Pronouns at a glance
I saw her.
Read the rule, inspect the example, then check yourself.
Overview
Pronouns help you avoid repeating nouns, but they must clearly point to the right person or thing.
Pronouns change by role
English uses different forms for subjects, objects, and possession.
- I saw her.
- She saw me.
- This is my book. It is mine.
Main Rules
Choose pronouns by sentence role and make the reference clear.
Subject pronouns do the action
Use I, you, he, she, it, we, they before the main verb.
- They study every evening.
Object pronouns receive the action
Use me, you, him, her, it, us, them after verbs and prepositions.
- The teacher helped us.
- This rule is useful for them.
Patterns
The same person can have several pronoun forms.
Pronoun forms
| Subject | Object | Possessive adjective | Possessive pronoun |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | me | my | mine |
| he | him | his | his |
| she | her | her | hers |
| we | us | our | ours |
| they | them | their | theirs |
Examples
Pronouns should make sentences shorter without making them unclear.
Maria opened her notebook and wrote the answer.
Her refers to Maria.
The rule is difficult, but it is useful.
It refers to the rule.
This book is my.
This book is mine.
Mine is the possessive pronoun; my needs a noun after it.
Common Mistakes
Most pronoun errors are case errors or unclear references.
My friend and me are learning English.
My friend and I are learning English.
Use I in subject position.
I taught me the rule.
I taught myself the rule.
Use myself when the subject and object are the same person.