Pronoun Notes for SSC Exams

Pronouns save us from repeating nouns, and they are a favourite topic in SSC error spotting and fill-in-the-blank questions. The tests usually check the case of the pronoun, agreement with its antecedent, the use of who and whom, the order of persons and the difference between words like my and mine. These Pronoun notes for SSC cover every kind of pronoun, all the rules and common errors with tables and practice questions.

What Is a Pronoun?

• A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun: "Rohan lost his bag, so he was upset."
• The noun that a pronoun replaces is called its antecedent (Rohan in the sentence above).
• Pronouns are used for the three persons: first (the speaker), second (the listener) and third (the person spoken about).

Personal Pronouns and Their Cases

• Use the nominative as the subject: "She and I are friends."
• Use the objective after verbs and prepositions: "The teacher praised her and me." "Between you and me" (not "between you and I").
• Its (possessive) has no apostrophe; it's means "it is" or "it has".
• After "than" and "as" the case depends on the full clause: "He is taller than I (am)." "She likes you more than me" (more than she likes me).

Kinds of Pronouns

Important Rules of Pronouns

Rule 1: Order of Persons

• For good or neutral things, put the second person first, then the third, then the first: You, he and I will go (2-3-1).
• For admitting guilt or a fault, put the first person first: I, you and he are responsible (1-2-3).
• With plural pronouns the order is We, you and they (1-2-3).

Rule 2: Who and Whom

Rule 3: My / Mine, Your / Yours, Her / Hers

• Possessive adjectives (my, your, her, our, their) are followed by a noun.
• Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs) stand alone: "This pen is mine."
• "A friend of mine" and "a book of hers" are correct (double possessive). "A friend of me" is wrong.

Rule 4: Reflexive Pronouns

• Do not use a reflexive pronoun as the subject: "My brother and I went" (not "myself").
• Do not use a reflexive after a preposition of place when the objective is enough: "He put the book beside him."
• Some verbs are followed by a reflexive: enjoy oneself, avail oneself of, pride oneself on, absent oneself from, acquit oneself, betake oneself.

Rule 5: Relative Pronouns

• Who for persons, which for animals and things, that for both.
• Use that after superlatives, all, any, only, same, nothing, everything, and after a person-and-thing antecedent: "He is the best player that I know." "All that glitters is not gold."
• Use which (not that) after a preposition and in non-defining clauses: "This is the house in which I was born." "The book, which I bought yesterday, is interesting."
• What includes its antecedent ("that which"): "What he said is true."

Rule 6: Agreement with the Antecedent

• Each, every, either, neither, one, anyone, someone, everybody, nobody are singular and take a singular verb and pronoun: "Everyone has done his or her best."
• With collective nouns, the pronoun must follow the verb: singular ("The team lost its match") or plural ("The team are enjoying themselves").
• With "either...or" and "neither...nor", the pronoun agrees with the nearer noun.

Rule 7: Each Other and One Another

• Each other - two persons or things: "Ram and Shyam help each other."
• One another - more than two: "The students respect one another."

Rule 8: Pronoun After Than, As and But

• After than and as, complete the clause mentally and choose the case accordingly: "She is taller than I (am)" and "He likes you more than me (than he likes me)".
• When but means "except", it works as a preposition, so the objective case follows: "No one but him could solve it".

Common Errors Table

Quick Revision Points

• Pronoun replaces a noun; its noun is the antecedent.
• I - me - my - mine; we - us - our - ours; he - him - his; she - her - hers; they - them - theirs.
• Who = subject, whom = object. Which = things, that = both.
• Order: 2-3-1 for good things, 1-2-3 for guilt.
• Each, either, neither, everyone, someone are singular.
• Its (possessive) vs it's (it is).

