To make your speech in a foreign language expressive, correct and diverse, and also to learn to understand what other people say (write), you need to know English pronouns. A table (and not one) will be presented in this article with the necessary explanations to facilitate the assimilation of grammatical material.
What is a pronoun and what is it for
This part of speech is used in any language to avoid tautology, revive dry statements, and also make them more logical. English pronouns are called Pronouns, which translates to "instead of nouns."
This service component serves as a substitute for those parts of speech that have already been mentioned in oral or written text. Nouns and adjectives can be replaced, a little less often - adverbs and numerals. Pronouns help us maintain the consistency and clarity of the presentation of thought, but do not repeat ourselves, calling again the same people, objects, phenomena, signs, etc.
What are the pronouns in English
There are eight types of these service parts of speech. Next, we will consider each of them individually.
English pronouns, like Russians, vary in face, gender, and number. In addition, they are necessarily consistent with the part of speech that is replaced. For example, agreement on the basis of gender: girl (girl) - she (she). In the same way, coordination is carried out in the number: boys (boys) - they (they).
Now let's look in more detail at what each variety is and how this service part of speech manages to simplify English.
Personal Pronouns
They have their name because they replace nouns - animate and inanimate. There are seven of them.
- I - I;
- you - you (you);
- he is he;
- she - she;
- it is it;
- we are we;
- they are they.
Pay attention to the following features:
1. You are used both singular and plural. It translates accordingly: “you”, “you” (addressing one person) or “you” (addressing a group of people).
2. It denotes not only inanimate objects, but also animals.
The above personal pronouns are given in the nominative case. But what if you need to say: “to you”, “me”, “about us”, etc.? What is transmitted in Russian by other cases (dative, genitive, prepositional, etc.) is called in English by one word - subject case. Such pronouns replace words that are not subject in the sentence. The correspondence table is presented below.
Who! What? | Whom? What? To whom? Why? By whom? Than? About whom? About what? |
I | me - me, me, me, etc. |
you | you - you (you), you (you), etc. |
he | him - him, him, etc. |
she | her - to her, her, etc. |
it | it - him, him, etc. |
we | us - us, us, etc. |
they | them - them, them, etc. |
Start practicing the use of the subject case when you thoroughly understand and learn the forms of the nominative. Otherwise, you just run the risk of getting confused. In general, memorizing pronouns is quite simple, and the more often you study a foreign language, the more confident you will become.
Possessive Pronouns
This group is the second most frequently used. But do not be in a hurry to get scared when you see new English pronouns. The table below shows the correspondence between personal and possessive types.
Personal pronoun | Possessive pronoun |
I - i | my is mine |
you - you (you) | your - yours (yours) |
he - he | his - his |
she - she | her - her |
it - it | its - him |
we - we | our - our |
they - they | their - their |
As you can see, the basis of almost all pronouns is the same, and the differences are most often in only one letter.
It is recommended to learn and practice personal pronouns first, then possessive, and then practice mixed tests, where you need to choose the option that suits you in terms of grammar and grammar: you or yours, etc. So you’ll firmly learn everything and you will never confuse these two outwardly similar groups.
Demonstrative Pronouns
We continue to study pronouns in the English language and now move on to the variety that helps to navigate in space, to show a specific object, direction and place. They do not vary by person and childbirth, but they have singular and plural forms. Further in the table you will see indicative English pronouns with translation.
Where is located: close long away | Singular | Plural |
this (this) | these |
that (that) | those |
For example, if a picture hangs on a wall in the distance, then they say about it: That is a picture. And if pencils are lying next to the table, this can be denoted as follows: These are pencils.
There is another function of this group of service parts of speech. They can replace single words or even whole expressions. This is done to avoid repetition. For example: Air quality in the village is better than that in the city - Air quality in a village is better than (air quality) in a city.
