English Grammar: Pronouns

Pronouns — Summary

1. There are five kinds or classes of pronouns in English: personal pronouns, interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and relative pronouns.

2. Personal pronouns indicate by the form whether they refer to the speaker, the person spoken to, or the person or thing spoken of.

3. Interrogative pronouns ask questions.

4. Demonstrative pronouns point out definite persons, places, or things.

5. Indefinite pronouns do not refer to definite persons, places, or things.

6. Relative pronouns join subordinate clauses to their antecedents.

7. Pronouns often function as adjectives. When the personal pronoun functions as an adjective, it is called a possessive adjective because it still shows possession. When the demonstrative pronoun functions as an adjective, it is called a demonstrative adjective because it still retains the pointing out function.

8. When the interrogative pronoun functions as an adjective, it is still the word that asks the question. For that reason, it is called an interrogative adjective. When the indefinite pronoun is used as an adjective, it is generally regarded as a pure adjective, although it may be called an indefinite adjective.

9. The personal pronouns and the pronoun who have special forms to show possession. The following forms, which show possession, are never written with an apostrophe: yours, theirs, ours, whose, hers, its. The possessive forms of the indefinite pronouns are formed by adding the apostrophe and s ('s) in the singular: anybody's, another's, each one's, everybody's, someone's, etc.

10. Contractions should not be confused with the possessive forms of pronouns. It's is a contraction of it is, and who's is a contraction of who is or who has. These forms (contractions) should never be used as the possessive forms of pronouns.