Personal Pronouns
I lost 20 pounds.
- Number: singular (I) or plural (we)
- Person: 1st person (I), 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he)
- Gender: male (he), female (she) or neuter (it)
- Case: subject (we) or object (us)
Personal pronouns are often used in place of the individual being spoken about. My name is Emily, but when I talk about myself I use me or I and not Emily. Whenever I am speaking directly to you, I generally use you and not your actual name. Whenever I speak about another individual, such as Susan, I might begin by saying Susan, but often use she or her later on.
Personal pronouns are outlined in the chart below, as well as some examples:
| number | person | gender | personal pronouns | |
| Subject | object | |||
| singular | 1st | male/female | I | me |
| 2nd | male/female | You | you | |
| 3rd | male | He | him | |
| female | She | her | ||
| neuter | It | it | ||
| plural | 1st | male/female | We | us |
| 2nd | male/female | You | you | |
| 3rd | male/female/neuter | They | them | |
Examples (in all of the cases, the first example will show you a subject pronoun, while the second will show you an object pronoun:
I, me
- I lost 20 pounds.
- Sherry worked out with me.
You
- Do you want to go to the movies this weekend?
- I enjoy spending time with you.
He, him
- He has an appointment with the specialist.
- Are you going with him?
She, her
- She likes baking cookies for the troops.
- Are you going to help her?
It
- It stopped working yesterday.
- Can you fix it?
We, us
- We got a new puppy.
- My mom and dad took us.
You
- Do you have any change for a 20?
- Can you trade me bills?
They, them
- They ate at Long John Silvers.
- Tim and I joined them.
Whenever we are speaking about just one thing, we normally use it, but there are a few different exceptions to the rule. Sometimes, we might refer to animals as she/her or he/him, especially when they are a family pet. In some countries, ships are treated as females and called she/her. Examples of this are:
- Sam is such a beautiful cat. He likes to play a lot too.
- The USS Arizona was an amazing ship, but she was destroyed in Pearl Harbor.
- My last car lasted a long time. I was sad to see her breakdown.
- Canada is a beautiful country. You have to make the time to visit her one of these days.
When referring to a single individual, we might not always know whether we should use he or she. In this case, multiple solutions exist to solve the problem.
- If the teenager wants to go to the concert, he or she should get permission first.
- If the teenager wants to go to the concert, he should get permission first.
- If the teenager wants to go to the concert, they should get permission first.
It is used when we are making remarks or statements:
- It is a lot of fun to be around Tim.
- It is always good to be on time.
- It‘ is hard to find a good babysitter in town.
- Is it hard to find a job?
- It doesn’t take long to get to work.
It is also used quite often when talking about temperature, time, weather and distance:
- It‘s going to snow all day tomorrow.
- It is 30 degrees outside.
- Is it far from here?
- It is five in the afternoon.