Pronouns
Published in Writing Tips on 11/9/2006
Pronouns either replace or refer to one or more nouns. There are seven main types of pronouns: Personal, Possessive, Reflexive, Relative, Demonstrative, Indefinite, Interrogative.
Personal Pronouns refer to specific people or things. The school needed him. The ancient mariner sought to harm us.
Possessive Pronouns indicate ownership. That was your stadium. She had forgotten her purse.
Reflexive Pronouns reflect the action that the verb describes by renaming the subject. I cut myself while slicing the fruit. They trust themselves to do a good job.
Relative Pronouns introduce subordinate clauses and relate them to the main clause. Steve is the one who came up with the best ideas. He was introduced by the quarterback whose book was a best-seller.
Demonstrative Pronouns point directly to specific nouns. Those are my essays. This is her sweater.
Indefinite Pronouns refer to non-specific people or things. Everybody needed help with the homework. Nobody wanted to talk about the fire.
Interrogative Pronouns introduce/ask questions. Who got the highest grade? What do you think of our professor?
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