Pronouns

Pronouns are words used to avoid the repetition of words. They make your writing more interesting.

Compare the two sentences given below.

• Rahul invited Rahul’s friends to Rahul’s party. Rahul’s friends all came.
• Rahul invited his friends to his party. They all came.

Both sentences mean the same; however, the second sentence sounds much much better than the first one.

There are several different kinds of pronouns. Some of them are:

• Personal pronouns – I, we, he, she, they, you, it
• Possessive pronouns – mine, ours, his, hers, theirs, yours, its
• Demonstrative pronouns – this, that, these and those
• Distributive pronouns – each, every, either and neither
• Reflexive / Emphatic pronouns – myself, himself, herself, itself etc.

Note that many of these words can also be used as adjectives. When they are adjectives, they are followed by nouns.

Compare:

• This is my bag. (Here the demonstrative pronoun this is the subject. It stands alone.)
• This bag is mine. (Here the demonstrative adjective this goes before the noun bag.)
• That is my cat. (Here the possessive adjective my goes before the noun cat.)
• That cat is mine. (Here the possessive pronoun mine stands alone.)

Pronouns worksheet

Fill in the blanks with an appropriate pronoun.

1. I ………………………… painted the walls.
2. She doesn’t know what ………………….. (she / her) is doing.
3. He patted ……………………. on the back. (him / himself)
4. Do you know where ………………………. (they / them) have gone?
5. Why don’t you listen to ………………………..? (I / me)
6. I have great admiration for …………………… (she / her)
7. He helped ………………….. (him / himself) to another serving.
8. We should love ……………………… (us / each other / one another)
9. You had better not get into a fight with ……………………… (they / them)
10. If that is your pen where is ……………………… (me / my / mine)?
11. How long do ………………… (we / us) have to wait for ……………………..(they / them)?
12. Why is …………………… (she / her) late?

Answers

1. myself, 2. she, 3. himself, 4. they, 5. me, 6. her, 7. himself, 8. each other / one another, 9. them, 10. mine, 11. we, them, 12. she