Personal Pronouns

Useful pairs: I → me, you → you, he → him, she → her, it → it, we → us, they → them. The form on the left helps identify the participant; the one on the right is needed in an object role. You and it have the same spelling in both roles.

Me refers to the speaker in an object role; us refers to a group including the speaker. For someone already referred to as he, use him; for she, use her. Do not choose a pronoun based on a name, occupation or appearance: use the person's known pronouns or sufficient context.

In simple constructions such as help me, call him, know her, use it and invite them, the object pronoun follows its verb. A question or negative does not change this form: Can you help me? / You don't know me.

Not every pronoun to the right of a verb is its object. In I think she knows him, she begins the next part of the thought — she knows him. It is him that is the object of knows. Mechanically changing every pronoun after the first verb will therefore cause errors.

When a personal pronoun is the object of a preposition, use its object form: for me, to you, with him, about her, at it, from us, without them. Different prepositions do not change that form: for me and with me both use me.

Learn each short construction as a whole: wait for someone, listen to someone, look at something. Do not add to to every verb: help me and call her are already constructed without it.

For one ordinary thing, use it: a bag → it, a phone → it. For several things or people, use them: two bags → them, my neighbours → them. Them does not refer only to people.

They/them is also used for one person, including when their gender is unknown or they use these pronouns. Do not regard them as wrong merely because the context concerns one person. In exercises with him/her, the required pair is given; in other cases, do not guess it.

A pronoun should clearly refer to a person or thing. If there are two possible people nearby and it is unclear who him means, repeating the name is helpful clarification, not a failure to use pronouns.

Me is the current speaker, us is a group including the current speaker, and you is the person or people being addressed. You works equally for one person, several people and a polite form of address.

Do not copy pronouns automatically in a dialogue. If the other speaker says Help me, the same person is you in your reply: I can help you. If a group asks Help us, you can likewise answer I can help you, addressing the whole group.

In I like them, I is the person who has the positive feeling; them names the people or things that person likes. They like me expresses a different meaning, because it reverses these roles. Keep the intended meaning instead of mechanically rearranging pronouns.

Before answering, ask yourself: who or what does the pronoun refer to; am I included in this group; what is its role with the particular verb or preposition? Afterwards, check whether the listener will understand who is meant.

This lesson does not cover the entire system of subjects, possessive forms or reflexive pronouns. For example, her in I know her replaces a person, whereas her in her bag shows whose bag it is — a different role. Open exercises provide a model and criteria for self-checking; you do not have to match the model, and there is no automatic judgement of whether your own text is correct.

In English, use my phone, my bag, and my keys: my does not change according to the gender or number of the following noun. The same applies to the other six forms, even if possessive words change to agree with nouns in another language.

Choose his or her according to the person you are referring to, not the grammatical gender a word such as phone, bag, or sister may have in another language. If the bag belongs to someone identified as he, it is his bag; if the phone belongs to someone identified as she, it is her phone.

Your works the same when addressing one person or several. Context establishes the number of people addressed. The noun shows the number of things: your ticket or your tickets.

A possessive introduces a noun phrase. A description can come between it and the noun: my new book, their small kitchen. Before the noun therefore does not necessarily mean directly beside it.

In an ordinary noun phrase, do not add a, an, or the to my, your, or the other possessive forms: my address, not the my address. The possessive already identifies whose address it is.

My needs a noun in this construction: This is my bag. If the noun is not repeated, use a different form: This is mine. Do not place mine before bag. These independent possessive pronouns are studied separately in detail.

My name, your sister, and our school show relationships: for example, our school can be the school we attend. A possessive expresses a connection, not necessarily legal ownership. People are not someone's possessions.

Possessives are also used with body parts and personal things: my hands, her hair. Choose the form according to whose body part or object is meant: I wash my hands, you wash your hands, she washes her hands. First establish exactly whose hands are involved.

Its connects a noun with an object, place, or animal referred to as it: its door, its name, its tail. Possessive its has no apostrophe.

It’s means it is, and in another construction it can also mean it has. Here we practise the simple contrast with it is: It’s small is a statement about size; its small room is a noun phrase. It has in more complex tense forms is a separate topic.

To check the spelling, try expanding the contraction. Replacing It’s open with It is open works. In its door, replacing its with it is destroys the intended noun phrase.

Their expresses a connection with they and precedes a noun phrase: their room. They’re contracts they are: They’re ready. There can indicate a place: The room is there. It also appears in there is / there are, but those constructions are practised separately.

