PRONOUN — The Word That Stands In
🎯 Why This Chapter Matters
Ravi wrote in his exam: *"Each of the boys have done their homework."* It sounded perfectly fine to him — and that is exactly why he lost the mark. Pronouns are the smallest words in English (he, it, they, who, each…), yet examiners at SSC, Banking and Railways love them because they test agreement, case and reference all at once. Master this one chapter and you unlock error-spotting, sentence improvement and fill-in-the-blanks questions across every paper.
📌 Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
- Identify all 8 types of pronouns and their functions.
- Apply the 12 Golden Rules of pronoun usage instantly.
- Spot the examiner's favourite traps — intervening phrases, "each/every" confusion, and case errors after "than/as".
- Solve pronoun questions quickly using elimination.
1. What Is a Pronoun?
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun (Latin: *pro* = for, *nomen* = name). Without pronouns, English would sound like a broken record:
> ❌ *Rohan went to Rohan's house because Rohan was tired.*
> ✅ *Rohan went to his house because he was tired.*
The noun a pronoun replaces is called its antecedent. The golden thread of this whole chapter: a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender and person.
🧠 Active Recall: In the sentence *"The girls finished their project,"* what is the antecedent of *their*? (Answer: *girls*)
2. The 8 Types of Pronouns
| Type | Words | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | I, we, you, he, she, it, they | *She is my friend.* |
| Possessive | mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs | *The pen is mine.* |
| Reflexive | myself, himself, themselves | *He hurt himself.* |
| Demonstrative | this, that, these, those | *This is my book.* |
| Interrogative | who, whom, whose, which, what | *Who called you?* |
| Relative | who, whom, whose, which, that | *The boy who won…* |
| Indefinite | each, every, someone, anybody, none | *Each has a pen.* |
| Reciprocal | each other, one another | *They love each other.* |
Case of Personal Pronouns — the heart of error questions:
| Person | Subject (Nominative) | Object (Accusative) | Possessive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | I | me | my / mine |
| 2nd | you | you | your / yours |
| 3rd singular | he / she / it | him / her / it | his / her / its |
| 1st plural | we | us | our / ours |
| 3rd plural | they | them | their / theirs |
🧠 Active Recall: Which is correct — *"Between you and I"* or *"Between you and me"*? (Answer: *me* — after a preposition, use the object case.)
Mnemonic 🧩 — "SAP-DIR": Subject acts, After preposition → object, Possession needs possessive — Don't mix cases, It's = it is, Reflexive needs the subject itself.
3. ⭐ The 12 Golden Rules of Pronouns
- Each, every, either, neither, everyone, everybody, someone, anybody, no one → always singular verb and singular pronoun. *Each of the boys has done his work.*
- Two or more singular nouns joined by "and" → plural pronoun. *Ram and Shyam have done their work.*
- Singular nouns joined by "or / either…or / neither…nor" → singular pronoun. *Ram or Shyam has lost his pen.*
- Or/nor joining a singular and a plural noun → pronoun agrees with the nearer noun. *Neither the teacher nor the students did their duty.*
- After "than" and "as" → use the case the full sentence demands. *She is taller than I (am).* / *He loves you more than me* (= more than he loves me).
- After prepositions (between, to, with, for) → object case. *Between you and me, he is wrong.*
- "It" is used for animals, babies and lifeless things; also for distance, time and weather. *It is raining.*
- Reflexive pronouns are used only when the subject and object are the same person. *He availed himself of the chance.* (❌ *Myself went to Delhi.*)
- "Each other" for two; "one another" for more than two. *The two brothers help each other.*
- Relative pronoun "who" for persons, "which" for things/animals, "that" for both — and only "that" after superlatives, *all, only, any, same*. *This is the best book that I have read.*
- "One" as subject takes "one/one's" throughout, never he/his. *One should do one's duty.*
- Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe. *yours, hers, ours, theirs, its* — ❌ *your's, it's* (it's = it is).
🧠 Active Recall: Fill in — *"Neither of the two girls has brought ___ book."* (Answer: *her* — Rule 1: *neither* is an indefinite pronoun and is always singular.)
4. ⚠️ Examiner's Trap Box
> Trap 1 — The Intervening Phrase: *"The captain, along with his players, have arrived."* ❌ The phrase *along with his players* is a decoy. Subject = *captain* (singular) → has arrived. Words like *along with, as well as, together with, in addition to* never change the number.
>
> Trap 2 — Sound-Right Case Error: *"Whom do you think will win?"* ❌ It *sounds* formal, but the pronoun is the subject of *will win* → Who. Test: replace with he/him — *he will win* → who.
>
> Trap 3 — "Each of… their": *"Each of the students should bring their books."* ❌ *Each* is singular → his or her book. Examiners exploit the modern spoken habit of "their" — in exams, follow the singular rule.
5. 🔁 Linguistic Bridge — Hindi से English
| Hindi में हम सोचते हैं | गलत English | सही English |
|---|---|---|
| "मैं और राम गए" (मैं पहले) | *I and Ram went.* | *Ram and I went.* (In English, "I" comes last — politeness rule: 2-3-1) |
| "यह मेरी किताब है" (mine = मेरी) | *This is mine book.* | *This is my book.* / *This book is mine.* |
| "उसने खुद को चोट पहुँचाई" | *He hurt hisself.* | *He hurt himself.* (no "hisself/theirself" in English!) |
| "तुम्हारा और मेरा" | *Yours and mine pens* | *Your and my pens* (possessive adjective before noun) |
Person-order rule (231): Good things → You, he/she, I (2nd, 3rd, 1st). Bad things/confession → I, you, he (1st, 2nd, 3rd). *You, he and I are friends.* / *I, you and he are guilty.*
6. Summary Table — One-Look Revision
| Question Type | Instant Check | Answer Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Each/every/either/neither | Singular? | has / his / her |
| A and B | Plural | their |
| A or B | Nearer noun | agrees with B |
| than / as + pronoun | Complete the sentence mentally | I/he/she (subject) or me/him (object) |
| between/with + pronoun | Preposition → object | me / him / them |
| Superlative / all / only + clause | Relative pronoun | that |
| One as subject | Consistency | one / one's |
| Apostrophe in yours/its | Never | yours, its |
📅 Review After 2 Days
Close the book and write from memory: (1) the 8 types of pronouns, (2) Rules 1, 4, 5 and 12 with one example each, (3) the 231 person-order rule. Then redo the three Active Recall questions. If you stumble on any rule, mark it and revisit it before attempting Practice Set 1.