Pronouns are the words that replace nouns. They are the words used in place of nouns and nouns clauses. However, most candidates are unaware of the errors committed by them while using pronouns in everyday communication. Thus, a lot needs to be learnt on grammatically correct usage of pronouns from the perspective of standard written English.
Language experts teaching at the Centre for Best SSC Coaching in East Delhi have provided over here a ready reckoner that will help you understand pronouns thoroughly and spot errors pertaining to them.
Types of Pronouns
A. Personal Pronouns
They are used to represent specific people or things. The 1st Person represents the person who speaks. The 2nd Person represents the person who is spoken to and the 3rd Person represents the person who is spoken of / about.
Person | Subjective Case | Objective Case | Possessive Case |
First Person (Singular) | I | Me | Mine |
First Person (Plural) | We | Us | Ours |
Second Person (Singular) | You | You | Yours |
Second Person (Plural) | You | You | Yours |
Third Person (Singular) | He / She / It | Him / Her / It | His / Hers / Its |
Third Person (Plural) | They | Them | Theirs |
B. Demonstrative Pronouns
They are the pronouns that point out an intended referent. This and that are singular demonstrative pronouns, whereas these and those are plural.
C. Indefinite Pronouns
They don’t refer to any specific person or thing. Indefinite pronouns are vague and not defined. Each, every, either, neither, everybody, everyone, somebody, someone, one etc. are examples of indefinite pronouns.
D. Emphatic / Intensive Pronouns
Emphatic pronouns consist of a personal pronoun with ‘self’ or ‘selves’ as the suffix. Intensive or emphatic pronouns emphasize / highlight a noun. Myself, yourself, himself, herself, themselves, ourselves etc. are examples of such pronouns. These pronouns are also used as reflexive pronouns.
E. Interrogative Pronouns
These pronouns are used for asking questions (interrogation). Hence, they are known as interrogative pronouns. What, which, who, whom, and whose are examples of interrogative pronouns. But, these pronouns are also used as relative pronouns.
F. Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are those that connect a clause or a phrase to a noun or a pronoun. Examples of relative pronouns include who, whom, which, that, whoever, whomever, whichever etc.
G. Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns have the same forms as emphatic pronouns. They reflect the action onto the antecedent. Thus, the action is reflected upon the subject where it starts from. Myself, yourself, himself, herself, themselves, ourselves etc. are examples of reflexive pronouns.
Rule – I: After the It-clause, subjective case should be given preference to objective case. It-is, It-was and It-will-be are the “It-clause” of Present, Past and Future time respectively. Subjective case can be used in place of the subject of a sentence. Similarly, objective case can substitute the object of a sentence.
Usage:
Rule – II: The subject of a sentence can be compared with the subjective case, not the objective case.
Usage:
Rule – III: After a preposition, preference should be given to the objective case, not the subjective case.
Rule – IV (A): The order of preference of grammatical persons is: 231 (2nd, 3rd & 1st)
Rule – IV (B): In case of a sentence expressing blame, responsibility or some wrongdoing, the order of grammatical persons becomes: 123 (1st, 2nd & 3rd)
Rule – V: Indefinite pronouns are singular in nature. They agree with singular forms of verbs and possessive adjectives.
Rule – VI: In case of correlative conjunctions such as either-or, neither-nor, not only-but also etc., the verbs and possessive adjectives used must agree with the closer subject.
Rule – VII: Before a gerund (V1+ing form acting as a noun), preference must be given to the possessive case and not subjective or objective cases.
Rule – VIII: Each other and one another are reciprocal pronouns. Each other refers to two persons or things. However, one another must be used in the context of more than two persons or things.
Rule – IX: ‘Who’ and ‘whom’ must be used keeping in mind that ‘who’ is the subjective case and ‘whom’ is the objective case.
Rule – X: Objective case should be used as an object of the verb. Subjective case can’t function as the object of a verb.
Now that you have gone through the concepts described above, you know how to use pronouns. However, this will not be adequate in itself. What you further require is ample practice on quality study material such as that provided by the Institute for Top Bank PO Coaching in East Delhi.
Summary
Through the medium of this article experts at Vidya Guru Institute have tried to guide students on grammatical fundamentals related to pronouns. If you have any questions or queries, write to vidyagurudelhi@gmail.com.
Getting ready for the SSC exam in Delhi? Seek no further than Vidyaguru for superior coaching to conquer this competitive…
Preparing for the IBPS PO exam in Delhi? Look no further than Vidyaguru for the best coaching to crack this…
Vidyaguru is one of the top SSC coaching institutes in Delhi which has been supporting young people to successfully qualify…
Cracking SSC CGL? Current affairs questions often end up being a roadblock. But not anymore with Vidyaguru! Vidyaguru designs the…
When it comes to SBI exam preparation, Vidyaguru stands tall as the most trusted coaching institute. For decades, Vidyaguru has…
When it comes to SSC and bank exam preparation, Vidyaguru stands out as the premier coaching institute. With decades of…
View Comments
Very nice article on Pronouns...I learnt a lot from it. Thank you Vidya Guru team.
You are most welcome:-)