View source for Pronoun

{{Short description|Word that substitutes for a noun or noun phrase}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}

In [[linguistics]] and [[grammar]], a '''pronoun''' ([[Interlinear gloss|glossed]] '''{{sc|pro}}''') is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a [[noun]] or [[noun phrase]].

Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the [[part of speech|parts of speech]], but some modern theorists would not consider them to form a single class, in view of the variety of functions they perform cross-linguistically. An example of a pronoun is "you", which can be either singular or plural. Sub-types include [[personal pronoun|personal]] and [[possessive pronoun]]s, [[reflexive pronoun|reflexive]] and [[reciprocal pronoun|reciprocal]] pronouns, [[demonstrative pronoun]]s, [[relative pronoun|relative]] and [[interrogative pronoun]]s, and [[indefinite pronoun]]s.<ref name="Bhat">{{cite book|title=Pronouns|url=https://archive.org/details/pronounsoxfordst00bhat|url-access=limited|last=Bhat|first=Darbhe Narayana Shankara|date=2007|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0199230242|edition=Paperback|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pronounsoxfordst00bhat/page/n13 1]}}</ref>{{rp|1–34}}<ref name=Borjars>{{cite book |last1=Börjars |first1=Kersti |title=Introducing English grammar |date=2010 |publisher=Hodder Education |location=London |isbn=978-1444109870 |edition=2nd |last2=Burridge |first2=Kate |pages=50&ndash;57}}</ref>

The use of pronouns often involves [[anaphora (linguistics)|anaphora]], where the meaning of the pronoun is dependent on an [[antecedent (grammar)|antecedent]]. For example, in the sentence ''That poor man looks as if he needs a new coat'', the meaning of the pronoun ''he'' is dependent on its antecedent, ''that poor man''.

The [[adjective]] form of the word "pronoun" is "'''pronominal'''".{{efn-ua|Not to be confused with ''prenominal'', which means "before the noun". For example, English adjectives are prenominal, e.g. ''the '''blue''' house'', while there are rare ''postnominal'' exceptions like ''attorneys '''general'''''.}} A pronominal is also a word or phrase that acts as a pronoun. For example, in ''That's not the one I wanted'', the phrase ''the one'' (containing the [[prop-word]] ''one'') is a pronominal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/pronominal |title=What is a pronominal? |publisher=SIL International |work=Glossary of linguistic terms |last1=Loos |first1=Eugene E. |last2=Anderson |first2=Susan |last3=Day |first3=Dwight H. Jr. |last4=Jordan |first4=Paul C. |last5=Wingate |first5=J. Douglas |date=3 December 2015 |access-date=14 November 2018 |archive-date=14 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114141719/https://glossary.sil.org/term/pronominal |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Theory ==
=== Pronoun versus pro-form ===
Pronoun is a category of words. A [[pro-form]] is a type of [[function word]] or expression that stands in for (expresses the same content as) another [[word]], [[phrase]], [[clause]] or [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]] where the [[Meaning (linguistics)|meaning]] is recoverable from the context.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Crystal|first1=David|title=A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics|date=1985|publisher=Basil Blackwell|edition=2nd}}</ref> In English, pronouns mostly function as pro-forms, but there are pronouns that are not pro-forms and pro-forms that are not pronouns.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey K. |year=2002 |title=Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=239}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Pronouns versus Pro-forms
!
!Example
!Pronoun
!Pro-form
|-
|1
|''<u>It</u> is a good idea''.
|✓
|✓
|-
|2
|''I know the people <u>who</u> work there.'' 
|✓
|✓
|-
|3
|''<u>Who</u> works there?''
|✓
|
|-
|4
|''<u>It</u> is raining''.
|✓
|
|-
|5
|''I asked her to help, and she <u>did so</u> right away.'' 
|
|✓
|-
|6
|''JJ and Petra helped, but <u>the others</u> didn't.''
|
|✓
|}
Examples [1 & 2] are pronouns and pro-forms. In [1], the pronoun ''[[It (pronoun)|it]]'' "stands in" for whatever was mentioned and is a good idea. In [2], the [[relative pronoun]] ''[[Who (pronoun)|who]]'' stands in for "the people".

