Pronouns are the words you substitute for other nouns when your reader or listener already knows which nouns you’re referring to. For example, you might say, “I have a dog. He’s brown and white.” There’s no need to clarify that you’re describing your dog in the second sentence because you already mentioned him in the first. But following up “I have a dog” with “brown and white” is grammatically incorrect . . . so with the pronoun “he’s,” you turn the phrase “brown and white” into a full sentence: He’s brown and white. Pronouns are short words we swap in for other nouns to make our writing and speech faster and more varied. They’re words like:

• They
• I
• You
• Who
• Themselves
• Each other

Pronouns make up a small subcategory of nouns. The distinguishing characteristic of pronouns is that they can be substituted for other nouns. For instance, if you’re telling a story about your sister Sarah, the story will begin to sound repetitive if you keep repeating “Sarah” over and over again. For example:

• Sarah has always loved fashion. Sarah announced that Sarah wants to go to fashion school.

You could try to mix it up by sometimes referring to Sarah as “my sister,” but then it sounds like you’re referring to two different people:

• Sarah has always loved fashion. My sister announced that Sarah wants to go to fashion school.

Instead, you can use the pronouns she and her to refer to Sarah:

• Sarah has always loved fashion. She announced that she wants to go to fashion school.

Pronouns can replace both proper and common nouns. Certain pronouns have specific rules about when they can be used, such as how it should never be used to refer to a human being. We explain all of the different types and their associated rules below.

Personal pronouns

When you think of pronouns, you most likely think of personal pronouns. Personal pronouns are pronouns that refer to specific individuals and groups. Personal pronouns include:

• I/me
• She/her
• He/him
• They/them
• We/us
• You

Here are a few examples of personal pronouns in italics, with the nouns they’re referring to bolded:

• The new student will arrive today. They will need a seating assignment and a name tag.
• My family loves nachos. We make them every Friday for movie night.

In the second example sentence, notice that nachos (a noun) and them (a pronoun) aren’t emphasized. That’s because, in this sentence, them isn’t a personal pronoun because it isn’t replacing a proper noun, but rather we is.

Antecedents

Remember how we mentioned that in order to use a pronoun, you need to introduce the noun first? That noun has a name: an antecedent.

Antecedents are necessary because pronouns are versatile. Think about it—“it” can refer to a bike, a tree, a car, or a city, and we just used it to refer to something else entirely: pronouns’ versatility. Take a look at these examples to see how antecedents and pronouns work together:

• My family tests my patience, but I love them.
• The sign was too far away for Jorge to read it.
• Danita said she is almost finished with the application.

Antecedents aren’t necessary when the reader/listener knows who or what you’re discussing. Generally, you don’t need an antecedent for pronouns like I, you, we, our, and me. But because there are no absolutes in grammar, sometimes you do need an antecedent in this kind of situation—like when you’re giving a speech where you introduce yourself and your credentials before discussing your achievements.

There are also circumstances where you might not introduce the noun first and instead reveal it after using only pronouns to refer to your subject. You might do this for dramatic or poetic effect in a piece of creative writing.

Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns are another class of pronouns. They connect relative clauses to independent clauses. Often, they introduce additional information about something mentioned in the sentence. Relative pronouns include these words:

• that
• what
• which
• who
• whom

Traditionally, who refers to people, and which and that refers to animals or things. Here are a few examples of relative pronouns at work:

• The woman who called earlier didn’t leave a message.
• All the dogs that got adopted today will be loved.
• My car, which is nearly twenty years old, still runs well.

Who vs. whom—subject and object pronouns

Knowing when to use who and when to use whom trips a lot of writers up. The difference is actually pretty simple: Who is for the subject of a sentence, and whom is for the object of a verb or preposition. Here’s a quick example:

• Who mailed this package?
• To whom was this package sent?

See the difference? Who is a subject pronoun? It’s in the same category as I, he, she, they, and we. Whom is an object pronoun, which puts it in the same category as me, him, her, them, and us. An easy way to determine whether you should use who or whom in a sentence is to answer the sentence’s question by substituting another pronoun. With the new pronoun in place, determine if the sentence still makes sense. For example:

• He mailed this package.
• The package was sent to him. 

Figuring out when to use whom can be more difficult than knowing when to use who because it typically comes before the sentence’s verb—notice how the example object pronoun sentence changed more dramatically than the subject pronoun sentence.

Demonstrative pronouns

That, this, these, and those are demonstrative pronouns. They take the place of a noun or noun phrase that has already been mentioned or is clear through context, either in written or verbal communication.

This is used for singular items that are nearby. These is used for multiple items that are nearby. The distance can be physical or metaphorical. Take a look at these examples:

• Here is a letter with no return address. Who could have sent this?
• What a fantastic idea! This is the best thing I’ve heard all day.
• If you think gardenias smell nice, try smelling these.

That is used for singular items that are far away. Those is used for multiple items that are far away. Again, the distance can be physical or metaphorical. Here are a few examples of these pronouns in action:

• A house like that would be a nice place to live.
• Some new flavors of soda came in last week. Why don’t you try some of those?
• Those aren’t swans, they’re geese.

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used when you need to refer to a person or thing that doesn’t need to be specifically identified. Some common indefinite pronouns are one, other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one.

Here are a few examples of indefinite pronouns in sentences:

• Everybody was late to work because of the traffic jam.
• It matters more to some than others.
• Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.

