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A noun is a word that is a person, place or thing: John, Cardiff, table. A pronoun is a word that can be used in place of a noun. Him, there, it. We will start by looking at personal pronouns. Personal pronouns are used in place of a noun that is a person or thing. Forms There are three personal pronouns, and each has a singular and a plural form:
Person
| Singular
| Plural
| | First | I | we | | Second | you | you | | Third | he / she / it
| they |
These pronouns also have another set of forms:
| Person | Singular
| Plural
| | First | me | us
| | Second | you | you | | Third | him / her / it
| them |
As well as personal pronouns, there are many other types: | Pronoun type | Members of the subclass
| | Possessive | mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
| | Reflexive | myself, yourself, himself, herself itself, oneself ourselves, yourselves, themselves | | Reciprocal | each other, one another
| | Relative | that, which, who, whose, whom, where, when
| | Demonstrative | this, that, these, those
| | Interrogative | who, what, why, where, when, whatever
| | indefinite | anything, anybody, anyone, something, somebody,
someone, nothing, nobody, none, no one
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Why are they used? Personal pronouns are useful because you don’t have to repeat the same words. For example: ‘Steve walked slowly down the road because Steve was tired.’ Would be better written if you replaced the second ‘Steve’ with a pronoun: ‘Steve walked slowly down the road because he was tired.’ Possessive pronouns are used to shorten phrases. For example: ‘That car belongs to me’ Can be changed to: ‘That car is mine’ Using pronouns clearly
Because a pronoun refers back to a noun or takes the place of that noun, you have to use the correct pronoun so that your reader clearly understands which noun you are referring to. Therefore, pronouns should: Agree in number - if the pronoun takes the place of a singular noun, you have to use a singular pronoun. Agree in person - If you are writing in the "first person" (I), don't confuse your reader by switching to the "second person" (you) or "third person" (he, she, they, it, etc.). Similarly, if you are using the "second person," don't switch to "first" or "third." Refer clearly to a specific noun - don’t be vague or unclear
Example 1: I crashed my car into a tree, it was badly damaged. What has been ‘badly damaged’ the car or the tree? It is not clear which one ‘it’ is referring to. Instead, make sure the pronoun is clearly relating to one noun: I crashed my car, it was badly damaged when I hit a tree. Example 2: I don’t think they should sell fatty foods to kids. Who are ‘they’? Who sells ‘fatty food to kids’? Instead make sure you are clearly referring to someone: I don’t think fast food restaurants should sell fatty food to kids.
Sources University College London. (1998). Pronouns. [Online] Available at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/nouns/other.htm (Accessed: 12 March 2008) Online Writing Lab. (2004). Using Pronouns Clearly. [Online] Available at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/grammar/g_pronuse.html (Accessed: 12 March 2008)
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