We use pronouns every day. in fact, even if you don’t know what pronouns are, you use them and in this sentence alone, we’ve now used pronouns four times.
Pronouns are words (or phrases) you substitute for nouns when your reader or listener already knows which noun you’re referring to.
For example, you might say, “i have a dog.She’s brown and white.” There’s no need to clarify that you’re describing your dog in the second sentence because you already mentioned her in the first.
By using the pronoun she, you can avoid the annoying repetition of the dog.
Pronouns do a whole lot more than helping us avoid repetitiveness. They provide context, make your sentences’ meanings clearer, and shape how we perceive people and things.
Read on to learn about the different ways we use pronouns and how to use them to construct sentences.
What is a pronoun?
In English grammar, pronouns are a type of generic noun that can represent any other noun. Their job is to make communication faster and more efficient because you don’t have to repeat the same word over and over again. Some pronoun examples include:
- i
- me
- us
- you
- themselves
- who
- that
The Nominative case
The nominative case refers to the pronoun as the subject of the sentence
Here are some nominative pronouns
- i
- he
- she
- it
- you
- we
- they
Examples
- I am a teacher.
- He is a teacher.
- You are teachers.
The Accusative case
The accusative case refers to the pronoun as the object of the sentence
Here are some accusative pronouns
- me
- him
- her
- it
- you
- us
- them
Examples
- He likes me.
- We like her.
- I like them.
...