|
English has three types of
personal pronouns: pronouns
used for
subjects, pronouns used for objects, and pronouns
used
to show possession:
|
subject
pronouns |
object
pronouns |
possessive
pronouns* |
|
I |
me |
mine |
|
you
(singular) |
you |
yours |
|
he |
him |
his |
|
she |
her |
hers |
|
it |
it |
---
* |
|
we |
us |
ours |
|
you
(plural) |
you |
yours |
|
they |
them |
theirs |
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Special Notes:
| 1. |
In traditional, formal grammar,
subject
pronouns are used after
BE:
This is he.
Was it I?
In conversational grammar,
object
pronouns
are more common:
This is him.
Was it
me?
|
| |
|
| 2. |
Object pronouns are used for
direct
objects,
indirect objects, and objects of prepositions:
I saw him / her / it / them
/ you yesterday.
I gave the message to him
/ her / them / you (or
I gave him / her / them / you the message).
She bought a gift for him
/ them / you / me / us
(or She bought
him / them / you / me / us a gift).
They were standing near (next
to, beside,
behind,
near, in front of, etc.) me /
us / you
/
him
/ her / it.
|
| |
|
| 3. |
Possessive pronouns are used
alone, not
with nouns:
Are those keys yours / his
/ hers / ours?
No,
they aren't mine / his / hers /
ours.
Is this his house?
No, it's theirs /
mine / his / hers / ours.
Possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her,
its,
our, their) are not the same as possessive pronouns.
|
| |
|
| 4. |
There
is no commonly used possessive pronoun
for it. |
|
