Pronouns for Class 5

Look at the following sentences:

1. I like to eat donuts.
2. I need to finish my homework.
3. They are going to school.
4. These are my pens.

All the above-highlighted words like I, my, they and these are pronouns.

What Do Pronouns Mean?

1. Pronouns are special words that are used to replace nouns to prevent repetition of words.
2. These are used to make our sentences shorter and less repetitive.
3. Examples of pronouns are he, she, it, I, you, who, whose, everyone, her, him, mine, etc.

Types of Pronouns

1. Personal Pronouns

1. Personal pronouns are used to replace people's or objects’ names to avoid the repetition of words.
2. Examples are I, you, he, she, it, we, us, him, etc.

Personal pronouns used in sentences:

→  My name is Jacob. I love to sing. In the above sentence ‘I’ is used instead of using the word ‘Jacob’ again.
→ Brad bought a new puppy. Its name is Cooper. In this sentence, ‘its’ is used because we are talking about an animal dog.

2. Relative Pronouns

1. Relative pronouns are used to relate one part of the sentence to another.
2. Examples are whose, that, which, who, whom, etc.

Relative nouns used in sentences:

→ The book that I borrowed from the library was boring. In the above sentence ‘that’ is a reflexive pronoun.
→ The car, which was parked in front of the building, was blue. In this sentence ‘which’ is a relative pronoun as it relates one part of the sentence to another.

3. Reflexive Pronouns

1. Pronouns that reflect the subject are called reflexive pronouns.
2. Reflexive pronouns include words like himself, herself, yourself, myself, itself, oneself, themselves, yourselves and ourselves.

Take a look at the following sentences:

→ I hurt myself while running. In this sentence, the subject was running and got hurt. The action reflected to the subject therefore the reflexive pronoun ‘myself’ is used.
→ He taught himself to cook. ‘Himself’ is used as the reflexive pronoun in this sentence because the subject taught himself to play the piano.

4. Demonstrative Pronouns

1. Demonstrative pronouns are words that are used in place of nouns. They tell us whether something is singular or plural.
2. Demonstrative pronouns also tell us whether something is far from us or near us.

Demonstrative pronouns used in sentences:

→ These are Paul’s toys. ‘These’ is the demonstrative pronoun used in this sentence to show that toys are near someone.
→ This is my favourite bag. ‘This’ is used as the demonstrative pronoun when a singular noun or singular something is near the subject.

5. Indefinite Pronouns

1. We use indefinite pronouns when we refer to something or someone without mentioning them.
2. Examples are anyone, someone, no one, everyone, everybody, and every.

Look at the sentence where indefinite pronouns are used:

→ Everyone is invited to my party. ‘Everyone’ is an indefinite pronoun which is used because in this sentence the people are not defined.
→ Someone is waiting for you. ‘Someone’ is an indefinite pronoun as it does not specify who is waiting.

6. Distributive Pronouns

1. Distributive pronouns relate to things or individuals one at a time.
2. Examples are neither, either, and each.

Read the following sentences:

→ Either option works for me. ‘Either’ is used as the distributive pronoun because it refers to the option one at a time.
→ Each of the students worked hard on their English project. ‘Each’ is the distributive pronoun that is used in the above sentence.

7. Possessive Pronouns

1. Pronouns which are used to indicate possession of something by someone are called possessive pronouns.
2. Examples of possessive pronouns are mine, hers, his, etc.

Possessive pronouns used in sentences:

→ This notebook is mine. ‘Mine’ is a possessive pronoun in this sentence.
→ It is his turn now. ‘His’ is the possessive pronoun used in this sentence.

8. Interrogative Pronouns

1. We ask questions using interrogative pronouns.
2. Examples are who, which, what, whose, whom, etc.

Look at the following sentences:

→ Who is the owner of this house? ‘Who’ is the interrogative pronoun which is used to ask questions.
→ What is your name? ‘What’ is used to inquire about people or objects.

9. Intensive Pronouns

1. Intensive pronouns emphasise one or more pronouns or a nouns.
2. These are described as pronouns that end with singular ‘self’ and plural forms ‘selves’.
3. Examples of intensive pronouns are himself, herself, yourself, myself, itself, themselves, ourselves, yourselves.

Intensive pronouns used in sentences are:

→ I will do it myself. ‘Myself’ is a singular intensive pronoun used in this sentence.
→ They themselves cooked dinner. ‘Themselves’ is a plural intensive pronoun.

Examples of Pronouns Used in Sentences

1. This is my glass.
2. Does anyone have a glue stick?
3. Are these your keys?
4. Nobody knows the answer to this question.
5. Can you please help me?

FAQ’s

1. What are pronouns?

Answer: Pronouns refer to the words that replace nouns in a sentence. Examples are he, her, his, their, etc.

2. What is an example of a pronoun in a sentence for class 5?

Answer: Jason loves sports. He plays badminton every day.
‘He’ is a pronoun which is used in place of the name Jason.

3. What are the types of pronouns?

Answer: Types of pronouns are:

1. Personal pronouns
2. Reflexive pronouns
3. Relative pronouns
4. Demonstrative pronouns
5. Indefinite pronouns
6. Distributive pronouns
7. Possessive pronouns
8. Interrogative pronouns
9. Intensive pronouns