personal pronouns

Meanings

1. 1nounpluraltechnical

   pronouns such as I, you, he, she, it, we, and they that refer to specific people or things and change form for subject or object.

   Grammar: Always plural; use 'personal pronoun' for one word. Takes a plural verb: Personal pronouns are easy to learn.

   Patterns

   • subject personal pronouns
   • object personal pronouns

   In English, personal pronouns change depending on whether they are the subject or the object.

   'I', 'you', 'he', 'she', 'it', 'we', and 'they' are subject personal pronouns.

   The teacher asked us to underline all the personal pronouns in the paragraph.

2. 2nounpluraltechnical

   the class of words used to refer to the speaker, the person spoken to, or other people or things without naming them again.

   Grammar: Often used in grammar lessons: Learn the personal pronouns before you study possessive pronouns.

   Patterns

   • use personal pronouns
   • list of personal pronouns

   Children learn personal pronouns like 'me' and 'you' very early.

   The exercise asks you to replace the nouns with personal pronouns.

Word forms

Common combinations

subject personal pronouns

Subject personal pronouns are used before the verb.

object personal pronouns

Object personal pronouns come after the verb or preposition.

use personal pronouns

Try to use personal pronouns to avoid repeating the noun.

list of personal pronouns

The book has a list of personal pronouns in the appendix.

Synonyms and how they differ

pronouns

A broader term that includes possessive, reflexive, and demonstrative pronouns; 'personal pronouns' is more specific.

Word family

pronoun noun

A word that replaces a noun or noun phrase.

Commonly confused: personal pronouns or possessive pronouns?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “personal pronouns”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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