What is Personal Pronoun? - Meaning, Types, Rules, Examples and Exercises with Answers

Personal pronouns are words that are simple substitutes for proper nouns that get repeated in a particular context. A personal pronoun indicates the grammatical person, gender, number, and case of the corresponding noun.

Examples of personal pronouns in English:

• They are going to the party.
• You should try the new restaurant.
• The cat is sleeping on its bed.

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According to the Cambridge dictionary, “A word that is used to refer to a person in speech or in writing. For example, the words 'I', 'you', and 'they' are personal pronouns.”

As per Collinsdictionary.com, “A personal pronoun is a pronoun such as 'I', 'you', 'she', or 'they' which is used to refer to the speaker or the person spoken to, or to a person or thing whose identity is clear, usually because they have already been mentioned.”

Examples include:

• The cookies are for us.
• The decision is yours.
• Me and my friend went to the movies.
• She talked to him about the project.

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Personal pronouns are used to replace specific nouns, usually to avoid repetition. They refer to people or things and change form based on person, number, gender, and case. Personal pronouns can be classified into three main types-

1. Subjective Case (used as the subject of a sentence)

The subjective case refers to the form of a pronoun or noun that is used when the word is functioning as the subject of a sentence or clause- that is, the person or thing doing the action. The subjective case is used when a noun or pronoun is the subject of a verb – the one acting.

Person	Singular	Plural
First	I	We
Second	You	You
Third	He. She, It	They

Examples:

• I like coffee.
• She is learning to make coffee.
• They are playing tennis.

2. Objective case (used as the object of a verb or preposition)

 The objective case is used when a noun or pronoun functions as the object in a sentence. That means it receives the action of the verb or comes after a preposition.

Person	Singular	Plural
First	Me	Us
Second	You	You
Third	Him, her, it	them

Examples:

The doctor called me.

He will invite you and them.

He gave the phone to her.

3. Possessive case (shows ownership)

Possessive case personal pronouns show ownership or possession and are used to replace nouns. Unlike possessive adjectives, they are not followed by a noun. These are of two forms:

A. Possessive adjectives

These adjectives show ownership or possession and are placed before a noun. They describe whose things we are talking about like my, your, his, her. Its etc.

List of possessive adjective pronouns:

Person	Singular	Plural
First	My	Our
Second	Your	Your
Third	His, her, its	their

Examples:

• This is my toy.
• Their house is new.
• Your shoes are under the table.

B. Possessive pronouns

These pronouns show ownership and are used in place of a noun. They help avoid repeating the noun already mentioned like mine, yours, his, hers etc.

Person	Singular	Plural
First	Mine	Ours
Second	Yours	Yours
Third	His, hers, its (rare)	Theirs

For example:

• This toy is mine.
• The house is theirs.
• That book is yours.

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Personal pronouns replace specific nouns (people, animals, or things) and must agree with person, number, gender, and case in a sentence. Here are certain rules to follow:

1. Pronouns must match the noun in number and gender.

• Use singular pronouns for singular nouns and plural for plural nouns.
• Match the gender correctly when required.

Examples:

• Maya is a teacher. She teaches Biology.
• My teachers are kind. They always help me.

2. Usage of correct case (Subjective, Objective, Possessive)

Personal pronouns change form based on their role in the sentence. Check the table below for more details:

Role	Examples	Pronouns
Subject	He dances.	I, you, he, she, it, we, they
Object	I like her.	Me, you, him, her, it, us, them
Possession	This is mine.	Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

For example:

• I am learning English.
• We saw him at the store.
• Where is your car?

3. Use reflexive pronouns when the subject and object are the same

Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same person or thing. They end in –self (singular) or –selves (plural).

Examples:

• I taught myself to play the piano.
• We enjoyed ourselves at the party.
• The dog cleaned itself after eating.

(Here, the subject and object are the same animal/person(s))

4. Use correct pronoun case after ‘than’ or ‘as'

When using ‘than’ or ‘as’, it is important to choose the correct pronoun (subjective or objective) based on what’s implied in the sentence. Use subjective case when the pronoun is the subject of a verb. Use objective case when the pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition.

Examples:

• He is taller than I.
• She likes him more than me.
• You are as smart as she.

5. Make pronoun reference clear. Avoid ambiguity.

Clear pronoun is essential to avoid confusing or ambiguous sentences. If a pronoun doesn’t clearly refer to one specific noun, the meaning of the sentence can become unclear or misleading.

For example:

• When Rita spoke to Gita, she seemed upset. (Who is upset- Rita or Gita?)
• Elvis told David that he had won the prize. (Who won – Elvis or David?)
• The book was lying on the sofa, but it was gone later. (What was gone- the book or the sofa?)

Correct usage:

• When Rita spoke to Gita, Gita seemed upset.
• Elvis told David that Elvis had won the prize.
• The book was lying on the sofa, but the book was gone later.