Practice Questions With Answers

1. Fill in the blank: "Between you and ___." Answer: me
2. "This is the girl ___ won the prize." Answer: who
3. "To ___ did you give the book?" Answer: whom
4. "The pen is ___ (my/mine)." Answer: mine
5. Choose the correct order: (a) I, you and he (b) you, he and I - for admitting a mistake. Answer: (a) I, you and he
6. "Each of the boys has brought ___ book." Answer: his
7. "The two brothers quarrel with ___ (each other/one another)." Answer: each other
8. "He is the best man ___ I have met." Answer: that
9. "The dog wagged ___ tail." Answer: its
10. "I ___ did the work." Answer: myself (emphatic pronoun)

Revise the Parts of Speech and Noun notes, and test yourself with our previous year papers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a pronoun?

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid its repetition. Examples: he, she, it, they, we, who, this, myself. "Seema said that she would come" - here "she" replaces "Seema".

What are the kinds of pronouns?

Personal, possessive, reflexive, emphatic, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, indefinite, distributive and reciprocal pronouns. Each kind has a different function and different forms.

What are the cases of personal pronouns?

Nominative (subject): I, you, he, she, it, we, they. Objective (object): me, you, him, her, it, us, them. Possessive: my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers, its, our/ours, their/theirs. Use the nominative form as the subject and the objective form after verbs and prepositions.

What is the difference between my and mine?

"My" is a possessive adjective and is always followed by a noun (my book), while "mine" is a possessive pronoun and stands alone (This book is mine). The same applies to your/yours, her/hers, our/ours, their/theirs. Note that "his" works for both.

When do we use who and whom?

"Who" is used as the subject (Who is calling?) and "whom" as the object of a verb or a preposition (Whom did you call? To whom did you speak?). A quick test: if the answer would be "he/she/they", use who; if "him/her/them", use whom.

What is the difference between who, which and that as relative pronouns?

"Who" refers to persons, "which" refers to animals and things, and "that" can refer to persons, animals and things (especially after superlatives, all, same, only, any and nothing). "That" is not used after a preposition or in non-defining clauses.

What are reflexive pronouns?

Reflexive pronouns end in -self/-selves (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) and show that the action returns to the subject: "She hurt herself." When used for emphasis ("I myself saw him"), they are called emphatic pronouns.

What is the correct order of pronouns in a sentence?

For good things, the order is 2-3-1: you, he and I (second, third, first person). For admitting a fault or a bad action, the order is 1-2-3: I, you and he. Example: "You, he and I will go." / "I, you and he are to blame."

What is pronoun-antecedent agreement?

A pronoun must agree with the noun it refers to (its antecedent) in number, gender and person. "Each of the boys must bring his book" (singular). "All the students must bring their books" (plural). Avoid mixing singular and plural references.

Which pronouns are always singular?

Each, either, neither, everyone, everybody, everything, anyone, anybody, someone, somebody, no one, nobody, one and another are singular and take a singular verb: "Each of the girls has finished her work." "Neither of them is ready."

What are indefinite pronouns?

Indefinite pronouns refer to non-specific persons or things: someone, anyone, everyone, something, nothing, all, some, any, none, many, few, both, several, other, another. Some are singular, some plural, and some (all, some, none, most) depend on the noun they refer to.

What is the difference between each other and one another?

Traditionally "each other" is used for two persons or things and "one another" for more than two. "The two brothers love each other." "All the students helped one another." In modern use both are accepted, but exams may follow the traditional rule.

What is the use of "one" as a pronoun?

"One" is used for people in general: "One should keep one's promises." It should be followed by "one's" or "his/her" in more modern use, but SSC exams prefer "one ... one's". "One" is also a numeral and a substitute word ("This book is better than that one").

What are common errors with pronouns in SSC exams?

Using the wrong case ("Between you and I" instead of "between you and me"), mixing who and whom, using "it is me" instead of "it is I" in formal grammar, wrong order of persons, no agreement with the antecedent, and using plural pronouns after singular antecedents like each and every.

Which is correct: "It is I" or "It is me"?

In formal grammar, "It is I" is correct because the pronoun after the verb "to be" takes the nominative case. "It is me" is used in informal speech. Exams generally prefer the nominative form after verbs like is, was and be.

How should I prepare pronouns for SSC exams?

Learn the table of cases, the rules of who/whom and my/mine, the order of persons and the list of singular indefinite pronouns. Then practise error spotting and fill-in-the-blank questions on pronouns from previous year papers.