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Pronouns and their functions. Classification of pronouns.
The functions pronouns perform in sentences
By definition a pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or a noun phrase.

Pronouns therefore take the positions of nouns in sentences. For example, instead of
saying: “Peter is the thief”, we can replace the noun “Peter” with the pronoun “he” and
form the sentence like this: “He is the thief”.
What is the grammatical function of a pronoun?
The grammatical function of a pronoun is said to be the work or the job that the pronoun
is doing in a sentence.
Pronouns can perform any of the following five functions:
 Subject of the verb

 Object of the verb
 Complement of the verb
 Object of the preposition
 Apposition to a noun
Let us now take a look at each of these functions of a pronoun one after the other.
Pronoun functioning as the subject of a verb
Here, the pronoun will always come before the main verb in the sentence. It is also the
one the entire sentence focuses on. Simply put, whenever a pronoun is used as the
subject in a sentence, then it functions as the subject of a verb.
Examples:
 He is very sick.
 You may let them come in.
 I hate the way the movie ended.
 She likes me.
 It is a shame the way you mistreat the child.
 They love soccer.
 We voted for Barack Obama in the last election.
Pronoun functioning as object of a verb
A pronoun will function as an object of a verb when it comes after an action verb and
receives the action of the verb.
Examples of pronouns functioning as object of verbs include the following:
 James slapped me.

 I kissed her.
 Elton likes her a lot.
 The hunter killed it.
 You showed him the money.
 The security spotted us.
Each of the highlighted pronouns above is functioning as an object of the verb coming
before it. They are all objects because they are receiving action from their respective
action verbs.
Pronoun functioning as a complement of a verb
When a pronoun functions as a complement of a verb, what it basically does is it comes

after a linking verb or state-of-being verb and receives no action from the verb.
Examples of pronouns functioning as complements of verbs include the following:
 The thief was he.

 It was I who called you last night.
 The winner was he.
 The visitor was she.
 The men arrested in China were they.
 It was you.
Every highlighted pronoun in the sentences above is functioning as a complement of the

verb preceding it. The reason they are complements is because they come after linking
verbs and state-of-being verbs and are receiving no action from these verbs.
Pronoun functioning as object of the preposition
When a pronoun functions as an object of a preposition, it comes after a preposition.

Any pronoun coming after a preposition is the object of the preposition.
Examples are as follow:
 I bought the book for her.

 The teacher is angry with us.
 I want to go with you.
 It is for you.
 I took a picture of her.
 Please give it to me.
Pronoun functioning in apposition to a noun. (When we use two noun phrases (np)
next to each other in a clause, and they refer to the same person or thing)
When a pronoun functions in apposition to a noun, it comes after a noun in the sentence
or statement and renames the noun or tells readers something more about the noun.
Examples of pronouns functioning in apposition to nouns include the following:
 The boys, those who killed the dog, have gone.

 My friends, those who stood by me, have all been rewarded.
The pronoun “those” is functioning in apposition to the noun “boys” in the first sentence
and the noun “friends” in the second sentence.
We can clearly see that the pronoun “those” can be used to rename the nouns in the
sentences above.
The Seven Types of Pronouns

There are seven types of pronouns that both English and English as a second language writers
must recognize: the personal pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the
relative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun.
1. Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns refer to a specific person or thing. Their form changes to indicate a person, number,
gender, or case.
 Subjective personal pronouns are pronouns that act as the subject of a sentence. The subjective
personal pronouns are I, you, she, he, it and they. For example:
o "I walked directly to the party."
o "You showed up late; she was annoyed."
o "He thought you had forgotten; we know you were just behind."
 Objective personal pronouns are pronouns that act as the object of a sentence. the objective
personal pronouns are me, you, her, him, it, us and them. For example:
o "The police officer told my brother and me to slow down."
o "He pointed to the pedestrians and said to be careful of them."
o "The police officer said there are a lot of speedy motorists like us."
 Possessive personal pronouns are pronouns that show possession. They define a person (or a
number of people) who owns a particular object. The possessive personal pronouns
are mine, yours, hers, his, its, ours, and theirs. For example:
o "Is this book yours or his?"
o "All the books are mine."
o "Nobody's house has as many books as theirs, not even ours."
2. Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns point to and identify a noun or a pronoun. This and these refer to things
that are nearby in space or time, while that and those refer to things that are farther away in
space or further away in time. For example:
 "This is the dress I will wear; that is the one I wore yesterday."
 "That is not true."
 "Please pay for those."
3. Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. The interrogative pronouns
are who, whom, which, and what. It is important to remember that who and whom are used to
refer to people, while which is used to refer to things and animals. Who acts as the subject,
while whom acts as the object. For example:
 "Which is the best restaurant?"

 "What did he tell you?"
 "Whom should we invite?"
4. Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns are used to link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause. The relative
pronouns are who, whom, that, and which. The compounds whoever, whomever,
and whichever are also commonly used relative pronouns. For example:
 "Whoever added the bill made a mistake."

 "The bill, which included all our meals, was larger than expected."
 "The waiter who served us doesn't know how to add."
5. Indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns refer to an identifiable, but not specified, person or thing. An indefinite
pronoun conveys the idea of all, any, none, or some. the following common indefinite
pronouns: all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everythi
ng, few, many, nobody, both, other, either, none, one, several, some, somebody,
and someone. For example:
 "Everybody got lost on the way there."

 "Somebody forgot to bring the map."
 "No wonder so few showed up."
6. Reflexive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence. The reflexive
pronouns used in writing English
are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. For
example:
 "She baked a cake for herself."

 "We decided to eat it ourselves."
 "We heard her say, 'They should be ashamed of themselves.'"
7. Intensive pronouns
Intensive pronouns are used to emphasize their antecedent. Intensive pronouns are identical in
form to reflexive pronouns. For example:
 "I myself saw him stealing the ring."

 "They themselves think everyone should learn from them."
 "You yourself should tell everyone how smart she is"
Источники
 Кутузов Л
Практическая грамматика английского языка
 https://owlcation.com/humanities/Grammatical-Functions-Of-Pronouns
 https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/
parts_of_speech_pronouns.en.html#:~:text=There%20are
%20seven%20types%20of,pronoun%2C%20and%20the
%20intensive%20pronoun.

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Pronouns and their functions. Classification of pronouns.

The functions pronouns perform in sentences

By definition a pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or a noun phrase.

What is the grammatical function of a pronoun?

Pronouns can perform any of the following five functions:

 Subject of the verb

Pronoun functioning as the subject of a verb

Pronoun functioning as object of a verb

 James slapped me.

Pronoun functioning as a complement of a verb

When a pronoun functions as a complement of a verb, what it basically does is it comes

Examples of pronouns functioning as complements of verbs include the following:

 The thief was he.

Every highlighted pronoun in the sentences above is functioning as a complement of the

Pronoun functioning as object of the preposition

When a pronoun functions as an object of a preposition, it comes after a preposition.

Examples are as follow:

 I bought the book for her.

 The boys, those who killed the dog, have gone.

The Seven Types of Pronouns

 "Which is the best restaurant?"

 "Whoever added the bill made a mistake."

 "Everybody got lost on the way there."

 "She baked a cake for herself."

 "I myself saw him stealing the ring."

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