Personal Pronouns: Definition, Types and Rules

A personal pronoun, as the name suggests, relates to a grammatical person such as first person, second person or third person. Personal pronouns can refer either to people or animals such as I and it. 

Read the entire article to learn more about personal pronoun definition, types and example sentences. 

This article covers:

• Personal Pronouns in English - Definition and Meaning 
• Personal Pronouns Examples
• Personal Pronouns Sentences
• Types of Personal Pronouns
• Personal Pronouns Chart
• Rules of Personal Pronouns
• Personal Pronouns List
• Personal Pronouns Exercises and Worksheets with Answers
• FAQs - Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns in English - Definition and Meaning 

Personal pronouns are the pronouns that refer to grammatical persons such as first, second and third persons. First person is the person speaking, second person refers to the person being spoken to (listener) and third person refers to other people who are being talked about.

Personal pronouns refer to both people, animals or nonliving objects. for example, I, first person, refers to a human being, and it, third person, refers to an animal or an object. More interestingly, the pronouns such as I, you, he can also refer to animals as you see in fables-animal stories where the pronouns are used for animals. 

Personal Pronouns Examples

• I, me, my, mine, myself
• You, you, your, yours, yourself or yourselves
• We, us, our, ours, ourselves
• He, him, his, his, himself
• She, her, her, hers, herself
• It, it, its, itself
• They, them, their, theirs, themselves

Personal Pronouns Sentences

a. I did that myself.

b. We told her about them.

c. She informed him of the accident.

d. The dog moves its tail.

e. You don't know me.

Types of Personal Pronouns in English

There are different types of personal pronouns based on number, person, case and gender. All the types of personal pronouns with their definitions are mentioned below.

1. Personal pronouns based on number refer to the number of pronouns (how many there are.). Based on number, pronouns are classed into the following two types.

• Singular personal pronouns: pronouns such as I, you, he, she, it and they (they is singular when this pronoun refers to a nonspecific gender person).
• Plural personal pronouns: pronouns such as we, you, they are plural personal pronouns.

2. Personal pronouns based on person refer to the grammatical person of the pronoun. Personal pronouns based on person are classed into the following three types.

• First person: the first person refers to the person who is speaking (speaker).
• Second person: the second person refers to the person who is being spoken to (listener).
• Third person: the third person refers to the person who is being spoken about ( neither speaker nor listener).

3. Personal pronouns based on case refer to the grammatical case such as subjective or objective case. Based on case, personal pronouns are classed into the following kinds.

• Subjective or nominative personal pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, they, we are subjective or nominative personal pronouns.
• Objective personal pronouns: Me, you, him, her, it, them, us are objective personal pronouns.
• Possessive personal pronouns: Mine, yours, his. hers, theirs, ours are possessive personal pronouns.

4. Personal pronouns based on gender refer to the male, female and nonspecific gender. Based on gender, personal pronouns are categorized into the following types.

• Masculine gender: he/him for males.
• Feminine gender: she/her for females.
• Gender-neutral: they/them for nonspecific gender.

Rules of Personal Pronouns

Rule 1. When used as the subject of sentence, personal pronouns are used in subjective or nominative case.

Examples:

a. I speak English and Arabic.

b. You can do it very easily.

c. He goes to school everyday.

d. She loves to read novels.

e. It moves ahead.

f. We will find a solution.

g. They are close friends.

Rule 2. When used as the object of a sentence, personal pronouns are used in objective case. 

Examples:

a. She told me about the incident.

b. They informed you of the accident.

c. I told him that I would accompany him.

d. Do you adore her?

e. I myself did it.

f. He told us that he was going to the market.

g. I informed them of what happened last night.

Rule 3. When used to show possession or ownership, personal pronouns are used in possessive case either as possessive adjective or possessive pronoun.

Personal Pronouns as Possessive Adjectives

Examples:

a. My car is parked there.

b. Your name is written here.

c. His bike is parked here.

d. Her mother came last night.

e. Its legs are injured.

f. Our university will reopen after two months.

g. Their house was sold yesterday.

Personal Pronouns as Possessive Pronouns

Examples:

a. This car is mine.

b. This bike is yours.

c. This laptop is his.

d. This pen is hers.

e. NA (Not applicable)

f. This university is ours.

g. That house is theirs.

Rule 4. When used as reflective or emphatic, personal pronouns are used in reflective case. 

Reflective Personal Pronouns 

Examples:

a. I believe in myself.

b. You believe in yourself/yourselves.

c. He believes in himself.

d. She believes in herself.

e. it believes in itself.

f. We believe in ourselves.

g. They believe in themselves.

Emphatic Personal Pronouns

Examples:

a. I myself did it.

b. You yourself/yourselves did it.

c. He himself did it.

d. She herself did it.

e. It itself did it.

f. We ourselves did it.

g. They themselves did it.

Note:- The difference between reflective and emphatic personal pronouns is that personal pronouns are called reflective when the subject and the object are the same person as in "I believe in myself.", and personal pronouns are called emphatic pronouns when they are used for the emphasis as in "I myself did it.".

Personal Pronouns List

• I, me, my, mine, myself
• You, you, your, yours, yourself or yourselves
• We, us, our, ours, ourselves
• He, him, his, his, himself
• She, her, her, hers, herself
• It, it, its, itself
• They, them, their, theirs, themselves

Personal Pronouns Exercises and Worksheets with Answers

Question 1. Select the personal pronouns in nominative and objective cases in the following sentences.

a. I was expecting something special from you on my birthday.

b. You could not do it well.

c. Why are you late to inform him about my proposal?

Question 2. Select the personal pronouns in possessive case in the below given sentences.

a. Your baby is absolutely gorgeous.

b. What's your name?

c.  I completed my task. I don't know about yours.

FAQs - Personal Pronouns 

What are personal pronouns?

A personal pronoun, as the name suggests, relates to a grammatical person such as first person, second person or third person. Personal pronouns can refer either to people or animals such as I and it.

What are the examples of personal pronouns?

• I, me, my, mine, myself
• You, you, your, yours, yourself or yourselves
• We, us, our, ours, ourselves
• He, him, his, his, himself
• She, her, her, hers, herself
• It, it, its, itself
• They, them, their, theirs, themselves