Personal , Possessive and Reflexive Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns represent specific people or things. We use them depending on:

Number          : singular (eg: I) or plural (eg: we)

Person           : 1st person (eg: I), 2nd person (eg: you) or 3rd person (eg: he)

Gender           : male (eg: he), female (eg: she) or neuter (eg: it)

Case               : subject (eg: we) or object (eg: us)

We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are talking about. My name is Josef but when I am talking about myself I almost always use "I" or "me", not "Josef". 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.

Here are the personal pronouns, followed by some example sentences:

Number	Person	Gender	Personal Pronouns
			Subject	Object
Singular	1st	male/ female	I	me
	2nd	male/ female	you	you
	3rd	male	he	him
		female	she	her
		neuter	it	it
Plural	1st	male/ female	we	us
	2nd	male/ female	you	you
	3rd	male/ female/ neuter	they	them

Examples (in each pair, the first sentence shows a subject pronoun, the second anobject pronoun):

·         I like coffee. / John helped me.

·         Do you like coffee? / John loves you.

·         He runs fast. / Did Ram beat him?

·         She is clever. / Does Mary know her?

·         It doesn't work. / Can the man fix it?

·         We went home. / Anthony drove us.

·         Do you need a table for three? / Did John and Mary beat you at doubles?

·         They played doubles. / John and Mary beat them.

When we are talking about a single thing, we almost always use it. However, there are a few exceptions. We may sometimes refer to an animal as he/him or she/her, especially if the animal is domesticated or a pet. Ships (and some other vessels or vehicles) as well as some countries are often treated as female and referred to asshe/her. Here are some examples:

·         This is our dog Rusty. He's an Alsatian.

·         The Titanic was a great ship but she sank on her first voyage.

·         My first car was a Mini and I treated her like my wife.

·         Thailand has now opened her border with Cambodia.

For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or she. There are several solutions to this:

·         If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.

·         If a teacher needs help, he should see the principal.

·         If a teacher needs help, they should see the principal.

We often use it to introduce a remark:

·         It is nice to have a holiday sometimes.

·         It is important to dress well.

·         It's difficult to find a job.

·         Is it normal to see them together?

·         It didn't take long to walk here.

We also often use it to talk about the weather, temperature, time and distance:

·         It's raining.

·         It will probably be hot tomorrow.

·         Is it nine o'clock yet?

·         It's 50 kilometres from here to Cambridge.

Possessive Pronouns

We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or thing/things (the "antecedent") belonging to a person/people (and sometimes belonging to an animal/animals or thing/things).

We use possessive pronouns depending on:

• number: singular (eg: mine) or plural (eg: ours)
• person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd person (eg: his)
• gender: male (his), female (hers)

Below are the possessive pronouns, followed by some example sentences. Notice that each possessive pronoun can:

• be subject or object
• refer to a singular or plural antecedent

number	person	gender (of "owner")	possessive pronouns
singular	1st	male/ female	mine
	2nd	male/ female	yours
	3rd	male	his
		female	hers
plural	1st	male/ female	ours
	2nd	male/ female	yours
	3rd	male/ female/ neuter	theirs

• Look at these pictures. Mine is the big one. (subject = My picture)
• I like your flowers. Do you like mine? (object = my flowers) 
• I looked everywhere for your key. I found John's key but I couldn't find yours. (object = your key)
• My flowers are dying. Yours are lovely. (subject = Your flowers) 
• All the essays were good but his was the best. (subject = his essay)
• John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her passport)
• John found his clothes but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her clothes) 
• Here is your car. Ours is over there, where we left it. (subject = Our car)
• Your photos are good. Ours are terrible. (subject = Our photos) 
• Each couple's books are colour-coded. Yours are red. (subject = Your books)
• I don't like this family's garden but I like yours. (object = your garden) 
• These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair. (subject = Their children)
• John and Mary don't like your car. Do you like theirs? (object = their car)

Notice that the Interrogative pronoun whose can also be a possessive pronoun (an interrogative possessive pronoun). Look at these examples:

• There was $100 on the table and Tara wondered whose it was.
• This car hasn't moved for two months. Whose is it?

Reflexive Pronouns

reflexive (adj.) [grammar]: reflecting back on the subject, like a mirror

We use a reflexive pronoun when we want to refer back to the subject of the sentence or clause. Reflexive pronouns end in "-self" (singular) or "-selves" (plural).

