Personal pronouns refer to a particular person or thing. Penlighten explains this type of pronoun in detail with the help of easy examples, as well as lists the ones in French, Spanish, Latin, and German.
Did You Know?
In English, the subject form of the singular first-person pronoun “I” is always capitalized. However, several other languages like German, Italian, and Spanish capitalize the formal second-person pronoun.
A pronoun is a part of speech that replaces the noun in a sentence. Pronouns are classified as personal pronouns, relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, possessive pronouns, intensive pronouns, reciprocal pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and indefinite pronouns. Personal pronouns are the ones that are used to represent specific people or things.
They are used on the basis of:
● Number (‘I’ for singular, ‘we’ for plural)
● Person (‘I’ for 1st person, ‘you’ for 2nd person, ‘he, she, it’ for 3rd person)
● Gender (‘he’ for male, ‘she’ for female, ‘it’ for neuter)
● Case (‘we’ as subject, ‘us’ as object)
Personal pronouns are used in place of the person or thing, which is being talked about. Let us learn more about them through various examples.
Personal Pronouns in the English Language
In Different Languages
| NUMBER | PERSON | GENDER | PERSONAL PRONOUNS | |||||||||
| ENGLISH | FRENCH | SPANISH | LATIN | GERMAN | ||||||||
| Subject | Object | Subject | Object | Subject | Object | Subject | Object | Subject | Object | |||
| SINGULAR | 1st Person | Male/Female | I | me | je | me/moi | yo | me | ego | mē/mihi | ich | mich/mir |
| 2nd Person | Male/Female | you | you | tu | te/toi | tú/usted | te | tū | tē/tibi | du/sie | dich/dir/sie/ihnen | |
| 3rd Person | Male | he | him | il | le/lui | él | le/lo | is | eum/eī | er | ihn/ihm | |
| Female | she | her | elle | la/lui | ella | le/la | ea | eam/eī | sie | sie/ihr | ||
| Neuter | it | it | on | – | – | – | id | id/eī | es | es/ihm | ||
| PLURAL | 1st Person | Male/Female | we | us | nous | nous | nostras/ nosotros | nos | nōs | nōs/nōbīs | wir | uns |
| 2nd Person | Male/Female | you | you | vous | vous | vostras/ vosotros | os | vōs | vōs/vōbīs | ihr | euch | |
| 3rd Person | Male/Female/Neuter | they | them | ils/elles | les/leur | ellos/ellas | les/los/las | eī/iī/eae/ea | eōs/eās/ea/eīs/iīs | sie | sie/ihnen | |
Usage of Personal Pronouns
» I am a student.
» It is beautiful.
» They are going to play.
» This book belongs to me.
» Aunt Mary is living with us.
» John likes her.
» Susan is going with them.
» They are nice people.
» He is a teacher.
» It does not bark.
» I like to dance.
» He is swimming.
» We are here.
» You are a good man.
» He is leaving for France.
» They are enjoying.
» She is a teacher.
» Come with us.
» We painted the house.
» He is still studying.
Personal pronouns are very useful since they help avoid constant repetition of nouns. To avoid confusion in sentences, it is very important to choose a personal pronoun that agrees with the number, person, gender, and case of the noun that is being talked about.
