What is a pronoun?

A pronoun takes the place of anoun in a sentence.

Pronouns are short words like 'it', 'she', 'he', 'you', 'we', 'they', 'us' and 'them'.

They are used to describe either individuals or groups of people, rather than using their name or names.

If we didn't have pronouns, we'd have to keep repeating our nouns and that would make our sentences awkward and repetitive.

For example, if we didn't use pronouns a sentence might look like this:

Tom went upstairs to the bedroom. Tom opened the door and Tom sat on the bed.

Personal pronouns are short words used to replace yourself or a person’s name. They include:

• I
• she
• he
• you
• we
• us
• them

For example, read the sentence below:

Anita charged towards the dragon.

The name 'Anita' could be replaced by the personal pronoun 'she'.

She charged towards the dragon.

Possessive pronouns are pronouns used to show the ownership (or possession) of something. These include:

• mine
• ours
• yours
• his-hers
• theirs

For example, read the sentence below:

That hat is Ben’s.

The word 'Ben’s' could be replaced by the possessive pronoun 'his'.

That hat is his.