Subject Pronoun - A Guide for Beginners

What is a subject pronoun? A subject pronoun is a pronoun that's used as the subject of a verb in a sentence. Subject pronouns in English can be personal pronouns, interrogative pronouns and relative pronouns which can be used as subjects of verbs in sentences. Subject pronouns in English include I, you, he, she, it, they, we, who, what, which, that, etc. Subject pronouns are usually placed before the verbs which they are subjects of.

What is a personal pronoun?, what is an interrogative pronoun?, what is a relative pronoun?, what is the subject of a sentence?, etc. are the questions taken up in this post. Continue to read to learn subject pronoun definition, types, examples with exercises. 

This article covers:

• Subject Pronoun - Meaning and Definition 
• What is a subject pronoun? A subject pronoun in grammar is....
• Subject Pronoun Examples
• Examples of Subject Pronouns in Sentences 
• How to Identify Subject Pronouns?
• Subject Pronoun Vs Object Pronoun
• Subject Pronoun Worksheets and Exercises
• FAQs - Subject Pronoun

Subject Pronoun - Meaning and Definition 

What does subject pronoun mean? 

The word "subject" in the phrase "subject pronoun" refers to the subject in grammar which is an element performing the action in a sentence. On the other hand, the word "pronoun" means a word which is used in place of a noun to avoid repeating the same noun. So, subject pronoun means any pronoun which acts as the subject of a verb in a sentence. 

What is a subject pronoun in grammar? 

A subject pronoun in grammar is a pronoun that acts as the subject of a verb in a sentence.  Subject pronouns are used to suggest that a person or thing performs an action. Subject pronouns are placed before verbs used in sentences. 

Subject Pronoun Examples

Here are the examples of subject pronouns in English:

• I
• You
• He
• She
• It
• They
• We
• Who
• Which
• What
• That

Examples of Subject Pronouns in Sentences

a. I am a teacher at SM college.

b. He is reading a novel.

c. She does not recognize you.

d. They are honest.

e. We speak English.

f. Who is coming?

g. Which is yours?

h. What happened?

i. This is the boy that helped me a lot.

 

How to Identify Subject Pronouns?

Identifying a subject pronoun is as easy as ABC. The best way to identify subject pronouns is to make sure whether or not a pronoun is acting as the subject or doer of verb or action in a sentence. Let's take "he" for example. The personal pronoun "he" is a subject pronoun in the below-given example. 

• He is reading a novel.

The reason why "he" is a subject pronoun in the example above is that it acts as the subject of the verb phrase "is reading."

Let's take another example of subject pronoun. The relative pronoun "that" acts as a subject pronoun in the following example.

• The boy that helped me is this.

Why not look at another example of subject pronoun? The interrogative pronoun "who" is also a subject pronoun in the example below.

• Who is coming?

The interrogative pronoun "who" is also a subject pronoun which plays the role of a subject in the sentence above.

Subject Pronoun Vs Object Pronoun

The main difference between a subject and an object pronoun is that a subject pronoun acts as the subject of a sentence, whereas an object pronoun acts as the object of a sentence. Simply put, subject pronouns perform the actions, whereas object pronouns receive the actions. The subject pronouns include I, you, he, she, it, they, we, etc. whereas the object pronouns include me, you, him, her, it, them, us, etc.

Examples of Subject pronouns:

• You/he/she/they/we/I answered the question.
• It worked.

Examples of Object Pronouns:

• John hit it/me/you/him/her/them/us.

Subject Pronoun Worksheets and Exercises

Question 1: Tell which of the following statements about subject pronoun are not true.

1. A subject pronoun becomes the subject of a sentence.

2. A subject pronoun receives the action performed by the subject.

3. A subject pronoun is in objective case

4. The subjective case is related to subject pronoun.

Question 2: Identify the subject pronouns used in the following examples.

1. He is my teacher.

2. John told me about you.

3. Why did they go there?

4. Could you please help us?

5. Do you want to learn English?

FAQs - Subject Pronoun

What's a subject pronoun?

A subject pronoun is a pronoun that's used as the subject of a verb in a sentence. Subject pronouns in English can be personal pronouns, interrogative pronouns and relative pronouns which can be used as subjects of verbs in sentences. Subject pronouns in English include I, you, he, she, it, they, we, who, what, which, that, etc. Subject pronouns are usually placed before the verbs which they are subjects of.

What is a subject pronoun example?

a. I am a teacher at SM college.

b. He is reading a novel.

c. She does not recognize you.

d. They are honest.

e. We speak English.

f. Who is coming?

g. Which is yours?

h. What happened?

i. This is the boy that helped me a lot.

What are the 7 subject pronouns?

I, you, he, she, it, they and we are the 7 subject pronouns in English. These subject pronouns act as subjects of verbs in sentences. They are usually placed before verbs in sentences.

Subject pronoun definition 

A subject pronoun is defined as the pronoun which acts as the subject of verb in a sentence as "I" in "I am reading a book."