English Grammar

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or another pronoun. Pronouns help the unnecessary repetition of nouns in your writing and speech.

Consider the examples given below.

• Mr. Peter gave Mr. Peter's pen to Mr. Peter's wife, Mrs. Peter; Mrs. Peter was grateful for the pen.
• Mr. Peter gave his pen to his wife, Mrs. Peter; she was grateful for it.

The sentences given above express the same idea, but the second sentence sounds much better than the first one.

A pronoun gets its meaning from the noun it stands for. This noun is called the antecedent. Here's an example:

• Although John is poor, he is honest. (John is the antecedent of the pronoun he.)

There are different kinds of pronouns. Most of them have antecedents, but a few do not.

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