What is a pronoun?

Pronouns are used when you refer to a noun by a word that stands for it.

E.g me, her, him, it, you, they.

To decide if a word is a pronoun, you need to ask yourself, ‘Does it stand for a noun?’

E.g Jamie loves to play football after school; he is learning very fast.

The pronoun he refers to Jamie.        

Why do we use them?

Speaking and writing become much clearer and quicker when we use pronouns. Without pronouns, we would have to repeat the same nouns over and over again.

Compare the sentences below:

The old lady picked up the dog. She patted him on the head.

The old lady picked up the dog. The old lady patted the dog on the head.

 Possessive Pronouns

 Possessive pronouns tell you who owns something or who is involved in the action or process.

 E.g ours, yours, theirs, its, mine, his, hers.

 E.g Samantha asked mum if she could borrow her shoes.

The pronoun she refers to Mum

 Problems with ‘I’ and ‘me’.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to decide whether to use ‘I’ or ‘me’. The best way to decide is to remove the other person from the sentence and see which sounds correct.

E.g Ben and me are going on holiday. Ben and I are going on holiday.

Which would you use?

I am going on holiday.

Me am going on holiday.

Therefore, the second sentence is the correct one: Ben and I are going on holiday.