Pronouns and possessives

Words that replace names

• Pronouns can refer back to a person or thing when the listener knows who or what you mean.
• Anna is nice. She is my friend.
• Possessives say who something belongs to: my, your, her…

Tom says, “Tom lost Tom’s pen.” Tom needs a pronoun.

Subject pronouns

• I, you, he, she, it, we, they are subject forms. In the simple statements here, they come before the verb: She is ready. In Is she ready?, is comes first.
• He is tall. We like music. They are here.
• Use it for a thing and often for an animal; he or she can refer to a known pet. They can refer to several people or to one person whose gender is unknown: Someone left a bag. They may come back. Use the pronoun that fits the intended person.

Possessive adjectives

• my, your, his, her, its, our, their — they go before a noun.
• This is my bag. Her name is Lucy.
• Careful: its is the possessive form. It’s can mean it is or it has, depending on what follows.

Putting them together

• A subject pronoun can be used in a statement about a state as well as an action: She is ready. The forms my, her, our introduce a noun phrase: my new bag, her name, our school. They can show relationships, not just ownership.
• She loves her cat. We do our homework.

Common mistakes

• Anna uses she: Anna is kind. She is a teacher. Choose the reference from the context; do not guess solely from a name.
• ❌ Me is tired. → ✓ I am tired. — the subject word is I.
• ❌ This is she book. → ✓ This is her book. — use her before a noun.
• ❌ My friend he is tall. → ✓ My friend is tall. — this is the straightforward statement practised here. Conversation can use a topic followed by a pronoun, as in My friend — he is very tall.