Examples [3 & 4] are pronouns but not pro-forms. In [3], the [[Interrogative word|interrogative pronoun]] ''who'' does not stand in for anything. Similarly, in [4], ''it'' is a [[dummy pronoun]], one that does not stand in for anything. No other word can function there with the same meaning; we do not say "the sky is raining" or "the weather is raining".

A prop-word is a word with little or no semantic content used where grammar dictates a certain sentence member, e.g.,  to provide a "support" on which to hang a modifier. The word most commonly considered as a prop-word in English is ''one'' (with the plural form ''ones''). The prop-word ''one'' takes the place of a countable noun in a noun phrase (or determiner phrase), normally in a context where it is clear which noun it is replacing. For example, in a context in which hats are being talked about, ''the red one'' means "the red hat", and ''the ones we bought'' means "the hats we bought". The prop-word thus functions somewhat similarly to a pronoun, except that a pronoun usually takes the place of a whole noun (determiner) phrase (for example, "the red hat" may be replaced by the pronoun "it".)

Finally, in [5 & 6], there are pro-forms that are not pronouns. In [5], ''did so'' is a [[verb phrase]] that stands in for "helped" (a ''[[pro-verb]]''), inflected from ''to help'' stated earlier in the sentence. Similarly, in [6], ''others'' is a [[Proper and common nouns|common noun]], not a pronoun, but ''the others'' probably stands in for the names of other people involved (e.g., ''Sho, Alana, and Ali''), all [[proper noun]]s.

=== Grammar ===
Pronouns ({{Lang|grc-Latn|antōnymía}}) are listed as one of [[Part of speech#Western tradition|eight parts of speech]] in ''[[The Art of Grammar]]'', a treatise on Greek grammar attributed to [[Dionysius Thrax]] and dating from the 2nd century BC. The pronoun is described there as "a part of speech substitutable for a noun and marked for a person." Pronouns continued to be regarded as a part of speech in [[Latin]] grammar (the Latin term being {{lang|la|pronomen}}, from which the English name—through [[Middle French]]—ultimately derives), and thus in the European tradition generally.

Because of the many different syntactic roles that they play, pronouns are less likely to be a single [[word class]] in more modern approaches to grammar.<ref>For example, Vulf Plotkin (''The Language System of English'', Universal Publishers, 2006, pp. 82–83) writes: "[...] Pronouns exemplify such a word class, or rather several smaller classes united by an important semantic distinction between them and all the major parts of speech. The latter denote things, phenomena and their properties in the ambient world. [...] Pronouns, on the contrary, do not denote anything, but refer to things, phenomena or properties without involving their peculiar nature."</ref>

=== Linguistics ===
[[File:Our as a pronoun or determiner.png|left|thumb|150x150px|Examples of "our" as a determiner or a noun]]
Linguists in particular have trouble classifying pronouns in a single category, and some do not agree that pronouns substitute nouns or noun categories.<ref name="Bhat" /> Certain types of pronouns are often identical or similar in form to [[determiner (class)|determiner]]s with related meaning; some English examples are given in the table.

{| class="wikitable floatright" border="1" style="text-align:center"
! !! Pronoun !! Determiner
|-
! [[Possessive]]
| ''ours'' || ''our'' freedom
|-
! Demonstrative
| ''this'' || ''this'' gentleman
|-
! Indefinite
| ''some'' || ''some'' frogs
|-
! Negative
| ''none'' || ''no'' information
|-
! Interrogative
| ''which'' || ''which'' option
|}

This observation has led some linguists, such as [[Paul Postal]], to regard pronouns as determiners that have had their following noun or noun phrase deleted.<ref name="Postal">{{Cite journal|last=Postal|first=Paul|year=1966|editor-last=Dinneen|editor-first=Francis P.|title=On So-Called "Pronouns" in English|journal=Report of the Seventeenth Annual Round Table Meeting on Linguistics and Language Studies|publisher=Georgetown University Press|pages=177–206|place=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> (Such patterning can even be claimed for certain personal pronouns; for example, ''we'' and ''you'' might be analyzed as determiners in phrases like ''we Brits'' and ''you tennis players''.) Other linguists have taken a similar view, uniting pronouns and determiners into a single class, sometimes called "determiner-pronoun", or regarding determiners as a subclass of pronouns or vice versa. The distinction may be considered to be one of [[subcategorization]] or [[valency (linguistics)|valency]], rather like the distinction between [[transitivity (grammar)|transitive and intransitive]] verbs—determiners take a noun phrase [[complement (grammar)|complement]] like transitive verbs do, while pronouns do not.<ref>For detailed discussion see George D. Morley, ''Explorations in Functional Syntax: A New Framework for Lexicogrammatical Analysis'', Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2004, pp. 68–73.</ref> This is consistent with the [[determiner phrase]] viewpoint, whereby a determiner, rather than the noun that follows it, is taken to be the [[head (linguistics)|head]] of the phrase. Cross-linguistically, it seems as though pronouns share 3 distinct categories: point of view, person, and number. The breadth of each subcategory however tends to differ among languages.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Pronouns – Grammar and Representation|last1=Simon|first1=Horst J.|last2=Wiese|first2=Heike|publisher=Linguistics Today|year=2002|isbn=9789027227737|pages=190}}</ref>

