Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. Pronouns are words like: he, you, ours, themselves, some, each... We can use a pronoun instead of a noun. If we didn't have pronouns, we would have to repeat a whole lot of nouns. The following pages describe the grammar of pronouns. For lists of pronouns you can see the vocabulary of pronouns here.
Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause. It is called a "relative" pronoun because it "relates" to the word that its relative clause modifies.
Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun does not refer to any specific person, thing or amount. It is vague and "not definite". Some typical indefinite pronouns are:all, another, any, anybody/anyone, anything, each, everybody/everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody/someone
Reciprocal Pronouns
We use reciprocal pronouns when each of two or more subjects is acting in the same way towards the other. For example, A is talking to B, and B is talking to A.
Reflexive Pronouns
We use a reflexive pronoun when we want to refer back to the subject of the sentence or clause. Reflexive pronouns end in "-self" (singular) or "-selves" (plural).
Interrogative Pronouns
We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. The interrogative pronoun represents the thing that we don't know (what we are asking the question about).
Possessive Pronouns
We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or thing/things (the "antecedent") belonging to a person/people (and sometimes belonging to an animal/animals or thing/things).
Demonstrative Pronouns
A demonstrative pronoun represents a thing or things
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns represent specific people or things.
Easy Pronoun Rules
Here are 5 easy rules and tips to help you avoid mistakes with English pronouns. For more comprehensive rules please look under the appropriate pronoun on our pronoun grammar pages.
What is a Pronoun?
Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. We can use a pronoun instead of a noun. Pronouns are words like: he, you, ours, themselves, some, each...
Full List of Pronouns
This full list of pronouns in alphabetical order includes archaic (old) pronouns - as indicated in brackets.