Editing Pronoun (section)

== English pronouns ==
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2021}}

English pronouns have often traditionally been classified as different from nouns, but at least one modern grammar defines them as a subclass of nouns.<ref name=Pullum-2024>{{citation |year=2024 |last=Pullum |first=Geoffrey K. |author-link=Geoffrey K. Pullum |title=The Truth About English Grammar |publisher=Polity Press |isbn=978-1509560547}}</ref>{{rp|33–42}}<!--This author, Pullum, is also the coauthor of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (by Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, 2002, ISBN 978-0521431460).-->

English personal pronouns have a number of different syntactic contexts (Subject, Object, Possessive, Reflexive) and many features:

* person (1st, 2nd, 3rd);
* number (singular, plural);
* gender (masculine, feminine, neuter or inanimate, epicene)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+[[English personal pronouns|Personal pronouns in standard Modern English]]
!Person
! colspan="2" |Number & gender
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Subject pronoun|Subject]]
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Object pronoun|Object]]
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Possessive determiner|Dependent possessive (determiner)]]
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Possessive|Independent possessive]]
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Reflexive pronoun|Reflexive]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |First
! colspan="2" |Singular
|[[I (pronoun)|I]]
|me
|my
|mine
|myself
|-
! colspan="2" |Plural
|[[we]]
|us
|our
|ours
|ourselves
|-
! rowspan="2" |Second
! colspan="2" |Singular
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |[[you]]
| rowspan="2" |your
| rowspan="2" |yours
|yourself
|-
! colspan="2" |Plural
|yourselves
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="5" |Third
!Masculine
|[[He (pronoun)|he]]
|him
| colspan="2" |his
|himself
|-
!Feminine
|[[She (pronoun)|she]]
| colspan="2" |her
|hers
|herself
|-
!Neuter/Inanimate
| colspan="2" |[[It (pronoun)|it]]
| colspan="2" |its
|itself
|-
![[Epicenity|Epicene]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Singular they|they]]
| rowspan="2" |them
| rowspan="2" |their
| rowspan="2" |theirs
|themself/themselves
|-
!Plural
|themselves
|}

English also has other pronoun types, including demonstrative, relative, indefinite, and interrogative pronouns:

{| class="wikitable"
!Demonstrative
!Relative
!Indefinite
!Interrogative
|-
|this
|who / whom / whose
|one / one's / oneself
|who / whom / whose
|-
|these
|what
|something / anything / nothing (things)
|what
|-
|that
|which
|someone / anyone / no one (people)
|which
|-
|those
|that
|somebody / anybody / nobody (people)
|
|-
|former / latter
|
|
|
|}

===Personal and possessive===

==== Personal ====
{{main|Personal pronoun|English personal pronouns}}

{| class="wikitable floatright" border="1"
|+English personal pronouns<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|52}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |Person
! rowspan="2" |Number
! colspan="2" |Case
|-
! Subject !! Object
|-
| rowspan="2" |''First''||''Singular''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''I'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''me'''
|-
|''Plural''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''we'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''us'''
|-
| rowspan="2" |''Second''||''Singular''|| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |'''you'''
|-
|''Plural''
|-
| rowspan="5" |''Third''|| rowspan="4" |''Singular''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''he'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''him'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" |'''she'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''her'''
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |'''it'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" |'''they'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''them'''

|-
|''Plural/[[Epicene]]''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''they'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''them'''
|}
Personal pronouns may be classified by [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical number|number]], [[Grammatical gender|gender]] and [[Grammatical case|case]]. English has three persons (first, second and third) and two numbers (singular and plural); in the third person singular there are also distinct pronoun forms for male, female and neuter gender.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|52–53}} Principal forms are shown in the adjacent table.

English personal pronouns have two cases, ''subject'' and ''object''. [[Subject pronoun]]s are used in [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] position ('''''I''' like to eat chips, but '''she''' does not''). [[Object pronoun]]s are used for the [[Object (grammar)|object]] of a verb or [[preposition]] (''John likes '''me''' but not '''her''''').<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|52–53}}

Other distinct forms found in some languages include:

