pronouns

Pronouns are words that substitute for nouns or noun phrases in sentences. They help avoid repetition and can convey information about person, number, gender, and case. Pronouns function as stand-ins for people, animals, objects, or ideas, and they can be used in various syntactic positions such as subjects or objects.

Common types include personal pronouns (subjective: I, you, he, she, it, we, they; objective: me, you, him, her, it, us, them), possessive determiners (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs), reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves), relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, that), demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those), interrogative pronouns (who, whom, which, what), and indefinite pronouns (someone, anyone, few, many, all, none). Pronouns interact with their antecedents in terms of number and sometimes gender, and their use is guided by grammatical rules in many languages.

Pronoun usage is also shaped by identity and inclusivity. The singular they is widely accepted as a gender-neutral option for referring to a person when gender is unknown or to respect nonbinary identities. Some speakers adopt other sets, such as neopronouns (for example, xe/xem/xyr), reflecting personal preference. In writing and speech, pronouns should be chosen with care to avoid ambiguity and to respect individuals’ stated pronouns, balancing clarity with sensitivity to evolving language practices.