Pronouns and possessives
See subject, object, possessive, reflexive and demonstrative forms together.
The main pronoun forms
A possessive determiner goes before a noun; a possessive pronoun replaces the noun phrase.
| Subject → object | Before a noun | On its own |
|---|---|---|
| I → me | my book | mine |
| you → you | your book | yours |
| he → him | his book | his |
| she → her | her book | hers |
| it → it | its name | — |
| we → us | our book | ours |
| they → them | their book | theirs |
Its is possessive; it’s means it is or it has. An independent possessive form of its is not used in ordinary English.
Subject or object?
Use a subject pronoun for the doer and an object pronoun after a verb or preposition.
| Role | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | subject + verb | She called me. |
| Object | verb + object | I called her. |
| After a preposition | preposition + object | This is for them. |
| Possessive determiner | possessive + noun | That is their car. |
| Possessive pronoun | no following noun | That car is theirs. |
Reflexives and demonstratives
Reflexives refer back to the subject. Demonstratives point to people or things in context.
| Form | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| myself / yourself / himself / herself | One person acts on the same person | She taught herself. |
| itself / ourselves / yourselves / themselves | Same reference, other subjects | We made it ourselves. |
| this / these | Near; singular / plural | This chair is mine. These chairs are ours. |
| that / those | Far; singular / plural | That bag is hers. Those bags are theirs. |
Do not normally use a reflexive after feel, relax or concentrate: I feel better, not I feel myself better.
Indefinite pronouns
Words ending in -one and -body refer to people; words ending in -thing refer to things.
| Meaning | Forms | Example |
|---|---|---|
| An unspecified person or thing | someone / something | Someone is at the door. |
| Any person or thing | anyone / anything | Did anyone call? |
| No person or thing | no one / nothing | No one answered. |
| Every person or thing | everyone / everything | Everything is ready. |
These pronouns normally take a singular verb: Everyone is here.