There are eight reflexive pronouns:

	reflexive pronoun
singular	myself yourself himself, herself, itself
plural	ourselves yourselves themselves

Look at these examples:

non-reflexive the underlined words are NOT the same person/thing	REFLEXIVE pronouns the underlined words are the SAME person/thing
John saw me.	I saw myself in the mirror.
Why does he blame you?	Why do you blame yourself?
David sent him a copy.	John sent himself a copy.
David sent her a copy.	Mary sent herself a copy.
My dog hurt the cat.	My dog hurt itself.
We blame you.	We blame ourselves.
Can you help my children?	Can you help yourselves?
They cannot look after the babies.	They cannot look after themselves.

Intensive pronouns

Notice that all the above reflexive pronouns can also act as intensive pronouns, but the function and usage are different. An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent. Look at these examples:

• I made it myself. OR I myself made it.
• Have you yourself seen it? OR Have you seen it yourself?
• The President himself promised to stop the war.
• She spoke to me herself. OR She herself spoke to me.
• The exam itself wasn't difficult, but the exam room was horrible.
• Never mind. We'll do it ourselves.
• You yourselves asked us to do it.
• They recommend this book even though they themselves had never read it. ORThey recommend this book even though they had never read it themselves.

Reference:

englishclub.com, Personal Pronouns.

englishclub.com, Possessive Pronouns.

englishclub.com, Reflexive Pronouns.

Prepositions and Common Verb & Preposition Combinations

Preposition

A preposition is a word that links a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to some other part of the sentence. Prepositions can be tricky for English learners. There is no definite rule or formula for choosing a preposition. In the beginning stage of learning the language, you should try to identify a preposition when reading or listening in English and recognize its usage. to the office at the desk on the table in an hour about myself A preposition is used to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object. Here are a few common prepositions and examples. On Used to express a surface of something: I put an egg on the kitchen table. The paper is on my desk. Used to specify days and dates: The garbage truck comes on Wednesdays. I was born on the 14th day of June in 1988. Used to indicate a device or machine, such as a phone or computer: He is on the phone right now. She has been on the computer since this morning. My favorite movie will be on TV tonight. Used to indicate a part of the body: The stick hit me on my shoulder. He kissed me on my cheek. I wear a ring on my finger. Used to indicate the state of something: Everything in this store is on sale. The building is on fire. At Used to point out specific time: I will meet you at 12 p.m. The bus will stop here at 5:45 p.m. Used to indicate a place: There is a party at the club house. There were hundreds of people at the park. We saw a baseball game at the stadium. Used to indicate an email address: Please email me at abc@defg.com. Used to indicate an activity: He laughed at my acting. I am good at drawing a portrait. In Used for unspecific times during a day, month, season, year: She always reads newspapers in the morning. In the summer, we have a rainy season for three weeks. The new semester will start in March. Used to indicate a location or place: She looked me directly in the eyes. I am currently staying in a hotel. My hometown is Los Angeles, which is in California. Used to indicate a shape, color, or size: This painting is mostly in blue. The students stood in a circle. This jacket comes in four different sizes. Used to express while doing something: In preparing for the final report, we revised the tone three times. A catch phrase needs to be impressive in marketing a product. Used to indicate a belief, opinion, interest, or feeling: I believe in the next life. We are not interested in gambling. Common Verb and Preposition Combinations Verbs and prepositions are also used in common phrases. The verb generally goes in front of the preposition. Do you agree with the new guidelines? Do you agree to the new guidelines? You get what you pay for. This novel gave me a lot to think about. It’s easy to fall in love with big, silly dogs. I have no doubt about the outcome of the vote. Rock on, dude! The verb and the preposition may be separated, especially if the sentence is formally written so the preposition isn’t at the end. Didn’t I warn you about leaving things until the last minute? To whom does this book belong? (Who does this book belong to?) Could you please explain this math problem to me? To explain something to someone is a common phrase which will always be separated by the something. Some other examples of verb/preposition combinations are ask for, depend on, look after, wait for, rely on, dream on, lead on, do something for someone, be careful of, be careful with, be disappointed by, boast about, complain about, in conclusion, and search for. Reference: Talkenglish.com. Prepositions "On,""At," and "In". Grammarly.com. Common Verb and Preposition Combinations.