These words often sound the same. Sound alone cannot select the right spelling: you need meaning and sentence structure. In their new room, their is followed by a noun phrase; in they’re in the room, they are is followed by information about where people are.

The same name or object can be my for its owner and your for the person speaking to them. We answer What is your name? with My name is… because we now speak from our own perspective. Our includes the speaker in the group; their usually refers to another group already clear from context.

Do not decide on he or she solely from a name, profession, or possession. Learning tasks establish the relevant person through context. Their can also refer to one person, for example when their gender is unknown: Someone left their bag. This is not a plural-agreement error.

An animal can be referred to neutrally as it / its, while a familiar pet can be he / his or she / her. Keep the established reference clear and consistent; do not treat its as the only possible form for every animal.

Before answering, make three quick checks: who or what the noun is connected with, who is speaking now, and whether a noun follows the possessive. This lesson targets neutral standard written English. Dialect forms are not the models for these exercises.

I is the person who is speaking or writing now. You is the addressee: one person or several people. English uses one pronoun, you, for both meanings.

We includes the speaker and someone else. It can mean “you and I” or “I and other people, but not you.” When the speaker changes, the same person can become I instead of you; the same group can become you instead of we.

We use he and she for a person according to that person’s known pronouns. A name or profession alone is not a reliable basis for choosing between them. In a learning situation, the necessary context will be provided.

For one thing, we usually use it. For several things, animals, or people, we use they.

They can also refer to one person when that person’s gender is unknown or unimportant, or when they is that person’s pronoun. With singular they, we say they are, not they is. This is not wrong merely because the person is one person.

In an ordinary declarative sentence, the subject pronoun comes before the verb or verb phrase: We are ready; They can help. In questions, the order may be different: Are you ready? You is still the subject after are.

The pronoun I is always written with a capital letter, even inside a sentence. The other pronouns do not need a capital letter merely because they are pronouns: I know you. At the beginning of a sentence, any first word needs a capital letter.

For the subject of a separate complete sentence, we use I, you, he, she, it, we, they. We do not substitute me, him, her, us, or them: She calls, not Her calls.

Object forms are not “bad pronouns”: I call her is correct, but her is not the subject here. In a short informal reply, Me, or in the phrase It’s me, me should not be mechanically corrected to I. Here we are mainly practising complete sentences with an explicit subject.

First name the person or thing if the other person does not yet know what you mean. Then replace the repetition with a pronoun. If several possible people or things have just been mentioned and the reference is unclear, repeating the name or noun is perfectly normal.

An ordinary complete statement should not be built with the subject omitted, as in “Live nearby.” However, commands such as Come in! usually do not have an explicit subject; that is a different construction. It in It is raining or It is late can fill the subject position without referring to a specific named thing. Detailed cases involving weather, time, and distance belong to a separate topic.

When writing your own text, check three things: who is speaking, who each pronoun refers to, and whether the complete sentence has the correct subject form. The open-ended exercises below include models and self-check criteria; your answer does not have to match the model.

The six main pairs are my → mine; your → yours; his → his; her → hers; our → ours; their → theirs. Use mine for something belonging to me, yours for something belonging to the person I address, and ours for something belonging to us. For a previously mentioned person referred to as he, use his; for she, use hers; for they, use theirs.

Yours can address one person or a group. Ours includes the speaker among the owners; theirs does not include the speaker in that group. In a dialogue, the same object can be mine for one speaker and yours for another.

Do not guess his or hers from a name, profession or the appearance of an object. Use the known owner and the pronouns used for that person.

My, your, her, our and their are possessive determiners: they introduce a noun phrase. Adjectives can come between the determiner and noun: my old bag, her blue coat. Mine, yours, hers, ours and theirs already represent that phrase, so do not put them before its head noun: not mine bag, but my bag or mine.

His has the same spelling in both roles: his desk and The desk is his. Identify the role from the construction, not simply from the letter s. Her can also be a personal object pronoun in I know her; that means the person herself, not something belonging to her.

The rule does not forbid every noun appearing later in the sentence. In Mine is on the table, table belongs to another phrase: on the table. The error arises specifically when mine is used as a determiner in mine bag.

A possessive pronoun can be a subject: Mine is blue. It can be an object after a verb: Take mine. It can follow be: The blue one is mine. Its form does not change with this role.

