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A pronoun is a word that replaces and refers to a noun. It is used in exactly the same way as the noun it replaces.
subjective pronouns: I, you, he, she, we, they
possessive pronouns: my, mine, your, yours, their, theirs
objective pronouns: me, you, him, her, us, them
reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Nouns make writing precise. They tell the reader specifically who or what is being discussed. Occasionally, however, too many nouns can make writing dull.
Sam is an excellent technician. Sam has worked for Con Edison for four years, and all other technicians working for Con Edison are highly skilled and experienced. Con Edison is very proud of their technicians' performance, and Cone Edison promotes their technicians to management positions after five years of employment. Sam is hoping a promotion as Sam has already worked four years, and probably Sam will soon be promoted.
In this paragraph Sam, Con Edison and their technicians are repetitively overused. These repetitions make the writing dull. This writing can be improved by replacing these nouns with pronouns.
Sam is an excellent technician. He has worked for Con Edison for four years, and all other technicians working for Con Edison are highly skilled and experienced. Con Edison is very proud of their technicians' performance, and they promotes their technicians to management positions after five years of employment. Sam is hoping a promotion as he has worked four years already, and probably he will soon be promoted.
There are four kinds of pronouns: subjective pronouns, possessive pronouns, objective pronouns, and reflective pronouns.
subjective pronouns: I, you, he, she, we, they
A subject pronoun replaces a noun that is used as a subject.
The Giants are my favorite football player team.
subjectThe Giant is the subject in the form of a noun in this sentence.
becomes:
They are my favorite football player team.
pronoun'They' is the subject in the form of a pronoun in this sentence.
objective pronouns: me, you, him, her, us, them
objective pronouns substitute the noun object in the sentence.
"I sent him a birthday card." ('him' substitutes for a person's name, such as John, Mike, Ahmad.)
"The teacher congratulated them on the high test scores." ('them' substitutes for a noun such as students, test takers, trainees, and etc.)
"You told them about the party." ("them' substitutes for a noun such as the friends, coworkers, clients, and etc.)
Possessive Pronouns: my, mine, your, yours, their, theirs
Possessive pronouns replace a noun in the possessive case in the sentence.
"I borrowed her pencil." ('her' replaces a name in the possessive case: Judy's pencil, Ahmad's pencil, Juan's pencil)
"The company has announced their new product line." ('their' replaces the noun in the possessive case: the company's)
"I'm upset about her mistreatment to me." ('her' replaces a noun that could be the name of a boss or friend, or customer: John's treatment; Judy's treatment; Xin's treatment)
Reflexive Pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
An reflexive pronoun "reflects" a noun or pronoun by taking the place of its antecedent when the noun or pronoun is doing something to itself. Examples:
The authors said "I, myself, is responsible for inaccurate data published in my book." ('myself' takes the place of the antecedent 'I')
"The staff offered overtime to the company in order to complete the task themselves, without additional hires." ('themselves' reverts the action on to the subject 'staff')
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