Pronoun

English language is considered one of the easiest languages on Earth when compared to Chinese, French and Arabic etc. which are way more complicated. When it comes to a language, its grammar is the most important and crucial element that one must have command over in order to grasp the language fully. English grammar is relatively easy and is made up of some elements like nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs etc. which all contribute to make up a sentence.

Today we will discuss about one such part of a sentence that is known as a pronoun. If you are a native English speaker then you would probably already know what a pronoun is. But if not, read on and we will throw light on the English grammar related to pronouns.

Pronoun

A pronoun is a subcategory of noun which is any name, place or thing. A pronoun is defined as something that replaces a noun in a sentence.

Example:

Adam was playing in the park.

He was playing in the park.

Consider the above two simple sentences. In the first sentence, the noun Adam is used which is also acting as the subject of the sentence. The same sentence is repeated in the second line with just Adamreplaced by he. Now he in the second sentence is also referring to Adam and makes perfect sense. Thus he in the second sentence is the pronoun.

Pronouns are generally used in continuous sentences like in a paragraph of a story where the whole paragraph is about one thing. The writer makes use of the pronouns so that the noun does not appear repetitively in each sentence.

Example:

Adam is a good kid. Adam likes to read books and play in the park. Adam has a lot of books in Adam’s home but Adam spends most of Adam’s time in the library.

The repetition of noun Adam in each sentence of the above paragraph is annoying to read.

Now read below:

Adam is a good kid. He likes to read books and play in the park. He has a lot of books in his home but he still spends most of his time in the library.

In the revised version of this example, the noun Adam is replaced by pronouns after using it once in the introductory sentence. This helps the reader establish the knowledge that the writer is talking about Adam without having to read Adam over and over again.

Some common examples of pronouns include:

I,we,he,she,it etc.

If you are interested to know more about pronouns, refer to my next article types of pronouns where I discuss the different types of pronouns that exist in English language.