Grammar-Quizzes › Noun Phrases › Pronouns › Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Referring to people

1st Person: I / We — Me / Us

SUBJECT (NOMINATIVE) PRONOUN
After a noun is mentioned the first time, we tend not to repeat it. Instead, we use a pronoun to refer to the noun. The first-person singular pronoun for the subject (the agent of the action) is I, and the plural pronoun is we.
SINGULAR
SAM. " I enjoy dancing."
PLURAL
LEA AND SAM. " We enjoy dancing."

OBJECT (ACCUSATIVE) PRONOUN
The first-person singular pronoun for the object (the person or thing that undergoes or experiences the action) is me, and the plural is us.
SINGULAR
SAM. "Watch me."
PLURAL
LEA AND SAM. "Watch us."

watch (V) – see and observe something moving

look (V) – see something with no particular attention to movement

Also see Transitive Verbs (verbs followed by object pronouns)

Personal Pronouns

2nd Person

2nd Person: You — You

SUBJECT PRONOUN
The second person pronoun for the subject (the agent of the action) is you, and the plural is also you.
SINGULAR
You enjoy dancing.
PLURAL
You (all) enjoy dancing.

OBJECT PRONOUN
The second-person singular pronoun for the object (the person or thing that undergoes or experiences the action) is you, and the plural is you.
SINGULAR
Look at you.
PLURAL
Look at you (all).

Personal Pronouns

3rd Person

3rd Person: He / She / We — Him / Her / Them

SUBJECT PRONOUN
The third-person singular pronoun for the subject (the agent of the action) is he (male) or she (female). The plural pronoun is them (for males or females.)
SINGULAR
Sam: Lea is a dancer. She enjoys dancing.
; Lea: Sam is a dancer. He enjoys dancing.
PLURAL
Sam and Lea are dancing. They enjoy dancing.

OBJECT PRONOUN
The third-person singular pronoun for the object (the person or thing that undergoes or experiences the action) is him (male) or her (female), and the plural is them for males and females.
SINGULAR
Sam is watching Lea. He is watching her.
Lea is watching Sammy. She is watching him.
PLURAL
Let's watch Sam and Lea. Watch them.

Pronoun Summary

SUBJECT / NOMINATIVE
1ST PER	2ND PER	3RD PER
I (singular)	you	he, she, it
we (plural)	you (all)	they

OBJECT / ACCUSATIVE
1ST PER	2ND PER	3RD PER
me (singular)	you	him, her, it
us (plural)	you (all)	them

Impersonal Pronouns

It / They

3rd Person – impersonal

SUBJECT PRONOUN
We use it to refer to an impersonal noun, such as a thing, a place, an idea, or an animal of unknown gender (not pets). The impersonal singular noun for the subject is it, and the plural is they.
SINGULAR
The duck is dancing. It is dancing.
PLURAL
The ducks are dancing. They are dancing.

OBJECT PRONOUN
The impersonal singular pronoun for the object (the person or thing that undergoes or experiences the action) is it, and the plural is them.
SINGULAR
Look at it. It refers to the duck.
PLURAL
Look at them. Them refers to the ducks.

Inanimate She

Referring to things with a personal pronoun

Neutral vs. Feminine Pronouns for Objects

NEUTRAL
Normally, a neutral pronoun replaces a noun that names a thing—the pronoun it or the possessive its.
INANIMATE—PERSONIFICATION
It's a beautiful car. I took it out for a spin around the country. It performs like a dream.
SHIPS / AIRCRAFT / SPACESHIPS
It's a small cargo ship that has 100,000 tons in its hold.
COUNTRY / CITY / RIVER
California is geographically diverse with mountains, valleys, rivers and beaches. It includes the highest and lowest points in its south-eastern region.
PLANETS IN SCIENCE
Pluto has an icy mountain range. Its mountains formed only 100 million years ago. Mountains rise from its surface near the equator. (god of the underworld) ~Pluto—when did his icy mountain range form?

FEMININE
"Beloved" things such as vehicles, ships, aircraft and heavenly bodies (Venus and Earth) may be referred to "affectionately" as she or the possessive her.
INANIMATE—PERSONIFICATION
She's a beauty. I took her out for a spin on the freeway. She performs like a dream. motorcycles, trucks, "men's toys"
SHIPS / AIRCRAFT / SPACESHIPS
She's a beautiful three-mast ship. When the wind fills her sails, she is sight to behold. Star Trek's Mother Ship, Blue Angels (flight squadron)
COUNTRY / CITY / RIVER
California has her mountains, valleys, rivers and beaches. She has it all. (named after Queen Calafia) Countries, cities and rivers named after females.
PLANTETS AS HEAVENLY BODIES
Venus—where does her surface level wind come from? (goddess of love and beauty) moon, Earth "Mother Earth" Such bodies are personified in poetry and writing.

~uncommon usage if at all

"Hemispheric View of Venus." Solar System Exploration, NASA, 8 Jun 2011, www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA00007. Accessed on 21 Aug. 2016.
"The Icy Mountains of Pluto." New Horizons, NASA, 15 Jul 2015, www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-icy-mountains-of-pluto. Accessed on 21 Aug. 2016.
"She." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Mar. 2016, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She#Usage. Accessed on 21 Aug. 2016.

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

Error and Solution

ERROR
*My brother he helps me sometimes. (repeated noun)
Look at my car! Isn't she a beauty.
The baby dropped its sock.
The dog dropped its bone. (not incorrect, but not preferred)

SOLUTIONS
My brother helps me. (Delete repeated noun.) My brother is helpful. He helps me.
This is not a mistake. Cars, boats, planes, ships, and other vehicles are often affectionately referred to as "she".
The baby dropped his / her sock. (We use gender pronouns with babies. When in doubt, we look for "pink" (female) or "blue" (male) clues, or we ask the parent.)
The dog dropped his / her bone. (We use gender pronouns with pets when the gender is known.)

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Grammar Notes (Advanced)

It is I / It is me

"It is I" (very formal) vs. "It is me" (more common)

FORMAL
The old argument over whether to use a subject or object pronoun after a "be" verb can be simplified to formal vs. informal usage. Grammarians often look back to Latin (not French "C'est moi.") for resolution. Linguists look at present day usage.
May I please speak to Hillary Clinton? — I am she. in speech
Who said that? — It was I who said that. / I did.
Who is on the phone? — It is she, the Secretary of State. with a title

INFORMAL
In everyday usage, the object pronoun occurs after a "be" verb. A speaker may switch to the formal usage to add importance to the identity. "It is I, your mother, who is telling you what to do."
May I please speak to Hillary? This is her. / This is Hillary. (not: I am her.)
Who said that? It was me. / Me.
Who is on the phone? It's her, your wife.

Burchfield (421.6) (373); Garner (485); Merriam-Webster (566)

Works Cited

"It’s I / it’s me." Fowler's Modern English Usage. Edited by R. W. Burchfield and H. W. Fowler, revised 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2004.
"It is I; it is me." Garner's Modern American Usage. by Bryan A. Garner, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2009.
"it's me." Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. Reprint ed., Merriam-Webster, 1994.

Practice 1

Who?

Complete the sentence.

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