PRONOUNS - Basic English Grammar - Parts of Speech - What is a Pronoun? - Types of Pronoun - Grammar

Hi and welcome back to our series of lessons on the parts of speech,

my name is Ganesh and this lesson is all about pronouns. Now pronouns are a

huge topic, there are many different types of pronouns and there are a lot of

grammar points relating to pronouns so in this lesson we're going to focus on

the most important types of pronouns and on how to avoid common mistakes that

people make with them. We will start by talking about personal pronouns then

we'll move onto reflexive pronouns and then we'll look at indefinite pronouns

and finally we'll turn to interrogative pronouns. Now if these names sound scary

don't worry, by the end of this lesson you will understand all of them and

you'll know how to use them correctly. Before we begin

just remember if you have any questions at all just let me know in the comments

section below and I'll talk to you there.

OK so first of all what is a pronoun? A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun

in a sentence.

Replaces means it takes the place of a noun. For example consider these sentences

Corey works with Paige. Cory likes working with Paige. Corey and Paige do

many projects together. Of course that sounds very repetitive because we keep

saying Corey and Paige. So can you tell me how you would improve the sentence?

You can say he likes working with her, They do many projects together. That

sounds much more natural because we're using the pronouns he, her and they in

the place of nouns. And that type of pronoun - pronouns that talk about people

are called personal pronouns because they refer to persons even though the

pronoun it is considered a personal pronoun. Now personal pronouns come in

three types - subject, object and possessive

pronouns. A subject pronoun is used in the place of a subject in a sentence. For

example in this sentence, I saw Lily yesterday - Here which is the pronoun? The

pronoun is I and it's a subject pronoun because I do the action and you can

replace that with any other subject pronoun. You can say we saw Lilly

yesterday or he saw Lilly yesterday etc. An object pronoun is used in the

object position in a sentence. For example Lily saw them yesterday. Here

them is an object pronoun and you could use any other object pronoun in that

place.

So what do possessive pronouns do? Possessive pronouns show possession - that

means they show that you have something. For example if I said this is our house

the pronoun our shows that this house belongs to me and my family for example.

I could also say this house is ours

That means the same thing. Now all of these - the whole group of personal

pronouns are actually very simple and I'm sure you use them correctly most of

the time but there are two areas where people commonly make mistakes with them.

The first is in using the pronouns I and me. Of course those are the simplest but those

are also where a very common error occurs and that is when combining I or me with

another noun or a pronoun. For example we know that Cory and Paige work together

but let's say that Corey wants to say this sentence - I have four options on the

screen and I would like you to tell me which is the correct way to say it - I and

Paige work together, Paige and I work together, Me and Paige work together or

Page and me work together - which is correct?

Well here we need an

object pronoun so we cannot use me. Between the first two options the first

option is grammatically correct but the best way to say this is Page and I work

together. That is because when you put the other person first

it's more respectful and in English it's considered more polite so Paige and I

work together is the best way. Now instead of Paige you could use any noun

It could even be a plural like the children and I are going to the park or my

friends and I are at the movies for example. It could even be another

pronoun like you and I. Here's another example - the boss gave the project to

Cory and Paige. Now let's say that Paige wants to say it this time. On the screen

again there are the four options, only one of them is correct and I want you to

tell me which is right. Pause the video if you want, think about it and then play

the video again and check. OK here we want to use an object pronoun because

the noun and pronoun are in the object position so we need to use me. And once

again the right way to say it is the boss gave the project to Coery and me. We

want to put the other person first. The common error in both of these types of

sentences is to use one of the other forms,

It's very common for students to make that error so please avoid doing that.

OK that's one type of mistake

Another type of mistake that students commonly make with personal pronouns is

when writing the pronouns ours yours and theirs.