==== Binding theory and antecedents ====
The use of pronouns often involves [[anaphora (linguistics)|anaphora]], where the meaning of the pronoun is dependent on another referential element. The [[referent]] of the pronoun is often the same as that of a preceding (or sometimes following) noun phrase, called the [[antecedent (grammar)|antecedent]] of the pronoun. The grammatical behavior of certain types of pronouns, and in particular their possible relationship with their antecedents, has been the focus of studies in [[Binding (linguistics)|binding]], notably in the Chomskyan [[government and binding theory]]. In this binding context, reflexive and reciprocal pronouns in English (such as ''himself'' and ''each other'') are referred to as [[anaphor]]s (in a specialized restricted sense) rather than as pronominal elements. Under binding theory, specific principles apply to different sets of pronouns.

[[File:Reflexive.png|left|thumb|198x198px|Example reflexive structure. Since "himself" is immediately dominated by "John", Principle A is satisfied.]]

In English, reflexive and reciprocal pronouns must adhere to '''Principle A:''' an anaphor (reflexive or reciprocal, such as "each other") must be bound in its governing category (roughly, the clause). Therefore, in syntactic structure it must be lower in structure (it must have an [[Antecedent (grammar)|antecedent]]) and have a direct relationship with its referent. This is called a [[C-command]] relationship. For instance, we see that ''John cut himself'' is grammatical, but ''Himself cut John'' is not, despite having identical arguments, since ''himself'', the reflexive, must be lower in structure to John, its referent. Additionally, we see examples like ''John said that Mary cut himself'' are not grammatical because there is an intermediary noun, ''Mary'', that disallows the two referents from having a direct relationship.
[[File:Pronoun.png|thumb|204x204px|Example pronoun structure. Since "him" is immediately dominated by "John", Principle B is violated.]]

On the other hand, personal pronouns (such as ''him'' or ''them'') must adhere to '''Principle B:''' a pronoun must be free (i.e., not bound) within its governing category (roughly, the clause). This means that although the pronouns can have a referent, they cannot have a direct relationship with the referent where the referent selects the pronoun.  For instance, ''John said Mary cut him'' is grammatical because the two co-referents, ''John'' and ''him'' are separated structurally by ''Mary''. This is why a sentence like ''John cut him'' where ''him'' refers to ''John'' is ungrammatical.

===== Binding cross-linguistically =====
{{Context|section|date=July 2020|reason=There is unexplained jargon ("d-pronoun") and no examples are given.}}

The type of binding that applies to subsets of pronouns varies cross-linguistically. For instance, in German linguistics, pronouns can be split into two distinct categories—personal pronouns and d-pronouns. Although personal pronouns act identically to English personal pronouns (i.e. follow Principle B), d-pronouns follow yet another principle, Principle C, and function similarly to nouns in that they cannot have a direct relationship to an antecedent.<ref name=":0" />

===== Antecedents =====
The following sentences give examples of particular types of pronouns used with antecedents:

