Definition · Plain-language
Types of pronouns
English has nine main types of pronoun, each doing a different grammatical job: personal, possessive, reflexive, relative, interrogative, demonstrative, indefinite, reciprocal and intensive.
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Personal, possessive and reflexive pronouns
Personal pronouns replace a specific noun referring to people or things and vary by person, number and case. Subject forms are I, you, he, she, it, we, they; object forms are me, you, him, her, it, us, them. Possessive pronouns indicate ownership and stand alone (unlike possessive determiners, which precede a noun): mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs — as in "that book is mine". Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves and refer back to the subject of the clause: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves. They are used when the subject and object are the same person ("she taught herself") or after a preposition with the same referent ("he spoke about himself").
Relative, interrogative and demonstrative pronouns
Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses and link them to a noun in the main clause: who and whom for people, which for things, whose for possession, and that for people or things in restrictive clauses. Interrogative pronouns ask questions: who, whom, whose, what and which. Demonstrative pronouns point to specific nouns: this and these for items nearby; that and those for items farther away. All four demonstrative pronouns can also function as determiners (this table) — the distinction is that as a pronoun the word stands alone: "this is interesting".
Indefinite, reciprocal and intensive pronouns
Indefinite pronouns refer to unspecific people, places or things and include: everyone, somebody, anyone, no one, nothing, everything, all, any, few, many, several, some and none. Most are singular; few, many, both and several are plural; some can be either. Reciprocal pronouns express a mutual relationship: each other (typically for two) and one another (typically for three or more), as in "they respect each other". Intensive pronouns have the same forms as reflexive pronouns but add emphasis rather than indicate a reflexive action: "I myself completed the work"; "the director herself signed off the report". Remove the intensive pronoun and the sentence still makes complete sense.
Key facts
At a glance
- Personal pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they (subject); me, him, her, us, them (object)
- Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs (stand alone)
- Reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
- Relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that
- Interrogative pronouns: who, whom, whose, what, which
- Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those
- Indefinite pronouns: everyone, someone, any, all, none, few, many, several
- Reciprocal pronouns: each other, one another
Common misconceptions
What people often get wrong
Often heard: Reflexive and intensive pronouns are the same thing.
Actually: They have the same form (-self / -selves) but different functions. A reflexive pronoun is essential to the sentence's meaning (she hurt herself). An intensive pronoun just adds emphasis and can be removed without changing the grammar (I myself wrote it).
Often heard: Possessive pronouns always need an apostrophe.
Actually: Possessive pronouns — mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs — never take an apostrophe. Confusion arises with it's (= it is) and who's (= who is), which are contractions, not possessives.
Often heard: "That" cannot refer to people.
Actually: That is used in restrictive relative clauses for both people and things: "the student that passed" is grammatically correct, though who is often preferred for people in formal writing.
Going deeper