In a simple comparison, the pronoun avoids repeating the noun: My room is smaller than yours. This compares my room with your room, not me with you.

To check the meaning, mentally expand the pronoun into the full phrase. If You can use mine means You can use my pen, the form must be mine, not me: the thing being used is the pen, not the person.

For one thing or several, the pronoun is unchanged: This key is mine; These keys are mine. Do not add a plural ending to mine or remove s from hers, ours or theirs because there is only one thing.

When a possessive pronoun is the subject, make the verb agree with what it replaces. For one shared desk: Ours is near the door. For several of our chairs: Ours are near the door. There are several owners in both cases, but desk or chairs determines is or are.

If number is not clear from context, theirs alone is not enough to choose is or are. First establish whether one thing or several things are meant.

Learn the complete forms: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. None has an apostrophe. The s in yours or hers is part of the pronoun, not a plural marker or the possessive 's added to names.

Mine does not become mines, and his does not become hiss or his's. Do not build these forms by mechanically adding s to every word; learn my–mine and the unchanged pair his–his.

In It's hers, the apostrophe belongs to It's = It is. It does not appear in hers. Distinguish the contracted verb from the possessive pronoun.

Is this yours? and Are these yours? check whether something belongs to the listener. Whose bag is this? is an open question about ownership. Mine is a possible conversational answer because the thing has already been named; It's mine is fuller.

Change the viewpoint in your reply: someone asks Is this yours?, and you confirm It's mine. If speaking for your group, you can answer It's ours. Do not automatically copy yours from the question.

Ownership is not permission. It's mine only states whose thing it is. You can use mine also offers permission to use it. To deny a mistaken assumption, say It isn't mine; to clarify politely, say Excuse me, is this yours?

Their and theirs can refer to one person as well as a group when that person is referred to as they, including when gender is unknown. This is not a plural-agreement mistake. In the basic exercises, the owner is identified clearly enough that there is no need to guess his or hers.

Independent its, as in The bowl is its, is usually avoided: The bowl is the dog's is simpler. However, do not conclude that its can never occur without a following noun: of its own is an established construction. This is a separate boundary, not a seventh form for ordinary short answers.

A friend of mine means one of my friends. Mine still expresses a possessive relationship, but the whole phrase with of has a separate structure. Recognising it is enough for this lesson: the main practice is identifying ownership, replacing a repeated phrase and responding appropriately.

For your own answers, compare your text with the model and criteria: is the thing clear, is the owner correct, is the form correct and is the intended purpose achieved? The model is one possible version; self-checking is not an automatically validated assessment or certification of your level.

After it is, you can use an adjective: warm, cold, sunny or windy. An adjective is not a verb, so do not lose is.

Rain can be a verb. It rains a lot here describes the usual weather: rain is frequent here. It is raining now says that rain is falling at this moment. Do not mix the forms as It is rains. This brief distinction helps you keep the subject and construction correct; it does not replace a separate lesson on tenses.

When describing past conditions with an adjective, change is to was: It was windy yesterday. It remains the same.

It is cold describes general conditions. I am cold describes how the speaker feels. Both sentences are correct but not interchangeable: someone can feel cold even in a warm room.

Likewise, It is hot describes heat in the surroundings, while I am hot describes the speaker feeling hot. If you ask to close a window because you feel uncomfortable, refer to yourself; if you report the weather before going out, describe the conditions.

For the current time, say It is six or It's six o'clock. Do not add at: this answers what time it is now, not when a meeting starts. It's six thirty means 6:30; add o'clock only for an exact hour.

The same construction names a day or date: It's Tuesday. It's 4 May. Familiar British and American orders are possible for dates: the fourth of May or May fourth. You do not need to learn every way of reading dates here.

Ask What time is it? for the clock time, What day is it? for the day of the week, and What's the date today? for the date. In the last question, the subject is the date; this is also a correct way to ask. Today is Tuesday is grammatical too; an exercise may specifically require it as its learning target.

To state a distance, it is useful to begin with It is and add a number and unit: It's two kilometres from the hotel to the station. From marks the start and to the end of the route. It stays singular even when there are several kilometres.

Useful questions are Is it far to the station? and How far is it from here to the station? For a negative, use It isn't far. To describe a large distance, It's a long way to the station is natural.

The station is two kilometres away is also correct, but station is the subject. After a place has been mentioned, it can refer to that place: The bank? It isn't far from here. To practise a clear dummy-subject construction, we use the distance from A to B. Travel time does not give an exact number of kilometres: ten minutes on foot and ten minutes by bus are not the same distance.