* Third-person personal pronouns:
** '''''That poor man''' looks as if '''he''' needs a new coat.'' (the noun phrase ''that poor man'' is the antecedent of ''he'')
** '''''Julia''' arrived yesterday. I met '''her''' at the station.'' (''Julia'' is the antecedent of ''her'')
** ''When '''they''' saw us, '''the lions''' began roaring'' (''the lions'' is the antecedent of ''they''; as it comes after the pronoun it may be called a ''postcedent'')
* Other personal pronouns in some circumstances:
** '''''Terry and I''' were hoping no one would find '''us'''.'' (''Terry and I'' is the antecedent of ''us'')
** '''''You and Alice''' can come if '''you''' like.'' (''you and Alice'' is the antecedent of the second—plural—''you'')
* Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns:
** '''''Jack''' hurt '''himself'''.'' (''Jack'' is the antecedent of ''himself'')
** '''''We''' were teasing '''each other'''.'' (''we'' is the antecedent of ''each other'')
* Relative pronouns:
** '''''The woman who''' looked at you is my sister.'' (''the woman'' is the antecedent of ''who'')

Some other types, such as [[indefinite pronoun]]s, are usually used without antecedents. Relative pronouns are used without antecedents in [[free relative clause]]s. Even third-person personal pronouns are sometimes used without antecedents ("unprecursed")—this applies to special uses such as [[dummy pronoun]]s and [[generic they|generic ''they'']], as well as cases where the referent is implied by the context.

== English pronouns ==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2021}}

English pronouns have often traditionally been classified as different from nouns, but at least one modern grammar defines them as a subclass of nouns.<ref name=Pullum-2024>{{citation |year=2024 |last=Pullum |first=Geoffrey K. |author-link=Geoffrey K. Pullum |title=The Truth About English Grammar |publisher=Polity Press |isbn=978-1509560547}}</ref>{{rp|33–42}}<!--This author, Pullum, is also the coauthor of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (by Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, 2002, ISBN 978-0521431460).-->

English personal pronouns have a number of different syntactic contexts (Subject, Object, Possessive, Reflexive) and many features:

* person (1st, 2nd, 3rd);
* number (singular, plural);
* gender (masculine, feminine, neuter or inanimate, epicene)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+[[English personal pronouns|Personal pronouns in standard Modern English]]
!Person
! colspan="2" |Number & gender
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Subject pronoun|Subject]]
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Object pronoun|Object]]
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Possessive determiner|Dependent possessive (determiner)]]
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Possessive|Independent possessive]]
! style="width:6em;line-height:1.2;" |[[Reflexive pronoun|Reflexive]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |First
! colspan="2" |Singular
|[[I (pronoun)|I]]
|me
|my
|mine
|myself
|-
! colspan="2" |Plural
|[[we]]
|us
|our
|ours
|ourselves
|-
! rowspan="2" |Second
! colspan="2" |Singular
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |[[you]]
| rowspan="2" |your
| rowspan="2" |yours
|yourself
|-
! colspan="2" |Plural
|yourselves
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="5" |Third
!Masculine
|[[He (pronoun)|he]]
|him
| colspan="2" |his
|himself
|-
!Feminine
|[[She (pronoun)|she]]
| colspan="2" |her
|hers
|herself
|-
!Neuter/Inanimate
| colspan="2" |[[It (pronoun)|it]]
|its
|its†
|itself
|-
![[Epicenity|Epicene]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Singular they|they]]
| rowspan="2" |them
| rowspan="2" |their
| rowspan="2" |theirs
|themself/themselves
|-
!Plural
|themselves
|}
† Rare.

English also has other pronoun types, including demonstrative, relative, indefinite, and interrogative pronouns:

{| class="wikitable"
!Demonstrative
!Relative
!Indefinite
!Interrogative
|-
|this
|who / whom / whose
|one / one's / oneself
|who / whom / whose
|-
|these
|what
|something / anything / nothing (things)
|what
|-
|that
|which
|someone / anyone / no one (people)
|which
|-
|those
|that
|somebody / anybody / nobody (people)
|
|-
|former / latter
|
|
|
|}

===Personal and possessive===

==== Personal ====
{{main|Personal pronoun|English personal pronouns}}

{| class="wikitable floatright" border="1"
|+English personal pronouns<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|52}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |Person
! rowspan="2" |Number
! colspan="2" |Case
|-
! Subject !! Object
|-
| rowspan="2" |''First''||''Singular''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''I'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''me'''
|-
|''Plural''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''we'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''us'''
|-
| rowspan="2" |''Second''||''Singular''|| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |'''you'''
|-
|''Plural''
|-
| rowspan="5" |''Third''|| rowspan="4" |''Singular''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''he'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''him'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" |'''she'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''her'''
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |'''it'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" |'''they'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''them'''

|-
|''Plural/[[Epicene]]''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''they'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''them'''
|}
Personal pronouns may be classified by [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical number|number]], [[Grammatical gender|gender]] and [[Grammatical case|case]]. English has three persons (first, second and third) and two numbers (singular and plural); in the third person singular there are also distinct pronoun forms for male, female and neuter gender.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|52–53}} Principal forms are shown in the adjacent table.

