You already know that a pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Instead of saying "Aarav is playing. Aarav is happy," we say "Aarav is playing. He is happy."
But did you know that pronouns change their form depending on whether they do the action or receive the action? Let us find out!
A pronoun takes the place of a noun to avoid repeating it.
The basic pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
"Meera likes mangoes. She eats them every summer." (She = Meera)
"Ravi and I went to the park. We played cricket there." (We = Ravi and I)
A subject pronoun is used when the pronoun is the one doing the action (the subject of the sentence).
Subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
"I am reading a book." (I does the action of reading.)
"She cooks delicious biryani." (She does the action of cooking.)
"They are going to the temple." (They do the action of going.)
An object pronoun is used when the pronoun receives the action (the object of the sentence). It usually comes after the verb or after words like to, for, with.
Object pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, them
"Amma called me for dinner." (Me receives the action of calling.)
"The teacher praised him." (Him receives the action of praising.)
"Please give the book to her." (Her receives the book.)
"Appa took us to the zoo." (Us receives the action of taking.)
| Person | Subject Pronoun (Does the Action) | Object Pronoun (Receives the Action) |
|---|---|---|
| First person (singular) | I | me |
| Second person | you | you |
| Third person (male) | he | him |
| Third person (female) | she | her |
| Third person (thing/animal) | it | it |
| First person (plural) | we | us |
| Third person (plural) | they | them |
Notice: "You" and "it" stay the same in both subject and object forms.
In many sentences, you can find both a subject pronoun and an object pronoun:
"She gave the book to him." (She = subject pronoun, him = object pronoun)
"He invited us to his birthday party." (He = subject, us = object)
"They helped me with my homework." (They = subject, me = object)
"I will call them after school." (I = subject, them = object)
Possessive pronouns show that something belongs to someone. They replace a noun and show ownership without using an apostrophe.
| Subject Pronoun | Possessive Pronoun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | mine | This book is mine. |
| you | yours | Is this pencil yours? |
| he | his | The red bag is his. |
| she | hers | The ribbon is hers. |
| we | ours | This classroom is ours. |
| they | theirs | Those seats are theirs. |
Ananya and Rohan both brought lunch boxes. Ananya said, "The blue box is mine." Rohan said, "The green box is mine." Their teacher asked, "Whose box is this red one?" They said, "It is not ours. Maybe it is theirs," pointing to the other students.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pronoun | A word used in place of a noun (he, she, it, them, etc.) |
| Subject | The person or thing that does the action in a sentence |
| Object | The person or thing that receives the action in a sentence |
| Subject Pronoun | A pronoun that does the action (I, he, she, we, they) |
| Object Pronoun | A pronoun that receives the action (me, him, her, us, them) |
| Possessive Pronoun | A pronoun that shows ownership (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs) |
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