We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are talking about. My name is Micheal but when I am talking about myself I almost always use "I" or "me", not "Micheal". When I am talking direct to you, I almost always use "you", not your name. When I am talking about another person, say John, I may start with "John" but then use "he" or "him". And so on.
Personal pronouns are words we use in the place of a full noun.
We have both subject and object pronouns:
| Subject | Object |
|---|---|
| I | me |
| you | you |
| he | him |
| she | her |
| it | it |
| we | us |
| you | you |
| they | them |
We use he/him to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women. When we are not sure if we are talking about a man or a woman we use they/them.
This is Jack. He’s my brother. I don’t think you have met him.
This is Angela. She’s my sister. Have you met her before?
Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.
You could go to a doctor. They might help you.
Subject pronouns
We use subject pronouns as subject of the verb:
I like your dress.
You are late.
He is my friend
It is raining
She is on holiday
We live in England.
They come from London.
| Warning |
|---|
| Remember: English clauses always have a subject:
His father has just retired. If there is no other subject we use it or there. We call this a dummy subject. |
Object pronouns
We use object pronouns:
• as the object of the verb:
Can you help me please?
I can see you.
She doesn’t like him.
I saw her in town today.
We saw them in town yesterday, but they didn’t see us.
• after prepositions:
She is waiting for me.
I’ll get it for you.
Give it to him.
Why are you looking at her?
Don’t take it from us.
I’ll speak to them.