English personal pronouns have two cases, ''subject'' and ''object''. [[Subject pronoun]]s are used in [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] position ('''''I''' like to eat chips, but '''she''' does not''). [[Object pronoun]]s are used for the [[Object (grammar)|object]] of a verb or [[preposition]] (''John likes '''me''' but not '''her''''').<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|52–53}}

Other distinct forms found in some languages include:

*[[T–V distinction|Second person informal and formal pronouns]] (the T–V distinction), like ''tu'' and ''vous'' in French. Formal second person pronouns can also signify plurality in many languages. There is no such distinction in standard modern English, though Elizabethan English marked the distinction with ''[[thou]]'' (singular informal) and ''you'' (plural or singular formal). Some dialects of English have developed [[You#Informal plural forms|informal plural second person pronouns]], for instance, ''y'all'' ([[Southern American English]]) and ''you guys'' ([[American English]]).
*[[Inclusive and exclusive we|Inclusive and exclusive first person plural pronouns]], which indicate whether or not the audience is included, that is, whether ''we'' means "you and I" or "they and I". There is no such distinction in English.
*[[Intensive pronoun|Intensive (emphatic) pronouns]], which re-emphasize a noun or pronoun that has already been mentioned. English uses the same forms as the reflexive pronouns; for example: ''I did it '''myself''''' (contrast reflexive use, ''I did it to myself'').
*Direct and indirect object pronouns, such as ''le'' and ''lui'' in [[French personal pronouns|French]]. English uses the same form for both; for example: ''Mary loves '''him''''' (direct object); ''Mary sent '''him''' a letter'' (indirect object).
*[[Prepositional pronoun]]s, used after a [[preposition]]. English uses ordinary object pronouns here: ''Mary looked at '''him'''''.
*[[Disjunctive pronoun]]s, used in isolation or in certain other special grammatical contexts, like ''moi'' in French. No distinct forms exist in English; for example: ''Who does this belong to? '''Me'''.''
*[[Weak pronoun|Strong and weak forms]] of certain pronouns, found in some languages such as Polish.
*[[Pronoun avoidance]], where personal pronouns are substituted by titles or kinship terms (particularly common in South-East Asia).

====Possessive====
{{Main|Possessive|Possessive determiner}}
Possessive pronouns are used to indicate [[Possession (linguistics)|possession]] (in a broad sense). Some occur as independent noun phrases: ''mine'', ''yours'', ''hers'', ''ours'', ''theirs''. An example is: ''Those clothes are '''mine'''.'' Others act as a determiner and must accompany a noun: ''my'', ''your'', ''her'', ''our'', ''your'', ''their'', as in: ''I lost '''my''' wallet.'' (''His'' and ''its'' can fall into either category, although ''its'' is nearly always found in the second.) Those of the second type have traditionally also been described as possessive [[adjective]]s, and in more modern terminology as [[possessive determiner]]s. The term "possessive pronoun" is sometimes restricted to the first type. Both types replace [[possessive]] noun phrases. As an example, '''''Their''' crusade to capture our attention'' could replace '''''The advertisers' '''crusade to capture our attention.''<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|55–56}}

===Reflexive and reciprocal===
{{Main|Reflexive pronoun|Reciprocal pronoun}}
Reflexive pronouns are used when a person or thing acts on itself, for example, ''John cut '''himself'''.'' In English they all end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'' and must refer to a noun phrase elsewhere in the same clause.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|55}}

Reciprocal pronouns refer to a reciprocal relationship (''each other'', ''one another''). They must refer to a noun phrase in the same clause.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|55}} An example in English is: ''They do not like '''each other'''.'' In some languages, the same forms can be used as both reflexive and reciprocal pronouns.

