Pronouns are words we use in the place of a full noun.

We have both subject and object pronouns:

 

Subject Object
I me
you you
he him
she her
it it
we us
you you
they them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We use he/him to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women. When we are not sure if we are talking about a man or a woman we use they/them.

This is Jack. He’s my brother. I don’t think you have met him.
This is Angela. She’s my sister. Have you met her before?
Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.
You could go to a doctor. They might help you.

Subject pronouns

We use subject pronouns as subject of the verb:

I like your dress.
You are late.
He is my friend
It is raining
She is on holiday
We live in England.
They come from London.

 

Warning

Remember: English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. > He was a teacher.
I’m waiting for my wife. Is late.  > She is late.

If there is no other subject we use it or there. We call this a dummy subject.

 

 Object pronouns

 We use object pronouns:

• as the object of the verb:

Can you help me please?
I can see you.
She doesn’t like him.
I saw her in town today.
We saw them in town yesterday, but they didn’t see us.

• after prepositions:

She is waiting for me.
I’ll get it for you.
Give it to him.
Why are you looking at her?
Don’t take it from us.
I’ll speak to them. 

Exercise

Comments

Amr alhefnawy's picture Amr alhefnawy replied on Egypt

Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you
or
Talk to a friend. Ask him to help you

Peter M's picture Peter M replied on Poland

Hello Amr alhefnawy,

The most common option is the first, with 'them'. You could also say '...ask him or her...' but it is rather clumsy in terms of style.

It is not incorrect to use 'him' (or 'her') here but we increasingly tend to avoid using gender-specific pronouns when we do not know the gender of the person, and this is why 'them' is the most likely choice here.

 

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Zeinab Elsayed Mahmoud Ali's picture Zeinab Elsayed ... replied on Egypt

Is there an explanation of the rules in a video

Peter M's picture Peter M replied on Poland

Hello Zeinab Elsayed Mahmoud Ali,

There are a number of pages with videos which address the subject of pronouns. The best way to find them is to use the search facility. Just click on the magnifying glass icon at the top of the page (on the right) and type in 'pronouns'. Then look for pages with videos in the results. For example, this video is all about personal pronouns.

 

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Mercy Brito's picture Mercy Brito replied on Ecuador

Hi. I´m stard to learning inglish and I confused about use object pronouns.

Peter M's picture Peter M replied on Poland

Hi Mercy Brito,

Do you have an example of the kind of sentence you find difficult? We'll be happy to comment but we need some concrete example to do so.

 

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Gladiator's picture Gladiator replied on Pakistan

If you don't know the meaning of verb. Is it possible that we use words like shall or etc.

Kirk's picture Kirk replied on Spain

Hi Gladiator,

I'm afraid I don't understand your question. Could you please be more specific?

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Adya's's picture Adya's replied on India

Thanks a lot.

Can you kindly suggest a suitable webpage for such topics?

Pages