Remember I said this house is ours. I could also say this house is yours or

this house is theirs. In all of these pronouns there is no apostrophe before

the s. A very common mistake is

to put an apostrophe there and that makes your sentence look ungrammatical

and unprofessional

if you're writing in a formal situation. So make sure to avoid that error. So

those are the two errors with personal pronouns. Let's now move on and talk

about reflexive pronouns. Reflexive pronouns are pronouns like myself

yourself, himself etc. and these are called reflexive because they reflect

back to the subject of the sentence. For example this morning I stood in front of

a mirror

What did I see in the mirror? I saw myself. In that sentence notice that the

subject and the object are both the same -

I or me. And to show that relationship we use the ending self - I saw myself.

Let me give you another example. I have a friend who likes to think very deeply

about things and when he thinks he likes to get up and walk around the room

and talk, except he doesn't talk to other people

He talks to himself. Again the subject and the object are the same person

so where do people make mistakes with these? Well take a look at these four

sentences that you have on the screen

Some of these sentences are wrong and I want you to tell me which sentences are

wrong. Stop the video if you want, read the sentences, think about which are

wrong and then play the video again and check. OK actually I tricked you a

little bit with that one

All of these sentences are actually wrong

That's because the words ourself themself, theirselves and hisself are not

real words, they don't exist in English

but many people still use those forms. So the correct way to say these

sentences would be to say we're going to paint the house by ourselves

Students who cheat on exams cheat themselves. My sisters themselves don't

recognize me now after all these years. and Jordan bought himself a present for

his birthday.

Now the pronouns that you see on the screen are the only reflexive pronouns

in English, there are no other reflexive pronouns so it's a good idea for you to

memorize these so that you don't use any wrong forms. So that's one mistake that's

very common with reflexive pronouns. The second kind of mistake has to do with

myself.

Not me but the pronoun myself. Now take a look at these sentences Joey and

myself are going to give a presentation at the meeting.

For more information please feel free to write to myself any time

Now you might even hear a native speaker say these types of sentences but

both of these are actually wrong. Can you say why they're wrong? They're wrong

because if you look at them carefully the subject and the object in these

sentences are not the same. When I said I saw myself in the mirror the subject and

the object are the same but in these two sentences that's not the case so here

you have to remove myself and replace it with the correct subject or object

pronoun. So in the first sentence you have to say Joey and I are going to give

a presentation at the meeting. And what about in the second sentence? For more

information please feel free to write to me at any time.

It's that simple. So remember to only use myself or any reflexive form when the

subject and the object are the same.

OK so let's now move on and talk about indefinite pronouns. What do you

understand by the word indefinite? It means something like not definite or not

sure

and these are words like everybody, someone, something, anything, either,

neither and these are indefinite because they don't refer to a particular

person or a particular thing. Now the important point here is that all the

indefinite pronouns that you see on the screen are singular pronouns - that means

with all of them you have to use singular verbs in the present tense. On

the screen again there are some sentences and in each sentence I would

like you to choose the correct form. Take a moment and stop the video now, think

about your answers and then play the video and check. Alright let's look at

the answers - number one - There's a party at our place on Saturday night and

everybody is welcome. This is because the pronoun everybody is singular and you

might be asking here

wait how is that possible because everybody means all the people.

True but everybody is kind of like saying every single body or every

single person so because we're referring to every single person the pronoun is

singular and you have to use a singular verb. In the same way in number two

No one knows the answer to that question.

We're talking about no one. Number three -

You look worried. Is something wrong? Number four - number four is a little

tricky

What it means is that a match happened

let's say a soccer match. Two teams played - Team A and Team B, Team A did not

score a goal and Team B also did not score a goal. That's what neither means

it means not either. It's

the opposite of either. Now this sentence is tricky because you have the word

teams before the verb but remember that the verb in a sentence should agree with

the subject of the sentence and the subject here is not teams, it's neither

which means not either.

And because neither is singular we have to say Neither of the two teams was

able to score a goal.

Did you get these right?

This sentence is similar to another sentence that I want to show you - One of

my friends _____ a doctor.

