Personal Pronouns (pronombres personales)

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 an object 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 as she/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.

We use he/him to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women. When we are not sure if we are talking about a man or a woman we use they/them.

This is Jack. He’s my brother. I don’t think you have met him.
This is Angela. She’s my sister. Have you met her before?
Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.
You could go to a doctor. They might help you.

Subject pronouns

We use subject pronouns as subject of the verb:

I like your dress.
You are late.
He is my friend
It is raining
She is on holiday
We live in England.
They come from London.

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