6. Use ‘it’ for things, animals (when gender is unknown), weather, time, distance

For example:

• I bought a phone. It was expensive. (Thing)
• There’s a dog in the garden. It looks hungry. (Animal)
• It is raining heavily today. (Weather)
• It is 9 o’clock. (Time)
• It is 10 km to the nearest market. (Distance)

7. Use ‘they/them’ as a singular gender-neutral pronoun

‘They/them’ are commonly used as a singular gender neutral pronoun when:

• The gender of the person is unknown or irrelevant
• The person prefers ‘they/them’ pronouns
• You are referring to ‘someone’, ‘anyone’, ‘everyone’ etc.

For example:

• Each employee must submit their access card.
• If a student needs help, they should ask the teacher.
• Rita is my friend. They are a graphic designer.

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While personal pronouns generally follow clear rules, certain cases and exceptions can make their usage tricky. Let us list these cases below:

1. Referring singular gender-neutral pronoun as ‘they’

Traditionally, ‘he/she’ was used for singular people, but now ‘they/them’ is accepted widely for unknown or unspecified genders.

For example:

• If anyone calls, tell them I’ll be late.

• Anant said they would call me later.

• Someone left their umbrella here.

2. Misuse of reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns, like myself, yourself, ourselves etc., should only be used when subject and object are the same person or thing.

Incorrect: Myself will handle the meeting.

Correct: I will handle the meeting.

Incorrect: He invited myself to the party.

Correct: He invited me to the party.

Incorrect: Sandy and myself completed the report.

Correct: Sandy and I completed the report.

3. Confusion between Possessive Adjectives vs Possessive Pronouns

Many students get confused between Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns because they both show ownership. But they are used differently in a sentence. The difference can be clearly understood in the table below:

Type	Function	Followed by noun?	Examples
Possessive adjectives	Describes a noun (comes before it)	Yes	My, your, his, her, its, our, their
Possessive Pronouns	Replaces a noun (stands alone)	No	Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

Examples:

Possessive Adjectives:

• This is my cat.

• That is her dress.

• It is our house.

Possessive Pronouns:

• This cat is mine.

• That dress is hers.

• The house is ours.

4. Formal vs Informal Pronoun Usage

In formal English, the subjective case is used more consistently. In the examples below, ‘whom’ is the object, used after verbs or prepositions in formal writing, though ‘who’ is more common in casual speech.

Examples:

• Who is at the door? (correct in both forms)
• Whom are you calling? (In casual speech, ‘who’ is often used in both cases)
• To whom did you give the book? (Formal)

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Pronouns are words that replace nouns to avoid repetition. There are several types of pronouns with different purposes, personal pronoun being one. Let us compare personal pronouns with other types of pronouns below.

1. Personal pronouns vs Possessive pronouns

Personal pronouns and possessive pronouns are closely related as both of them refer to people or things, but they serve different grammatical functions in a sentence. Let us check out their differences below:

Feature	Personal pronoun	Possessive pronoun
Shows	Person (subject or object)	Ownership
Examples	I, you, he, she, it, we they	Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
Usage	·       I like bananas. ·       She saw me. ·       We spoke to her.	·       This pen is mine. ·       The book is yours. ·       That house is theirs.

2. Personal Pronouns vs Reflexive Pronouns

Personal and reflexive pronouns both refer to people or things, but they play different roles in a sentence. Let us break down the difference in the table below clearly:

Feature	Personal pronoun	Reflexive pronoun
Role	Subject or object	Reflects the subject back to itself
Examples	I, you, he, she, it, we they	Myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc
Usage	·       They helped us. ·       She is my friend. ·       Sita helped me with my homework.	·       I hurt myself. ·       She looked at herself in the mirror. ·       They introduced themselves at the meeting.

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Students can find here some effective preparation tips to master the English Personal Pronouns. These will help students especially those preparing for exams or working to improve their writing and speaking skills.

1. Learn the different types of personal pronouns and revise them regularly

Understand the four main nouns:

Subjective: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Objective: me, you, him, her, it, us, them

Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their

Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

Reflexive: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves, ourselves

2. Use real-life sentences

Practice using pronouns in your daily life, while writing and speaking, to make learning more relatable and clear.

Examples:

• I love to eat chocolates.
• She is my teacher.
• Their dog is very friendly.

3. Read books and practice worksheets and quizzes

Use grammar books to get a good hand on using personal pronouns. Get online worksheet, quizzes to practice fill-in-the-blank exercises, error correction tasks, sentence rewriting using correct pronouns etc. Try to practice a little bit every day. Consistency is the key to success.

4. Practice speaking and listening and focus on common mistakes 

Practice talking about yourself or someone else using pronouns, listen to podcasts or watch English shows, and note how pronouns are used naturally. Focus on mistakes made by others and avoid them like mixing up possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns, using reflexive pronouns unnecessarily, using incorrect pronouns after ‘than’ or ‘as’ as explained above etc.

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