How would you fill in that gap? What you have to say is One of my friends is a

doctor. That's because we're talking about one friend, all of my friends are

not doctors - the subject of the sentence is one so is. OK let's now move on and

talk about our final type of pronoun and that is

interrogative pronouns. Now even though this name might sound a little fancy

interrogative pronouns are just the question words who, whom, whose, what and

which. Now in this lesson we're going to focus on these two - the difference between

what and which, and the difference between who and whom

So first of all do you know the difference between what and which? Well it's

really easy

What is a general question and which is a specific question. For example let's

say that we go to a restaurant - you and me

Oh sorry you and I, remember that? You and I go to a restaurant we go to the

restaurant and we sit down and the waiter brings the menu, so you ask me

What do you want to eat? Now you're saying what do you want to eat because

the menu has many items and we can choose any item

There are lots of options. But then before I can give my answer the waiter

says I'm really sorry, it's late and we only have sandwiches and noodles now. So

now you turn to me and you know there's only two options so you say Which do you

want to eat?

You're saying which because the number of options is limited - we only can eat

either sandwiches or noodles, so think of which as kind of like pointing - this or

that. In that way with any situation where there are a small number of options

use which. For example with parts of the body we use which - if someone said to

you there's something in my eye

you would ask which eye, not what eye because there are only two eyes

It's the same with ears, fingers, hands, arms, feet, legs etc. If I told you I broke

my finger you would ask me which finger? Or let's say you're watching a game with

your friends - your favorite sport

You might ask your friends - Which team do you think will win? You would ask the

same thing if you want to ask about the tournament

Maybe there are 16 teams or 32 teams but that's still a limited number

so you would ask - Which team do you think will win the cup? So that's the

difference between what and which, let's now turn to who and whom. Now before I

tell you anything let me just say this In modern English it's perfectly OK to

use who in all situations so if you're ever confused about whether to use who

or whom in a question just remember you can use who in any situation and your

meaning will be clear. But if you are writing something formal or if you want

to use correct grammar then of course it's important to know the

difference. And the difference is this who is a subject pronoun and whom is an

object pronoun. It's like I and me. Let's take a situation

Helen visited her friend Mabel in the hospital last week - there are two

questions on the screen but I want you to supply the question word in each case

What about the first one? Well in the first we know that someone visited Mabel

but we don't know who that person was that is we're asking about the subject

For that reason we use who. Who visited Mabel last week? or Who visited Mabel in

the hospital last week? In the next sentence it's the opposite

we know that Helen visited somebody and this time we want to ask about that

person. That person is in the object position so - Whom did Helen visit in the

hospital last week? Did you get both of those right? Now if you're interested to learn

more about this difference I have a whole lesson dedicated to this topic

you'll find the link in the description you can go and watch it if you like

Alright now before we finish let's do a quick recap of what we've learned

today. We started with personal pronouns we discussed two types of common

mistakes

the first is when combining the pronouns I or me with a noun or another pronoun

remember to put the other person first like Corey and I, Page and I, or Corey and me

Paige and me, The children and I and so on

the second type of mistake is using apostrophes with ours, yours and theirs

remember no apostrophes when you write any of these forms. Then we spoke about

reflexive pronouns. Do you remember the mistakes that I shared with you? The

first type of mistake is to use forms of reflexive pronouns that don't exist

The ones that you see on the screen are the only reflexive pronouns and it's a good

idea for you to memorize these forms so that you don't use any wrong ones

another common mistake is to overuse myself thinking that it's more formal

remember you can only use myself if I or me is

the subject and the object of the sentence. Then we spoke about indefinite

pronouns - all the pronouns that you see on the screen are singular so you have

to use singular verbs in the present tense. And finally we turned to

interrogative pronouns - we spoke about the difference between what and which

what is general or broad but which is more specific, kind of like pointing. And then

we looked at who and whom. Who is a subject pronoun if you want to ask about

the subject of a sentence and whom is an object pronoun. Alright I hope you

enjoyed this lesson

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