Relative Pronouns
This variety can often be found in complex sentences for connecting the main and subordinate parts. Such a pronoun of the English language with translation and understanding of foreign speech can create difficulties. Therefore, you need to understand this issue well. The following relative pronouns exist:
- that - that, which (used to denote both animate and inanimate objects);
- which - which (only to indicate objects or phenomena);
- who - who, who (points only to people);
- whom - whom, who, whom (does not occur in the spoken language, is used only in official speech as a speech cliche).
Interrogative Pronouns
As you might guess, this type is used in interrogative sentences. If you already know the topic “Special Issues,” then you know these English pronouns well. All of them are noteworthy in that they begin with the letter wh:
- what? - what? which one? which the?
- which? - which one? which (of two)?
- who? - who?
- whom? - to whom? whom?
- whose? - whose?
Sometimes the -ever suffix can be added to them, and then combinations of whatever (any, anything), whoever (any, anyone), etc. are obtained.
Pay particular attention to the following features.
Who is used in the singular and assumes the verb form is, as well as the ending -s in the present simple tense.
Who is there? Who likes this film?
The exception is cases when a personal pronoun in the plural is used (you, we, they), if the answer involves the naming of several people, objects, phenomena, etc.
Who are you?
Who of you live in this house? - We do. (Which of you lives in this house? - We.)
Indefinite Pronouns
Often there are situations when the information is not completely clear, or the speaker is not sure of its veracity. For such cases, there is a special group of service words. Further you can see all the vague English pronouns with translation.
Animated objects | Inanimate objects |
anybody, anyone - anyone, anyone | anything - anything, anything |
everybody, everyone - everyone, everyone | everything - everything |
no one, nobody | nothing - nothing, nothing |
someone - someone | something - something |
other - other either - any (when choosing from two) neither - none (when choosing from two) each - each |
Please note that all pronouns listed in the table are singular (even if many objects or people are translated into Russian).
The plural of indefinite pronouns is represented by the following words:
- any - any;
- both - both;
- several - several;
- others - others, others;
- many - few;
- few are few.
Reflexive Pronouns
Used to indicate actions that are performed with oneself. These English pronouns are associated with varieties already known to you - personal and possessive. Only in this case is the particle -self (in the singular) or -selves (in the plural) added.
- (i) I - myself;
- (you) you - yourself;
- (he) he - himself;
- (she) she - herself;
- (it) it - itself (about animals and inanimate objects);
- (we) we are ourselves;
- (you) you are yourselves;
- (they) they are themselves.
How to translate reflexive pronouns? For examples, this is most understandable.
Sometimes it can be translated as “yourself,” “yourself,” etc.
“Why?”, She asked herself - “Why?” She asked herself.
We arranged a great holiday for ourselves - We had a great vacation.
In some cases, you can translate such pronouns with the returning particles -s and -s.
A cat washed itself - The cat washed.
Where are you hiding yourself? - Where are you hiding?
In those cases where the fact that the action was performed by someone on their own is emphasized, one can translate reflexive pronouns with the words “himself”, “herself”, etc.
He has built this house himself - He built this house himself.
Reciprocal Pronouns
This variety includes only two representatives: each other and one another. They are synonyms.
Such pronouns are used in those cases when two objects perform the same action directed at each other.
We love each other - We love each other.
They hugged and kissed one another - They hugged and kissed.
On Christmas day the friends gave each other presents - At Christmas, friends gave each other presents.
In cases where it is necessary to identify a group of people who perform the same action in relation to each other, it is necessary to use the one another form. For instance:
We are a united family and always help one another. - We are a close-knit family and always help each other.
People of different generations have difficulties in understanding one another - People of different generations find it difficult to understand each other.
This is what the pronoun system in English looks like. There is nothing complicated in it, since some groups of official words are formed from others: recurrent and possessive - from personal, mutual - from indefinite, etc.
Having studied and understood the theory, start practicing various types of exercises. The more often you do this, the sooner you will achieve a noticeable result: start without hesitation in using English pronouns in your speech.