A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or another pronoun. Personal pronouns usually refer to specific people or things. They can be subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they) or object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them).
Subject pronouns and object pronouns are two types of personal pronouns that have different functions in sentences.
- A subject pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) refers to the person or thing that performs an action or is the main focus of the sentence. It usually appears at the start of a sentence, before the verb. For example, “She loves reading books” or “They are going to the park”.
- An object pronoun (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) refers to the person or thing that receives an action or is affected by it. It usually appears after the verb or a preposition. For example, “He gave me a gift” or “She went with them to the movies”.
Here are some more examples of how subject pronouns and object pronouns are used in sentences:
- I saw him at the mall yesterday. (I is a subject pronoun and him is an object pronoun)
- She likes you very much. (She is a subject pronoun and you is an object pronoun)
- We invited them to our party. (We is a subject pronoun and them is an object pronoun)
- They helped us with the project. (They is a subject pronoun and us is an object pronoun)
Here are the basic meanings of the English pronouns in the order of their frequency:
- You: refers to the person or people being addressed.
- It: refers to a thing, an animal, or an idea.
- I: refers to the speaker.
- We: refers to the speaker and one or more other people.
- They: refers to one or more people who are not the speaker or listener.
- He: refers to a male person.
- Them: refers to one or more people who are not the speaker or listener.
- Me: refers to the speaker as the object of a verb or preposition.
- She: refers to a female person.
- Us: refers to the speaker and one or more other people as the object of a verb or preposition.
- Him: refers to a male person as the object of a verb or preposition.
- Her: refers to a female person as the object of a verb or preposition.
Here are the explanations with more meta-language:
- You is a second-person singular or plural pronoun that refers to the person or people being addressed.
- It is a third-person singular neuter pronoun that refers to a thing, an animal, or an idea.
- I is a first-person singular pronoun that refers to the speaker.
- We is a first-person plural pronoun that refers to the speaker and one or more other people.
- They is a third-person plural pronoun that refers to one or more people who are not the speaker or listener.
- He is a third-person singular masculine pronoun that refers to a male person.
- Them is a third-person plural pronoun that refers to one or more people who are not the speaker or listener.
- Me is a first-person singular pronoun that refers to the speaker as the object of a verb or preposition.
- She is a third-person singular feminine pronoun that refers to a female person.
- Us is a first-person plural pronoun that refers to the speaker and one or more other people as the object of a verb or preposition.
- Him is a third-person singular masculine pronoun that refers to a male person as the object of a verb or preposition.
- Her is a third-person singular feminine pronoun that refers to a female person as the object of a verb or preposition.
For example:
- You should eat more fruits and vegetables for your health.
- It was a beautiful day, so we decided to go for a walk.
In this sentence, “it” is a third-person singular neuter pronoun that refers to the weather or the day. It does not have a specific antecedent, but it is understood from the context.
- I am happy to meet you and learn more about you.
- We have a lot in common and we get along well.
- They are my best friends and I trust them a lot.
- He likes to play chess and he is very good at it.
- I invited them to my party and they said they would come.
- Can you help me with this math problem? I don’t understand it.
- She is a great singer and she has a lovely voice.
- He gave us a ride to the airport and we thanked him for his kindness.
- Do you know him? He is the new student in our class.
- I admire her for her courage and determination.
Personal Pronouns and Transitive Verbs
Subject and Object Pronouns
Transitive verbs are important to consider when learning about subject or object personal pronouns because they help you identify the grammatical role and function of the pronouns in a sentence. Depending on whether the pronoun is the subject or the object of a transitive verb, you have to use different forms of personal pronouns. For example, in the sentence “She loves him”, you cannot use he instead of him because he is a subject pronoun and him is an object pronoun. Similarly, in the sentence “He gave her a book”, you cannot use she instead of her because she is a subject pronoun and her is an indirect object pronoun.
Dummy Subjects
Sometimes, we use it or there as a dummy subject when there is no other subject. For example, “It is raining” or “There are many books on the shelf”.
Gendered and Neutral Pronouns
Sometimes, we refer to an animal, a ship, or a country as he, she, or her, especially if they are domesticated, familiar, or feminine. For example, “This is my cat Fluffy. She is very cute” or “Australia is a beautiful country. I love her beaches”.
Some people use gender-neutral pronouns or singular “they” to refer to themselves or others who do not identify with the binary gender categories of male and female. For example, “Alex is my friend. They are very smart”.
We love the English Grammar Profile, however, there are often times when many grammar points should be one grammar point. For example, there are many points dealing with basic pronouns at the A1 level.
1 ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’, ‘we’ and ‘they’ in the subject position before a verb in statements.
I like it here, but I don’t like the name.
2 ‘it’ before ‘be’ to refer to a first-person speaker or writer.
3 ‘it’ as a direct object to refer to an object or situation already referred to.
4 pronouns ‘you’ and ‘it’ after ‘be’ in question forms.
5 ‘me’, ‘you’, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘it’, ‘us’ and ‘them’ in the object position after prepositions.
6 ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘they’ after an auxiliary or modal verb in question forms.
7 ‘me’, ‘you’, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘us’ and ‘them’ in the direct object position after a transitive verb.
An iWeb corpus search for _PP
gives us the following frequency data about personal pronouns:
1 YOU 131195403
2 IT 123808427
3 I 117421355
4 WE 50436220
5 THEY 45648999
6 HE 38611656
7 THEM 21834090
8 ME 16622562
9 SHE 15797745
10 US 10357927
11 HIM 9681861
12 HER 4500048