Unit 0
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Introduction
Pronouns are words used to avoid repetitions of a noun.
We distinguish Subject Pronouns depending on number (singular, plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, neutral). Subject Pronouns are used to avoid repetitions.
Form
The Subject Pronouns with the verb have this structure:
Subject + verb.
| Subject | Person | Number | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1st person | sing. | – |
| You | 2nd person | sing. | – |
| He | 3rd person | sing. | masculine |
| She | 3rd person | sing. | feminine |
| It | 3rd person | sing. | neutral* |
| We | 1st person | plur. | – |
| You | 2nd person | plur. | – |
| They | 3rd person | plur. | – |
* (object/animal)
Example
- Subject of the verb
- I am fast.
- You are pretty.
- He is short.
- She is beautiful.
- It is big.
- We are young.
- You are athletes.
- They are fat.
- To replace the person and avoid repetitions:
- [n/a]*
- Andy, take off that hat, you look funny.
- John is tall and he is also thin.
- Maria is from Spain, she is Spanish.
- I like the color red, it is passionate.
- Julia and I come from France, we are French.
- You and Peter always talk, you are really talkative.
- John and Maria are fat, they eat a lot.
*Non applicable for the first person.
Use
Subject Pronouns are the pronouns used:
- As the subject of the verb;
- To replace the person and avoid repetitions.
Summary
Subject Pronouns differ in gender (masculine, feminine and neutral) and number (singular and plural).
We use Subject Pronouns for two reasons:
- They can be used as the subject of the verb;
- They can be used to replace a person or thing which has been previously mentioned, to avoid repetitions.
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they.
For example:
— “He is handsome” = In this case, the pronoun he behaves as a subject and has no other purposes.
— “Look at David, he is handsome!” = In this case, the pronoun he replaces the subject expressed in the first part of the sentence (he= David).
NOTE: If you want to use Subject Pronouns as a replacement, it is not possible to do this when you need to use the first person singular (I).
Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.
Exercises
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