===Demonstrative===
{{Main|Demonstrative pronoun}}
Demonstrative pronouns (in English, ''this'', ''that'' and their plurals ''these'', ''those'') often distinguish their targets by pointing or some other indication of position; for example, ''I'll take '''these'''.'' They may also be ''[[Anaphora (linguistics)|anaphoric]]'', depending on an earlier expression for context, for example, ''A kid actor would try to be all sweet, and who needs '''that'''?''<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|56}}

===Indefinite===
{{Main|Indefinite pronoun}}
Indefinite pronouns, the largest group of pronouns, refer to one or more unspecified persons or things. One group in English includes compounds of ''some-'', ''any-'', ''every-'' and ''no-'' with ''-thing'', ''-one'' and ''-body'', for example: '''''Anyone''' can do that.'' Another group, including ''many'', ''more'', ''both'', and ''most'', can appear alone or followed by ''of''.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|54–55}} In addition,

*[[Distributive pronoun]]s are used to refer to members of a group separately rather than collectively. (''To '''each''' his own.'')
*[[Negation (linguistics)|Negative pronouns]] indicate the non-existence of people or things. ('''''Nobody''' thinks that.'')
*[[Impersonal pronoun]]s normally refer to a person but are not specific as to first, second or third person in the way that the personal pronouns are. ('''''One''' does not clean '''one's''' own windows.'')

=== Relative and interrogative ===

==== Relative ====
{{Main|Relative pronoun}}
Relative pronouns in English include ''who'', ''whom'', ''whose'', ''what'', ''which'' and ''that''. They rely on an antecedent, and refer back to people or things previously mentioned: ''People '''who''' smoke should quit now.'' They are used in [[relative clause]]s.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|56}} Relative pronouns can also be used as [[complementizer]]s.

==== Interrogative ====
{{Main|Interrogative word}}
Relative pronouns can be used in an interrogative setting as interrogative pronouns. Interrogative pronouns ask which person or thing is meant. In reference to a person, one may use ''who'' (subject), ''whom'' (object) or ''whose'' (possessive); for example, '''''Who''' did that?'' In colloquial speech, ''[[whom]]'' is generally replaced by ''who''. English non-personal interrogative pronouns (''which'' and ''what'') have only one form.<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|56–57}}

In English and many other languages (e.g. [[French language|French]] and [[Czech language|Czech]]), the sets of relative and interrogative pronouns are nearly identical. Compare English: '''''Who''' is that?'' (interrogative) and ''I know the woman '''who''' came'' (relative). In some other languages, interrogative pronouns and indefinite pronouns are frequently identical; for example, [[Standard Chinese]] {{lang|zh|什么}} {{lang|zh-Latn|shénme}} means "what?" as well as "something" or "anything".

===Archaic forms===
{| class="wikitable floatright" border="1"
|+Archaic personal pronouns<ref name="Borjars" />{{rp|52}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |Person
! rowspan="2" |Number
! colspan="2" |Case
|-
! Subject !! Object
|-
| rowspan="2" |''Second''||''Singular''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''thou'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''thee'''
|-
|''Plural''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''ye'''|| style="text-align: center;" |'''you'''
|-
|}

Though the personal pronouns described above are the current English pronouns, [[Early Modern English]] (as used by Shakespeare, for example) use a slightly different set of personal pronouns, shown in the table. The difference is entirely in the second person. Though one would rarely find these older forms used in recent literature, they are nevertheless considered part of Modern English.


===Kinship===
In English, [[kin term]]s like "mother", "uncle", "cousin" are a distinct word class from pronouns; however many [[Australian Aboriginal languages]] have more elaborated systems of encoding kinship in language including special kin forms of pronouns. In [[Murrinh-patha language|Murrinh-patha]], for example, when selecting a nonsingular exclusive pronoun to refer to a group, the speaker will assess whether or not the members of the group belong to a common class of gender or kinship. If all of the members of the referent group are male, the MASCULINE form will be selected; if at least one is female, the FEMININE is selected, but if all the members are in a sibling-like kinship relation, a third SIBLING form is selected.<ref>Walsh, Michael James. 1976. ''The Muɹinypata Language of Northern Australia''. The Australian National University.</ref> In [[Arabana-Wangkangurru language|Arabana-Wangkangurru]], the speaker will use entirely different sets of pronouns depending on whether the speaker and the referent are or are not in a common [[Moiety (kinship)|moiety.]] See the following example:

{{Interlinear|indent=2|abbreviations=KIN:kinship
|Pulalakiya panti-rda.
|3DU.KIN fight-PRES
|They two [who are in the classificatory relationship of father and son] are fighting. (The people involved were a man and his wife's sister's son.)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hercus |first=Luise Anna |title=A grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru language, Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia|date=1994|publisher=Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University|isbn=0-85883-425-1|location=Canberra, Australia|oclc=32850800}}</ref>
}}

See [[Australian Aboriginal kinship]] for more details.

