Pronouns and Adjectives

Let’s first clarify what pronouns and adjectives are.

Pronouns are generally short words that replace a noun (object, person, idea). For example, instead of saying Maria is a good girl., you can replace the noun Maria with the pronoun She, as in She is a good girl. The pronouns are used to avoid repetition and to speed up communication.

Adjectives are words that describe a noun. For example, in the sentence above, Maria is a good girl., the adjective is the word good because it describes the noun girl.

Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns are a category of pronouns that serve as the Subject in the sentence. The Subject is the person or object that does the action of the Verb.

For example, in the sentence You love me., you is the subject pronoun and love is the verb (if you ask yourself: Who loves me? or Who does the action of the verb? the answer is you).

The forms of the subject pronouns are:

1st person singular – I

2nd person singular – You

3rd person singular masculine – He 

3rd person singular feminine – She

3rd person singular for animals and objects – It

1st person plural – We

2nd person plural – You

3rd person plural – They

Examples:

I always brush my teeth. He knows math. She is a good person. It can run fast. We don’t have food. You guys sing well. They buy milk.

It is important to notice that the subject pronouns usually are the first words in the sentence.

Object Pronouns

Object pronouns serve as the Object of the verb in the sentence. The Object is the person or thing that is affected by the Verb in some way.

For example, in the same sentence You love me., me is the object pronoun because if you ask yourself: Who do you love? or Who is affected by the action of the verb? the answer is me.

The forms of the object pronouns are:

1st person singular – Me

2nd person singular – You

3rd person singular masculine – Him 

3rd person singular feminine – Her

3rd person singular for animals and objects – It

1st person plural – Us

2nd person plural – You

3rd person plural – Them

Examples:

Mom will always love you. My friend knows him. Can I meet her? Helen can take it. The children brought water to us. Peter tells them a joke.

Important Observations

• The object pronouns usually are in the middle or at the end of the sentence.
• Some of the forms of the object pronouns are identical to the forms of the subject pronouns (you, it)
• Sometimes the object pronouns have a preposition in front of them, as in The children brought water to us. (to is the preposition). Other examples: Make a cake for me. (for is the preposition); Bob took a pen from her. (from is the preposition)

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are adjectives that show possession or belonging. For example, in the sentence My car is red, my is the possessive adjective because it describes who the noun car belongs to (it is my car or the car belongs to me).

The forms of the possessive adjectives are:

1st person singular – My

2nd person singular – Your

3rd person singular masculine – His 

3rd person singular feminine – Her

3rd person singular for animals and objects – Its

1st person plural – Our

2nd person plural – Your

3rd person plural – Their

Examples:

This is your dog. His feelings are deep. Let’s see her house! Its tail is long. Our cousins will come over this weekend. I don’t understand their language.

Important Observations

• The possessive adjectives can be in the beginning or in the middle, but never at the end of the sentence.
• Some of the forms of the possessive adjectives are identical to the forms of the object pronouns (her)
• The possessive adjectives always have a noun after them, in other words they are always accompanied by the noun they describe.

Quiz

A) Choose the correct option:
1 My uncle is Portuguese. He / His lives in Porto.
2 I have got two sisters. Your / Our dad is English.
3 When do you / she play tennis?
4 I’ve got Mr and Mrs Smith’s address, but what’s his / their phone number?
5 There’s my mother. She’s with her / your best friend, Sue. They go everywhere together.
6 I’ve got a black and white cat. It / Its name is Figaro.
7 We / Our go to church every Sunday.

B) Complete the sentences with a subject pronoun or an object pronoun.
1 Rob and Jess are friends. _____ are in my class.
2 I like football. Do you want to play with ____?
3 Have you got Joe’s phone number? I want to call ____.
4 Sean has got a laptop. _____ is new.
5 Mrs Laurent is our teacher. We have French with _____.

Answers

A) 1. He; 2. Our; 3. you; 4. their; 5. her; 6. Its; 7. We

B) 1. They; 2. me; 3. him; 4. It; 5. her

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