Pronoun Order - An Advanced Guide

Looking for an article to master pronoun order in English? Your search ends here if you're reading this post from the start to the end. There are some certain guidelines and rules such as 21, 23 and 31, 123 and 231 rules of pronoun order and 1st, 2nd and 3rd pronouns learning which helps you use the correct order of personal pronouns in English. As the usage of personal pronouns in the proper order tells the listener and the reader about your educational background, you will want to learn pronoun order.

 

This article covers:

• Pronoun Order - What is it?
• Does the order of pronouns matter? 
• What is 1st, 2nd and 3rd pronouns?
• What is the correct order of pronouns?
• Pronoun Order Examples
• Pronoun Order Rules
• 123 and 231 rule of pronoun
• Order of Personal Pronouns
• Order of pronouns in a positive sentence 
• Order of pronouns in a negative sentence

Before we jump into the bottomless ocean of the pronoun order, let's first discuss the questions like does the order of pronoun matter? if yes, why does it matter? What is the importance of pronoun order in English?

Does the Order of Pronoun Matter?

If we divide our conversation in English, we can divide it into two categories. One is formal conversation and the other one is informal. There are some certain situations when we have informal conversations like talking to a friend or writing a letter to your brother. On the other hand, there are some formal situations when we need to have a conversation in a formal way. 

Now, the order of pronouns in English doesn't matter when engaging in informal conversations, but it does matter when it comes to have a formal conversation. As a result, you will use the correct order of personal pronouns when using formal English, and you can ignore the order.

Therefore, the order of the personal pronouns matters in formal situations, whereas it doesn't matter in informal situations.

Pronoun Order - What is it?

There are some situations when we need to use more than one personal pronouns. In such kind of situations, we are advised to observe some guidelines as to which pronoun we should use first and which one last. Thus the order of pronouns in English refers to arranging pronouns in a particular order as per the demand of the context of a sentence when we use more than one personal pronouns. There are some general and specific rules for arranging personal pronouns in English. Here are a few examples of the correct order of pronouns in English.

Pronoun Order Examples:

a. You and I

b. You and he

c. He and I

d. John and I

Now, before you move on to understanding the rules for the correct order of personal pronouns, you need to understand the first, second and third person pronouns so that you can completely comprehend all the rules.

What Are 1st, 2nd and 3rd Pronouns?

1. The first person pronoun refers to the person who is speaking. The first person pronouns are I and we.

2. The second person pronoun refers to the person who is being spoken to. The second person pronoun is you.

3. The third person pronoun refers to the person who is being spoken about. The third person pronouns are he, she, it, they and all nouns.

Now let's move on to the rules for pronoun order in English.

Pronoun Order Rules

Here are the three major rules for arranging personal pronouns in the correct order:

Rule 1. If all the three personal pronouns: first, second and third persons are singular and used together, the correct order is: 231 rule [second, third and first persons].

Examples: 

a. You, he and I are friends.

b. You, he and I are going to the market.

c. He and I are students.

d. You and he are teachers.

e. You and I are tutors.

Rule 2. If all the three personal pronouns: first, second and third persons are plural and used together, the correct order is: 123 rule [first, second and third persons].

Examples:

a. We, you and they are employees.

b. We, you and they are businessmen.

c. We and you are customers.

d. You and they are marketers.

e. We and they are professors.

Rule 3. If the sentence in which more than one personal pronouns are to be used talks about some mistake or fault, the correct order is: 123 rule [first, second and third persons].

Examples:

a. I, you and he committed the mistake.

b. We, you and they made the blunder.

c. I and he are wrong.

d. You and he are at fault.

e. We and they are wrong.

FAQs - Pronoun Order

What is pronoun order in English?

The pronoun order in English refers to arranging the personal pronouns in a proper, correct and guided order. 

What is the correct order of pronouns?

For singular personal pronouns, the correct order is 231 [second person, third person then first person]; for plural personal pronouns, the correct order is 123 [first person, second person then third person].

What is the general order of pronoun?

You, he and I is the general order of pronouns in English as in "You, he and I are friends."

What is the order of plural pronouns?

The correct order of plural pronouns is 123 rule [first, second then third persons].

What is the polite order of pronouns?

The polite order of using pronouns in a sentence is 23 [second person then third person], 21 [second person then first person] and 31 [third person then first person].

What is the 1/2/3 rule of pronouns?

The 123 rule of pronoun refers to arranging pronouns in the order of first, second and third persons as in "We, you and they are friends."

What is pronoun order 123?

The pronoun order 123 refers to putting pronouns in the order of first, second and third persons.

What is the 231 person rule?

The 231 person rule refers to arranging personal pronouns in the order of second, third then first persons when all the personal pronouns are singular as in "You, he and I are going to the market."

Order of first, second and third person in a sentence

The following sentences have the order of first, second and third persons;

a. We, you and they are employees.

b. We, you and they are friends.

Pronoun Order Grammar

23 [second person then third person], 21[second person then first person], 31[third person then first person], 231[second person, third person then first person], 123[first person, second person then third person] are the correct orders of personal pronouns in English grammar.

123 and 231 rule of pronoun

Use the pronoun order rule 123 when all pronouns are plural and when the sentence is about some mistake; use the pronoun order rule 231 when all the pronouns are singular.

Order of Personal Pronouns

In English grammar, these are the correct orders of personal pronouns: 23 [second person then third person], 21[second person then first person], 31[third person then first person], 231[second person, third person then first person], 123[first person, second person then third person].

Order of pronouns in a positive sentence

Use the pronoun order 231 in a positive sentence when all the pronouns are singular as in "You, he and I are friends." 

Order of pronouns in a negative sentence

Use the pronoun order 123 in a negative sentence as in "I, you and he have made the mistake."