With is, form the negative using not: It is not cold. You can contract it to It isn't cold or It's not cold. For a question, swap is and it: Is it cold? Do not add do.

Short answers to Is it raining? are Yes, it is and No, it isn't. In a standard positive short answer, is cannot be contracted: not Yes, it's. If a description follows, a contraction is possible: Yes, it's raining.

With the verb rains, the structure differs: Does it rain here? — It doesn't rain much here. After does or doesn't, use rain without -s. This supporting pattern is needed only for discussing usual weather.

It's and It is are ordinary variants of the same construction in these statements. A contraction does not mean the subject has disappeared. Write the apostrophe: It's cold, not Its cold.

In conversation, What time is it? can be answered with Six o'clock. Messages to friends may contain short fragments such as Cold today! These depend on context. If the task asks for a complete sentence, choose It's six o'clock or It's cold today.

Do not add it to every English utterance. Take an umbrella is a normal imperative without an expressed subject. The weather is cold and Today is Monday also have their own subjects. The aim is to use it where this construction fits, not to rewrite all other correct sentences.

The subject forms are I, you, he, she, it, we and they. The corresponding object forms are me, you, him, her, it, us and them. The grammatical form changes within a pair, not the person or group: we and us can refer to the same people including the speaker.

Pronoun cases in another language do not necessarily have separate English equivalents. Depending on the verb and preposition, me can express different relationships that another language marks with different forms. Choose the English form according to the English construction, and translate the meaning naturally.

In an ordinary statement, the subject often precedes the main verb and its object follows. This is a useful starting pattern, but not a universal position rule: in questions and longer sentences, identify the role first.

When a personal pronoun is the complement of a preposition, use the object form. Say with him, for her, to us, from them and next to me. A preposition can contain several words, as next to does.

Do not add an English preposition just because a translation into another language seems to require one. For example, help me and call her both use a pronoun directly as the verb's object, without to.

When two people are joined by and after a preposition, the forms remain object forms. Between you and me can introduce a confidential remark or mean that something should remain private between the two people. And does not turn me into I.

You does not change form between subject and object. It also has the same form in both roles. Identical spelling does not mean identical grammatical function.

You can address one person or several; the situation determines this, not an ending on the word. For a previously mentioned singular object, English often uses it: do not transfer the grammatical gender of words such as phone or lamp from another language.

To understand the role of you or it, examine the whole construction: You need it, I need you, It works. You do not need to invent a second form; you need to understand the relationships between the words.

In Can she help him? and Do they know us?, an auxiliary or modal comes before the subject. This does not turn she and they into object forms. Identify the subject associated with help or know.

Do not apply “an object form follows any verb” to an entire long sentence. In I think she is ready, she is ready has its own subject she. It follows think but is not its simple pronominal object. This explains the limits of the position clue; complex subordinate clauses are not separately practised here.

Do not force familiar expressions such as It's me into I am either. It's me is a natural way to identify yourself, for example at a door. This lesson focuses on subjects, objects and prepositional phrases, not every construction after be.

In standard writing, a coordinated subject needs subject forms: He and I work here. If the same pair is an object, use object forms: They know him and me. A prepositional phrase also takes object forms: with him and me.

A useful check is to temporarily remove the other participant. Nora and I work here → I work here. This is for Nora and me → This is for me. Do not automatically put I after every and.

It is usually polite and natural to name the other person before yourself: He and I. However, I and he is not a grammatically impossible order. If an exercise checks pronoun forms rather than participant order, that version should not be rejected.

Me and him work here occurs in some informal conversational varieties of English. For neutral standard writing, choose He and I work here. This recommends the target standard and register; it does not claim that native speakers never use the informal version.

Before choosing a form, establish the reference: I is the current speaker, you is the addressee, and we is a group including the speaker. When the speaker changes, the same person may be referred to differently. Do not mechanically copy pronouns from the question.

For a third person, use pronouns established by the context. A name alone does not guarantee he or she. If the reference could be ambiguous, name the person first or clarify who is meant. They/them can also refer to one person; controlled tasks in this lesson explicitly provide the context or set of forms.

For self-checking, read your answer twice. First check the meaning: who knows whom, calls whom or goes with whom? Then check each pronoun form. In your own responses, the model gives one possible version; other natural formulations are allowed if they meet the visible requirements.