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Personal Pronouns

The Little Words That Replace Big Names

Personal pronouns are the shortcuts that save you from repeating names like a broken record. Instead of saying "John went to John's house because John forgot John's keys," you can say "He went to his house because he forgot his keys." Much less annoying!

Types of Personal Pronouns:

  • Subject pronouns: Do the action (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)
  • Object pronouns: Receive the action (me, you, him, her, it, us, them)
  • Possessive pronouns: Show ownership (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs)
Person Subject Object Possessive Adjective Possessive Pronoun
1st Singular I me my mine
2nd Singular/Plural you you your yours
3rd Singular (M) he him his his
3rd Singular (F) she her her hers
3rd Singular (N) it it its its
1st Plural we us our ours
3rd Plural they them their theirs

Subject Pronouns - The Doers

Subject pronouns do the action:

  • I love coffee. (I'm doing the loving)
  • You are brilliant. (You're being brilliant)
  • He plays football. (He's doing the playing)
  • She works hard. (She's doing the working)
  • It is raining. (It's doing the raining)
  • We are learning. (We're doing the learning)
  • They are coming. (They're doing the coming)

Object Pronouns - The Receivers

Object pronouns receive the action:

  • She loves me. (I'm receiving the love)
  • I called you. (You're receiving the call)
  • We saw him yesterday. (He's receiving the seeing)
  • They invited her to the party. (She's receiving the invitation)
  • I bought it online. (It's receiving the buying)
  • He told us the truth. (We're receiving the telling)
  • She knows them well. (They're receiving the knowing)

Possessive Forms - Showing Ownership

Possessive Adjective Possessive Pronoun Example Difference
my mine "This is my book" vs "This book is mine"
your yours "Your car is fast" vs "That car is yours"
his his "His house is big" vs "That house is his"
her hers "Her phone is new" vs "That phone is hers"
our ours "Our team won" vs "The victory is ours"
their theirs "Their dog is cute" vs "That dog is theirs"

Special Cases and Tricky Bits

After Prepositions (Use Object Pronouns):

  • "Come with me." (Not "with I")
  • "This is for you."
  • "She sat next to him."
  • "Between you and me..." (Not "between you and I")

In Comparisons:

  • "She's taller than I am." (Formal - complete sentence)
  • "She's taller than me." (Informal - object pronoun)
  • "He works harder than we do." (Formal)
  • "He works harder than us." (Informal)

Don't Be a Plonker - Common Mistakes

❌ Wrong:

  • "Me and John went to the shop." (Use "John and I")
  • "Between you and I..." (Use "between you and me")
  • "This book is your's." (No apostrophe in "yours"!)
  • "The dog wagged it's tail." (Use "its" for possession!)

✅ Right:

  • "John and I went to the shop." (Subject position)
  • "Between you and me..." (After preposition)
  • "This book is yours." (No apostrophe needed)
  • "The dog wagged its tail." (Possessive, no apostrophe)

Practice Exercises (Get Personal!)

Exercise 1: Choose Subject or Object Pronoun

1. love chocolate. (subject)
2. She called yesterday. (object)
3. are going to the cinema. (subject)
4. Can you help ? (object)

Exercise 2: Possessive Adjective or Possessive Pronoun?

1. This is book. (before noun)
2. That book is . (after verb)
3. house is beautiful. (before noun)
4. The red car is . (after verb)

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Brilliant! Now you can use pronouns like a proper native speaker!