Personal Pronouns, Possessive Pronouns, Reflexive Pronouns

PRONOUNS

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of or refers to a noun. You may recall that a noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated primarily with a particular person, in the grammatical sense.

When discussing “person” in terms of the grammatical, the following rules apply:

·         First person, as in “I”

·         Second person, as in “you”

·         Third person, as in “It, he, she”

Personal pronouns may take on various forms depending on number (singular or plural for the most part). They may also take different forms depending on case, gender, or formality. It is important to note that personal pronouns may refer to objects, animals, or people.

Personal pronouns provide us with the following information:

·         The person – Who is speaking?

·         The number – Is the pronoun plural or singular?

·         The gender – Is the pronoun feminine, masculine, or neuter?

number	person	gender	personal pronouns
			subject	object
singular	1st	male/ female	I	me
	2nd	male/ female	you	you
	3rd	male	he	him
		female	she	her
		neuter	it	it
plural	1st	male/ female	we	us
	2nd	male/ female	you	you
	3rd	male/ female/ neuter	they	them

1.     Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns replace nouns that are the subject of their clause. In the 3rd person, subject pronouns are often used to avoid repetition of the subject's name.

Examples :

• I like coffee.
• Do you like coffee?
• He runs fast.
• She is clever.
• It doesn't work.
• We went home.
• Do you need a table for three?
• They played doubles.

2.     Object Pronouns

Object pronouns are used to replace nouns that are the direct or indirect object of a clause.

Examples  :

• John helped me.
• John loves you.
• Did Ram beat him?
• Does Mary know her?
• Can the man fix it?
• Anthony drove us.
• Did John and Mary beat you at doubles?
• John and Mary beat them.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Possessive pronouns replace possessive nouns as either the subject or the object of a clause. Because the noun being replaced doesn't appear in the sentence, it must be clear from the context.

Below are the possessive pronouns, followed by some example sentences. Notice that each possessive pronoun can:

• be subject or object
• refer to a singular or plural antecedent

number	person	gender (of "owner")	possessive pronouns
singular	1st	male/ female	mine
	2nd	male/ female	yours
	3rd	male	his
		female	hers
plural	1st	male/ female	ours
	2nd	male/ female	yours
	3rd	male/ female/ neuter	theirs

Examples :

• Look at these pictures. Mine is the big one. (subject = My picture)
• I like your flowers. Do you like mine? (object = my flowers) 
• I looked everywhere for your key. I found John's key but I couldn't find yours. (object = your key)
• My flowers are dying. Yours are lovely. (subject = Your flowers) 
• All the essays were good but his was the best. (subject = his essay)
• John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her passport)
• John found his clothes but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her clothes) 
• Here is your car. Ours is over there, where we left it. (subject = Our car)
• Your photos are good. Ours are terrible. (subject = Our photos) 
• Each couple's books are colour-coded. Yours are red. (subject = Your books)
• I don't like this family's garden but I like yours. (object = your garden) 
• These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair. (subject = Their children)
• John and Mary don't like your car. Do you like theirs? (object = their car)

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the clause because the subject of the action is also the direct or indirect object. Only certain types of verbs can be reflexive. You cannot remove a reflexive pronoun from a sentence because the remaining sentence would be grammatically incorrect.

	reflexive pronoun
singular	myself yourself himself, herself, itself
plural	ourselves yourselves themselves

Examples :

• He accidentally cut himself while he was chopping the vegetables.
• She bought a present for herself.
• We helped ourselves to the free drinks at the launch party.
• They injured themselves during the rugby match.
• I enjoyed myself at the concert.
• The dog is scratching itself – it must have fleas!
• You’re going to have to drive yourself to school today

References :

http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-are-pronouns-types-examples-definition.html

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/pronouns-personal.htm

http://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/personal-pronouns/

http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Reflexive_Pronouns.htm