Pronouns

Pronouns are words used in place of nouns or these are the words that are used to replace nouns.

Look at the following sentences.

Asoka was a great king. Asoka ruled in Magadh. Asoka fought the Kalinga war. Asoka won the Kalinga war.
In the above sentences, the noun ‘Asoka’ has been used repetitively. It makes the writing redundant and grammatically wrong.
Now look at the following sentences.

Asoka was a great king. He ruled in Magadh. He fought the Kalinga War. He won the Kalinga war.
In the above sentences, ‘he’ is a pronoun and it has been used in place the noun ‘Asoka’.

Types of pronouns
1. Personal pronoun
2. Relative pronoun
3. Reflexive pronoun
4. Demonstrative pronoun
5. Indefinite pronoun
6. Distributive pronoun
7. Interrogative pronoun

Today, we will learn ‘personal pronoun and reflexive pronoun’.

Personal pronouns: These pronouns refer to first person, second person and third person.

First person: The person who is speaking. It includes ‘I, me, mine, we, us, and ours’.

Second person: The person to whom the first person is speaking. It includes ‘you, yours’.

Third person: The person or thing about which first person and second person are talking. It includes ‘he, she, it, him, his, hers, its, they, them and theirs’.

For an instance, if your mother and you are talking about your brother and you are speaking, then you are first person, your mother is second person and your brother is third person.

Examples,
• He is a nice singer.
• She plays guitar.
• You are my best friend.
• They are coming tomorrow.
• Do you know him?
• This house is ours.

Reflexive pronoun: These pronouns are used when the subject and object of a verb are the same. In other words, these pronouns refer back to a person or thing. These pronouns include ‘myself, himself, herself, themselves, ourselves, etc.’
Examples,
• He hurt himself.
• She looked at herself in the mirror.

Exercise

Spot the pronoun in the following sentences.

1. Raman is the best player that India have ever had.
2. The king wanted his soldiers to fight for him.
3. James himself is responsible for his failure.
4. The house in the red colour is ours.
5. Yours is a big car; mine is a small car.

Identify the type of the underlined pronoun.

6. Many people have offered them help.
7. We can finish the work ourselves.
8. This is the best bike that you can get.
9. She is the topper of our college.
10. Some countries are unable to look after themselves.

Answers

1. That
2. Him
3. Himself
4. Ours
5. Yours, mine
6. Personal pronoun
7. Reflexive pronoun
8. Personal pronoun
9. Personal pronoun
10. Reflexive pronoun