Kinds of Pronoun
Category : 6th Class
There are eight kinds of pronoun. They are the following:
1. Personal Pronoun
2. Demonstrative Pronoun
3. Interrogative Pronoun
4. Reflexive Pronoun
5. Possessive Pronoun
6. Distributive Pronoun
7. Indefinite Pronoun
8. Emphatic or Emphasizing Pronoun.
Personal Pronoun
The pronouns that are used for a person or a thing is called personal pronoun. Personal pronouns are used both as Subject and Object.
In the sentences given above, the words we, you, he, she, they and it are used in the place of nouns. These are personal pronouns.
Demonstrative Pronouns
A demonstrative pronoun identifies and specifies a noun or a pronoun.
There are four demonstrative pronouns. They are: this, that, these, those.
"This" and "these" refer to nouns that are nearby in time or space. "That" and "those" refer to nouns that are further away in time or space. "This" and "that" refer to singular nouns; "These" and "those" refer to plural nouns.
Look at the following sentences:
Note: "This", "that", "these", and those can be used as demonstrative adjectives as well as demonstrative pronouns.
Interrogative Pronouns
An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun that is used in order to ask a question. Some of them refer only to people, like "who" and others refer to people and objects, like "what". They do not distinguish between singular and plural, so they have only one form.
See the following interrogative pronouns:
What, Which, Who, Whose, Whom, Etc.
The word (pronoun) what can be used to ask about objects or people.
The word (pronoun) which can be used to ask about objects or people.
The word (pronoun) who can be used to ask about people
The word (pronoun) whose can be used to ask about a possession relation.
The word (pronoun) whom can be used to ask about people. It is less usual and more formal than "who"
Note: Either "which" or "what" can also be used as an interrogative adjective, and "who," "whom," or "which" can also be used as a relative pronoun.
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are used to indicate that the person who realizes the action of the verb is the same person who receives the action.
I ride the bicycle myself.
We can prepare the report ourselves.
He praises himself for meeting the deadline.
See the following reflexive pronouns:
Subject | Reflexive | |
Singular | I you he she it | myself yourself himself herself itself |
Plural | We You They | Ourselves Yourselves themselves |
Note: Reflexive pronouns always act as objects not subjects, and they require an interaction between the subject and an object.
Shyam and myself are taking the responsibility.
In this sentence, "Shyam" and "myself" are the subjects. Reflexive pronouns cannot be subjects. Therefore, this is not a reflexive pronoun.
The reflexive pronoun can also be used to give more emphasis to the subject or object (intensive pronoun).
I want to emphasize the fact that I did it.
Possessive Pronoun
The pronoun which shows possession is called possessive pronoun.
See the following examples:
The smallest gift is mine. This is yours. Here the possessive pronouns act as a subject complement.
His is on the kitchen counter. Theirs will be delivered tomorrow. Ours is the green one on the corner. Here the possessive pronouns act as the subject of the sentence.
In the sentence given above, mine, yours, his, theirs and ours are used to show possession. So these are possessive pronouns.
Distributive Pronouns
They refer to people or things taken one at a time.
See the following distributive pronouns:
Each, either and neither.
Note: distributive pronoun refers to a single person or Thing at a time so they are always singular and are followed by singular verbs.
Each
Each refers to everyone of a group of persons/things taken separately.
Each of is followed by a plural noun and a singular verb.
Either and Neither
Either and neither can be used only when speaking about two persons or things. Either means one or the other of two. Neither means not one nor the other of two.
When speaking about more than two persons or things any, no one or none should be used.
Indefinite Pronoun
It refers to something that is not definite or specific or exact.
The following are some of the indefinite pronouns:
All, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody, someone.
See the following sentences where indefinite pronouns have been used:
Emphatic or Emphasizing Pronoun
The pronoun which is used to emphasize a noun or a pronoun is called Emphatic or Emphasizing Pronoun.
In the sentence given above, the words myself, ourselves, yourself, himself, herself, themselves, and itself have been used to emphasize either person or thing. These are Emphatic Pronouns.
Personal Pronouns: The pronouns used for a person or a thing.
Demonstrative Pronouns: The pronouns used to point out the object we talk about are called Demonstrative Pronouns.
Interrogative Pronoun: The pronoun which is used to ask a question is called Interrogative Pronoun.
Reflexive Pronoun: A Reflexive pronoun is used to show the effect of the action done by the subject on itself.
Possessive Pronoun: The pronoun which shows possession is called Possessive Pronoun.
Distributive Pronoun: The pronoun which is used as distributer of a person or thing is called Distributive Pronoun.
Indefinite Pronoun: The pronoun which is used to refer to a noun in a general way is called Indefinite Pronoun.
Emphatic or Emphasizing Pronoun: The pronoun which is used to emphasize a noun or a pronoun is called Emphatic or Emphasizing Pronoun.
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