=== Special uses ===
Some special uses of personal pronouns include:

* [[Generic you|Generic ''you'']], where second person pronouns are used in an indefinite sense: '''''You''' can't buy good old-fashioned bulbs these days.''
* [[Generic they|Generic ''they'']]: ''In China '''they''' drive on the right.''
* [[Gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns|Gender non-specific]] uses, where a pronoun refers to a non-specific person or a person whose gender is not specified: English usage and acceptance varies (and has varied) regarding [[generic he|generic ''he'']] and [[singular they|singular ''they'']], among others. 
** A closely related usage is the [[singular they|singular ''they'']] to refer to a person whose gender is specified as [[non-binary gender|non-binary]], genderqueer, or other, which has gained popularity in LGBTQ+ culture in particular. Both themselves/themself work as the reflexive form of this pronoun.
* [[Preferred gender pronoun]] selected to reflect gender identity
* [[Dummy pronoun]]s (expletive pronouns), used to satisfy a grammatical requirement for a noun or pronoun, but contributing nothing to its meaning: '''''It''' is raining.''
* [[Royal we]], used to refer to a single person who is a [[monarch]]: '''''We''' are not amused.''
* [[Nosism]]: The use of the pronoun '''we''' to refer to oneself.
* [[Resumptive pronoun]]s, "intrusive" personal pronouns found (for example) in some relative clauses where a gap ([[trace (linguistics)|trace]]) might be expected: ''This is the girl that I don't know what '''she''' said.''

==See also==
===Related topics===
{{cols|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Anaphora (linguistics)]]
* [[Cataphora]]
* [[Clusivity]]
* [[Gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns]]
* [[Generic antecedents]]
* [[Deixis]]
* [[Inalienable possession]]
* [[Indefinite pronoun]]
* [[Logophoricity|Logophoric pronoun]]
* [[Neopronouns]]
* [[Phi features]]
* [[Pro-form]]
* [[Pronoun game]]
* [[Reciprocal pronoun]]
* [[Reflexive pronoun]]
{{colend}}

===In English===
* [[Old English pronouns]]

===In other languages===
{{cols|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Bulgarian pronouns]]
* [[Cantonese pronouns]]
* [[Chinese pronouns]]
* [[Dutch grammar#Pronouns and determiners|Dutch grammar: Pronouns and determiners]]
* [[Esperanto grammar#Pronouns|Esperanto grammar: Pronouns]]
* [[French pronouns]]
* [[German pronouns]]
* [[Ido (language)#Pronouns|Ido pronouns]]
* [[Interlingua grammar#Pronouns|Interlingua pronouns]]
* [[Irish morphology#Pronouns|Irish morphology: Pronouns]]
* [[Italian grammar#Pronouns|Italian grammar: Pronouns]]
* [[Japanese pronouns]]
* [[Korean pronouns]]
* [[Macedonian pronouns]]
* [[Novial#Personal pronouns, subject and object|Novial: Pronouns]]
* [[Portuguese personal pronouns]]
* [[Proto-Indo-European pronouns]]
* [[Slovene pronouns]]
* [[Spanish pronouns|Spanish grammar: Pronouns]]
* [[Vietnamese pronouns]]
{{colend}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist-ua}}

== References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bhat |first=Darbhe N. S. |date=2007 |title=Pronouns |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199230242}} 
* {{Cite book |last=Simon |first=Horst J. |date=2002 |title=Pronouns – Grammar and Representation |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Pronouns_Grammar_and_Representation/PXw9AAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |publisher=Linguistics Today |isbn=9789027227737}} 
* {{Cite book |last=Wales |first=Katie |date=1995 |title=Personal Pronouns in Present-day English |edition=Digital print. |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521471022}} 
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|pronoun|Category:Pronouns by language}}
* [http://www.englishgrammar.org/category/pronouns/ English pronouns exercises], by Jennifer Frost
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Pronoun|short=x}}

{{Lexical categories|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pronouns| ]]
[[Category:Parts of speech]]