Overview
Pronouns serve many different functions within sentences. Some personal pronouns substitute for the nouns they represent. Others introduce dependent clauses, while others are used when asking questions. Remember to make sure that pronouns agree in number, gender, and case with where they appear in the sentence or clause.
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns are used in place of nouns. If the pronoun is to be used in place of the subject of the sentence or clause, the pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, or they are used. If the pronoun is to be used in the place of the object of the sentence or clause, the pronouns me, you, her, him, us, and them are used. Suppose the sentence is “Jane is going to the store.” The pronoun she would be used to substitute for the subject of the sentence, as in “She is going to the store.” However, if the sentence were “Mary is going to the store with Jane,” the pronoun her would be used to substitute for Jane, the object of the preposition with. The sentence would then be “Mary is going to the store with her.”
Reflexive Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns such as myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves are often used for emphasis or to turn the action back on the subject. For example, “I myself printed the letter,” or “The falling trees themselves convinced me to turn back.” However, reflexive personal pronouns are not substitutes for personal pronouns in sentences such as “The books were bought by John and me (not John and myself).”
Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns, such as who, which, what, and that, introduce dependent clauses. They relate the clause to the rest of the sentence. For example, in the sentence, “The person who was hired for the job had experience negotiating contracts,” the clause “who was hired for the job” tells more about the person. Similarly, “The dogs that are in the Seattle Dog Show represent the top in their class.”
Interrogative Pronouns
Pronouns that are used to ask questions are called interrogative pronouns (think of interrogation), such as who, which, and what. For example, “What caused the explosion?,” “Who built the bomb?,” and “Which type of bomb was it?” The only time the pronoun changes case is when the pronoun who is the object of a preposition, and then it changes to whom, as in “For whom was the dagger meant?”
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