoy yourselves. |
| themselves | Reflexive/Intensive | They introduced themselves. |
| themself | Reflexive/Intensive (singular, gender-neutral; emerging) | Each student can register themself. |
| oneself | Reflexive/Intensive (generic) | It is important to care for oneself. |
| this | Demonstrative (near, singular) | This is delicious. |
| that | Demonstrative (far, singular) | That was unexpected. |
| these | Demonstrative (near, plural) | These are my notes. |
| those | Demonstrative (far, plural) | Those look heavy. |
| who | Relative pronoun | The scientist who discovered it won an award. |
| whom | Relative pronoun (objective case) | The person whom you met is my mentor. |
| whose | Relative pronoun (possessive) | The author whose book I read is brilliant. |
| which | Relative pronoun (non-human; also non-restrictive) | The car, which I bought last year, is electric. |
| that | Relative pronoun (restrictive) | The article that I mentioned is here. |
| whoever | Indefinite relative pronoun | Whoever arrives first should check in. |
| whomever | Indefinite relative pronoun (objective) | Give this to whomever you choose. |
| whichever | Indefinite relative pronoun | Take whichever suits you. |
| whatever | Indefinite relative pronoun | Do whatever seems best. |
| who | Interrogative pronoun | Who called you? |
| whom | Interrogative pronoun (objective) | Whom did you see? |
| whose | Interrogative pronoun (possessive) | Whose is this? |
| which | Interrogative pronoun (specific set) | Which is your car? |
| what | Interrogative pronoun (open set) | What happened? |
| whoever | Interrogative/exclamative (informal) | Whoever could that be? |
| whomever | Interrogative (rare) | Whomever did you mean? |
| all | Indefinite pronoun (variable number) | All are welcome. |
| another | Indefinite pronoun | Could I have another? |
| any | Indefinite pronoun | Any will do. |
| anybody | Indefinite pronoun (person) | Anybody can join. |
| anyone | Indefinite pronoun (person) | Anyone may apply. |
| anything | Indefinite pronoun (thing/idea) | Anything is possible. |
| both | Indefinite pronoun (two items) | Both were late. |
| each | Indefinite/distributive pronoun | Each was assigned a role. |
| either | Indefinite/distributive pronoun (one of two) | Either is fine. |
| neither | Indefinite/distributive pronoun (none of two) | Neither was correct. |
| enough | Indefinite pronoun (quantity) | Enough has been said. |
| everybody | Indefinite pronoun (person) | Everybody laughed. |
| everyone | Indefinite pronoun (person) | Everyone agreed. |
| everything | Indefinite pronoun (thing/idea) | Everything is ready. |
| few | Indefinite pronoun (small number) | Few know the truth. |
| a few | Indefinite pronoun (small number) | A few were missing. |
| fewer | Indefinite pronoun (comparative number) | Fewer were present this year. |
| many | Indefinite pronoun (large number) | Many were invited. |
| more | Indefinite pronoun (comparative quantity) | More is needed. |
| most | Indefinite pronoun (majority) | Most were satisfied. |
| much | Indefinite pronoun (large amount, noncount) | Much has changed. |
| none | Indefinite pronoun (zero quantity) | None were available. |
| no one | Indefinite pronoun (person) | No one knew the answer. |
| nobody | Indefinite pronoun (person) | Nobody objected. |
| nothing | Indefinite pronoun (thing/idea) | Nothing was left. |
| one | Indefinite/generic pronoun | One should be careful. |
| ones | Indefinite pronoun (plural of ‘one’) | These are the cheap ones. |
| other | Indefinite pronoun | One is blue; the other is red. |
| others | Indefinite pronoun (plural) | Others disagreed. |
| the other | Indefinite pronoun (specific of two) | I’ll take the other. |
| the others | Indefinite pronoun (rest of group) | The others arrived later. |
| several | Indefinite pronoun (more than two) | Several were chosen. |
| some | Indefinite pronoun (unspecified quantity) | Some were missing. |
| somebody | Indefinite pronoun (person) | Somebody knocked. |
| someone | Indefinite pronoun (person) | Someone called. |
| something | Indefinite pronoun (thing/idea) | Something seems off. |
| such | Indefinite pronoun | Such are the risks. |
| each other | Reciprocal pronoun (two people/things) | They helped each other. |
| one another | Reciprocal pronoun (two or more) | The teams respect one another. |
| it | Dummy (expletive) subject | It seems there’s a mistake. |
| there | Dummy (existential) subject | There is a problem. |
| thou | Personal – subjective (2nd person singular; archaic) | Thou art kind. |
| thee | Personal – objective (2nd person singular; archaic) | I give thee thanks. |
| thy | Possessive determiner (2nd person singular; archaic) | Thy will be done. |
| thine | Possessive pronoun/determiner (2nd person singular; archaic) | This book is thine. |
| ye | Personal – subjective (2nd person plural; archaic/Irish) | Ye are welcome. |
| you all / y’all | Personal – 2nd person plural (dialectal) | Y’all are invited. |
| youse / yous | Personal – 2nd person plural (dialectal) | Youse can wait here. |
| you guys | Personal – 2nd person plural (colloquial) | You guys did great. |
| ze / hir | Neopronoun set (subject/object/possessive determiner/possessive pronoun/reflexive: ze/hir/hir/hirs/hirself) | Ze finished hir work; that book is hirs. |
| xe / xem | Neopronoun set (xe/xem/xyr/xyrs/xemself) | Xe asked xem to send xyr notes. |
| ey / em | Neopronoun set (ey/em/eir/eirs/emself) | Ey told em the plan was eirs. |
| fae / faer | Neopronoun set (fae/faer/faer/faers/faerself) | Fae shared faer ideas; the choice is faers. |
| per / per | Neopronoun set (per/per/pers/pers/perself) | Per project won; that victory is pers. |
| same | Indefinite pronoun (elliptical) | I’ll have the same. |
| none other | Indefinite pronoun (fixed expression) | It was none other than her. |
| the former | Indefinite pronoun (anaphoric) | Of tea and coffee, I prefer the former. |
| the latter | Indefinite pronoun (anaphoric) | Of Paris and Rome, the latter is older. |