*[[T–V distinction|Second person informal and formal pronouns]] (the T–V distinction), like ''tu'' and ''vous'' in French. Formal second person pronouns can also signify plurality in many languages. There is no such distinction in standard modern English, though Elizabethan English marked the distinction with ''[[thou]]'' (singular informal) and ''you'' (plural or singular formal). Some dialects of English have developed [[You#Informal plural forms|informal plural second person pronouns]], for instance, ''y'all'' ([[Southern American English]]) and ''you guys'' ([[American English]]).
*[[Inclusive and exclusive we|Inclusive and exclusive first person plural pronouns]], which indicate whether or not the audience is included, that is, whether ''we'' means "you and I" or "they and I". There is no such distinction in English.
*[[Intensive pronoun|Intensive (emphatic) pronouns]], which re-emphasize a noun or pronoun that has already been mentioned. English uses the same forms as the reflexive pronouns; for example: ''I did it '''myself''''' (contrast reflexive use, ''I did it to myself'').
*Direct and indirect object pronouns, such as ''le'' and ''lui'' in [[French personal pronouns|French]]. English uses the same form for both; for example: ''Mary loves '''him''''' (direct object); ''Mary sent '''him''' a letter'' (indirect object).
*[[Prepositional pronoun]]s, used after a [[preposition]]. English uses ordinary object pronouns here: ''Mary looked at '''him'''''.
*[[Disjunctive pronoun]]s, used in isolation or in certain other special grammatical contexts, like ''moi'' in French. No distinct forms exist in English; for example: ''Who does this belong to? '''Me'''.''
*[[Weak pronoun|Strong and weak forms]] of certain pronouns, found in some languages such as Polish.
*[[Pronoun avoidance]], where personal pronouns are substituted by titles or kinship terms (particularly common in South-East Asia).

====Possessive====
{{Main|Possessive|Possessive determiner}}
Possessive pronouns are used to indicate [[Possession (linguistics)|possession]] (in a broad sense). Some occur as independent noun phrases: ''mine'', ''yours'', ''hers'', ''ours'', ''theirs''. An example is: ''Those clothes are '''mine'''.'' Others act as a determiner and must accompany a noun: ''my'', ''your'', ''her'', ''our'', ''your'', ''their'', as in: ''I lost '''my''' wallet.'' (''His'' and ''its'' can fall into either category, although ''its'' is nearly always found in the second.) Those of the second type have traditionally also been described as possessive [[adjective]]s, and in more modern terminology as [[possessive determiner]]s. The term "possessive pronoun" is sometimes restricted to the first type. Both types replace [[possessive]] noun phrases. As an example, '''''Their''' crusade to capture our attention'' could replace '''''The advertisers' '''crusade to capture our attention.''<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|55–56}}

===Reflexive and reciprocal===
{{Main|Reflexive pronoun|Reciprocal pronoun}}
Reflexive pronouns are used when a person or thing acts on itself, for example, ''John cut '''himself'''.'' In English they all end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'' and must refer to a noun phrase elsewhere in the same clause.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|55}}

Reciprocal pronouns refer to a reciprocal relationship (''each other'', ''one another''). They must refer to a noun phrase in the same clause.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|55}} An example in English is: ''They do not like '''each other'''.'' In some languages, the same forms can be used as both reflexive and reciprocal pronouns.

===Demonstrative===
{{Main|Demonstrative pronoun}}
Demonstrative pronouns (in English, ''this'', ''that'' and their plurals ''these'', ''those'') often distinguish their targets by pointing or some other indication of position; for example, ''I'll take '''these'''.'' They may also be ''[[Anaphora (linguistics)|anaphoric]]'', depending on an earlier expression for context, for example, ''A kid actor would try to be all sweet, and who needs '''that'''?''<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|56}}

===Indefinite===
{{Main|Indefinite pronoun}}
Indefinite pronouns, the largest group of pronouns, refer to one or more unspecified persons or things. One group in English includes compounds of ''some-'', ''any-'', ''every-'' and ''no-'' with ''-thing'', ''-one'' and ''-body'', for example: '''''Anyone''' can do that.'' Another group, including ''many'', ''more'', ''both'', and ''most'', can appear alone or followed by ''of''.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|54–55}} In addition,

*[[Distributive pronoun]]s are used to refer to members of a group separately rather than collectively. (''To '''each''' his own.'')
*[[Negation (linguistics)|Negative pronouns]] indicate the non-existence of people or things. ('''''Nobody''' thinks that.'')
*[[Impersonal pronoun]]s normally refer to a person but are not specific as to first, second or third person in the way that the personal pronouns are. ('''''One''' does not clean '''one's''' own windows.'')

=== Relative and interrogative ===

==== Relative ====
{{Main|Relative pronoun}}
Relative pronouns in English include ''who'', ''whom'', ''whose'', ''what'', ''which'' and ''that''. They rely on an antecedent, and refer back to people or things previously mentioned: ''People '''who''' smoke should quit now.'' They are used in [[relative clause]]s.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|56}} Relative pronouns can also be used as [[complementizer]]s.