When indefinite pronouns function as subjects of a sentence or clause, they usually take singular verbs.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves:

• Myself
• Yourself
• Himself
• Herself
• Itself
• Oneself
• Ourselves
• Yourselves
• Themselves

Use a reflexive pronoun when both the subject and object of a verb refer to the same person or thing. Here are a few examples:

• She checked herself out of the hotel thirty minutes before check-out time.
• Take care of yourselves.

Using myself when you mean me is a common mistake writers and speakers make. Reflexive pronouns are only correct when the subject and object of a sentence are the same.

Intensive pronouns

Intensive pronouns look the same as reflexive pronouns, but their purpose is different. Intensive pronouns add emphasis. Conceptualizing the difference between them and reflexive pronouns can be challenging because the emphasis isn’t always obvious. Take a look at these examples of intensive pronouns and examine how they’re different from the examples in the previous section:

• I told them I could do it myself.
• We asked ourselves, is this business really worth saving?

If you can remove a pronoun from a sentence and it loses emphasis but its meaning stays the same, it’s most likely an intensive pronoun. Compare these two sentences:

• I built this house.
• I built this house myself.

See how the second one emphasizes that the builder had no outside help. Intensive pronouns can help you express pride, shock, disbelief, credulousness (or incredulousness), or any other strong emotion. Here are a few more examples:

• They hiked the entire Appalachian Trail themselves?
• Did you, yourself, see Loretta spill the coffee?

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are pronouns that show possession. They include the following:

• My
• Your
• Our
• Their
• His
• Her
• Its

These can also be called possessive adjectives if they modify a noun in a sentence. Take a look at these examples of possessive adjectives in action:

• I crashed my bike into a telephone pole.
• Your house is always decorated so nicely.

This category also includes independent versions of possessive pronouns. These include:

• Mine
• Yours
• Ours
• His
• Hers
• Theirs
• Its

When you use an independent possessive pronoun, you drop the noun it’s referring to. Here are a few examples:

• She forgot her jacket, so I gave her mine.
• I had no idea whose bid won the auction, then my cousins told me theirs did.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions. The interrogative pronouns are who, what, which, and whose. Here are a few examples of interrogative pronouns at play:

• Who wants a bag of jelly beans?
• What is your name?
• Which movie do you want to watch?
• Whose jacket is this?

Reciprocal Pronouns

There are only two reciprocal pronouns:

• Each other
• One another

These pronouns refer to two or more people who are both the subject of the sentence. Take a look at these examples:

• Javier and Priya, the two top salespeople on our team, are competing with each other for Salesperson of the Year.
• All my siblings are blaming one another for letting the boa constrictor out last Thanksgiving.

Distributive Pronouns

Distributive pronouns refer to people, animals, and objects as individuals within larger groups. They enable you to single out individuals while acknowledging that they’re part of a larger group. Distributive pronouns include the following:

• Either
• Each
• Neither
• Any
• None

Here are a few examples of distributive pronouns in sentences:

• All of my friends entered the costume contest and none of them won.
• Cookies and muffins are available for dessert. Neither is appealing to me.

Pronoun Examples

As you can see, pronouns do a lot. And there are a lot of them. And to make them even more complicated, many pronouns change forms when they’re used in different positions within a sentence or different tenses.

Take a look at the different types of pronouns and their forms at a glance:

 

Type	Pronouns in this category	Example sentences
Personal	I/me, they/them, he/him, she/her, it, we/us, you	I brought all the snacks. We weren’t planning on staying over.
Relative	That, what, which, who, whom	My car, which is twenty years old, doesn’t connect to Bluetooth. The professor who ran the meeting ended it promptly
Demonstrative	That, this, these, those	You’ve seen clear quartz and smoky quartz, but have you seen these stones? I ordered Hawaiian pizza. I like that a lot.
Indefinite	One, other, some, none, everybody, anybody, no one, nobody, both	We need cashiers up front. Anybody who’s available, please report to the front end. “Why can’t we fix this?” I asked nobody in particular.
Reflexive	Myself, yourself/yourselves, themself/themselves, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves	The car began to swerve, then corrected itself. He made himself a sandwich.
Intensive	Myself, yourself/yourselves, themself/themselves, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves	You did all of this yourself? She did the entire group project by herself.
Possessive	My, your, his, her, their, our, its, whose	We’re lounging out by our pool. His car is green.
Interrogative	Who, what, which, whose	Whose bike is this? What is the answer?
Reciprocal	Each other, one another	We ran into each other on the subway. They’ve been fighting with one another for decades.
Distributive	Either, each, neither, any, none	Peanut butter or chocolate? I’m good with either. There were four cats, and none had long hair.

Pronouns and Gender Identity

You might have noticed pronouns listed in some of your colleagues’ and friends’ email signatures or social media profiles. You might have even been prompted to list your pronouns on your own. While traditionally the personal pronouns he/him/his and she/her/hers were used for individuals based strictly on their sex, pronoun usage is broader and more descriptive today.

Many people use gender-neutral pronouns like they/them/theirs and zie/hir/hirs because they feel these pronouns express their gender identity more accurately than she or he. The most common gender-neutral pronoun is the singular they. Today, it’s not uncommon to see the singular they as the default neutral pronoun. It’s a concise catch-all pronoun that can fit just about any sentence. However, language is constantly evolving, and new types of singular third-person pronouns have emerged that refer to people entirely without reference to gender, such as noun-self pronouns.