Subject Pronouns

Shortcuts

Do you ever look for shortcuts? You can find shortcuts for driving or walking, for using tools, and for doing projects. There are also shortcuts in language. One language shortcut is the part of speech called a pronoun. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Remember, a noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. How is a pronoun a shortcut? Take a look at these sentences.

Jess was hungry. Jess asked Jess's dad for a snack.

It sounds wordy, doesn't it? Now look at the same sentences, with pronouns added in italics.

Jess was hungry. She asked her dad for a snack.

The pronoun makes a difference. The second sentence is easier to write and to read.

There are several kinds of pronouns. In this lesson, we'll specifically look at subject pronouns. First, we should review subjects.

Subjects

In a sentence, the subject is the word that tells who or what the sentence is about. To remember this, you might think about other uses of the word subject. The subject of a biography is the person being written about. The subject of a TV special might be a particular person or topic. In a sentence, the subject either performs the action of the sentence or is linked to a word that renames or describes it. Look at these subjects.

Marilyn read a biography. The subject is 'Marilyn.'

The fish is orange. o The subject is 'fish.'

In a sentence, the subject is a noun, pronoun, or group of words acting as a noun. Note the word 'pronoun' in that statement. It's time to talk about subject pronouns.

Subject Pronouns

The role of the subject pronoun is to replace the noun that is the subject of the sentence or clause. There are seven main subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they. Look at the chart.

When you're choosing a pronoun, there are two questions to consider. The first question is: What is the perspective? A pronoun can be either first person, second person, or third person.

When you use first person pronouns, you're talking about yourself. The first person subject pronouns are 'I' and 'we.' When you use second person pronouns, you're talking directly to your audience. The second person subject pronoun is 'you.' When you use third person pronouns, you're talking about someone or something that is not yourself or your audience. The third person subject pronouns are 'he,' 'she,' 'it' and 'they.'

The second question is: Is the pronoun singular or plural? Singular pronouns refer to only one person, place, thing, or idea.

• First person singular: 'I'
• Second person singular: 'you'
• Third person singular: 'he,' 'she,' 'it' (Note: 'He' is used only for masculine; 'she' is used only for feminine; 'it' is used for an animal, an object or a thing.)

Plural pronouns refer to more than one person, place, thing, or idea.

• First person plural: 'we'
• Second person plural: 'you' (Notice: the second person pronoun is the same singular and plural)
• Third person plural: 'they'

Choosing a Subject Pronoun

Now that we've looked at the subject pronouns, let's try using them. We'll look at some sentence pairs and replace nouns with appropriate subject pronouns.

Example 1

Kathy wrote a letter. Kathy mailed it to her sister.

The subject in the first sentence is 'Kathy,' and it's repeated in the second sentence. In the second sentence, we can replace 'Kathy' with a subject pronoun. 'Kathy' is third person, singular and female, so we should use the pronoun 'she.'

Kathy wrote a letter. She mailed it to her sister.

Example 2

Martin and I went out for dinner. Martin and I watched a movie after dinner.

The subject in both sentences is 'Martin and I.' In the second sentence, we can use a subject pronoun. 'Martin and I' is both first person and plural, so the pronoun to use is 'we.'

Martin and I went out for dinner. We watched a movie after dinner.