==== Interrogative ====
{{Main|Interrogative word}}
Relative pronouns can be used in an interrogative setting as interrogative pronouns. Interrogative pronouns ask which person or thing is meant. In reference to a person, one may use ''who'' (subject), ''whom'' (object) or ''whose'' (possessive); for example, '''''Who''' did that?'' In colloquial speech, ''[[whom]]'' is generally replaced by ''who''. English non-personal interrogative pronouns (''which'' and ''what'') have only one form.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|56–57}}

In English and many other languages (e.g. [[French language|French]] and [[Czech language|Czech]]), the sets of relative and interrogative pronouns are nearly identical. Compare English: '''''Who''' is that?'' (interrogative) and ''I know the woman '''who''' came'' (relative). In some other languages, interrogative pronouns and indefinite pronouns are frequently identical; for example, [[Standard Chinese]] {{lang|zh|什么}} {{lang|zh-Latn|shénme}} means "what?" as well as "something" or "anything".

===Archaic forms===
{| class="wikitable floatright" border="1"
|+Archaic personal pronouns<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|52}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |Person
! rowspan="2" |Number
! colspan="2" |Case
|-
! Subject !! Object
|-
| rowspan="2" |''Second''||''Singular''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''thou'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''thee'''
|-
|''Plural''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''ye'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''you'''
|-
|}

Though the personal pronouns described above are the current English pronouns, [[Early Modern English]] (as used by Shakespeare, for example) use a slightly different set of personal pronouns, shown in the table. The difference is entirely in the second person. Though one would rarely find these older forms used in recent literature, they are nevertheless considered part of Modern English.

{{Clear}}

===Kinship===
In English, [[kin term]]s like "mother", "uncle", "cousin" are a distinct word class from pronouns; however many [[Australian Aboriginal languages]] have more elaborated systems of encoding kinship in language including special kin forms of pronouns. In [[Murrinh-patha language|Murrinh-patha]], for example, when selecting a nonsingular exclusive pronoun to refer to a group, the speaker will assess whether or not the members of the group belong to a common class of gender or kinship. If all of the members of the referent group are male, the MASCULINE form will be selected; if at least one is female, the FEMININE is selected, but if all the members are in a sibling-like kinship relation, a third SIBLING form is selected.<ref>Walsh, Michael James. 1976. ''The Muɹinypata Language of Northern Australia''. The Australian National University.</ref> In [[Arabana-Wangkangurru language|Arabana-Wangkangurru]], the speaker will use entirely different sets of pronouns depending on whether the speaker and the referent are or are not in a common [[Moiety (kinship)|moiety.]] See the following example:

{{Interlinear|indent=2|abbreviations=KIN:kinship
|Pulalakiya panti-rda.
|3DU.KIN fight-PRES
|They two [who are in the classificatory relationship of father and son] are fighting. (The people involved were a man and his wife's sister's son.)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hercus |first=Luise Anna |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32850800|title=A grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru language, Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia|date=1994|publisher=Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University|isbn=0-85883-425-1|location=Canberra, Australia|oclc=32850800}}</ref>
}}

See [[Australian Aboriginal kinship]] for more details.

=== Special uses ===
Some special uses of personal pronouns include:

*[[Generic you|Generic ''you'']], where second person pronouns are used in an indefinite sense: '''''You''' can't buy good old-fashioned bulbs these days.''
*[[Generic they|Generic ''they'']]: ''In China '''they''' drive on the right.''
*[[Gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns|Gender non-specific]] uses, where a pronoun refers to a non-specific person or a person whose gender is not specified: English usage and acceptance varies (and has varied) regarding [[generic he|generic ''he'']] and [[singular they|singular ''they'']], among others. 
**A closely related usage is the [[singular they|singular ''they'']] to refer to a person whose gender is specified as [[non-binary gender|non-binary]], genderqueer, or other, which has gained popularity in LGBTQ+ culture in particular. Both themselves/themself work as the reflexive form of this pronoun.
*[[Preferred gender pronoun]] selected to reflect gender identity
*[[Dummy pronoun]]s (expletive pronouns), used to satisfy a grammatical requirement for a noun or pronoun, but contributing nothing to its meaning: '''''It''' is raining.''
*[[Royal we]], used to refer to a single person who is a [[monarch]]: '''''We''' are not amused.''
*[[Nosism]]: The use of the pronoun '''we''' to refer to oneself.
*[[Resumptive pronoun]]s, "intrusive" personal pronouns found (for example) in some relative clauses where a gap ([[trace (linguistics)|trace]]) might be expected: ''This is the girl that I don't know what '''she''' said.''