Pronouns help you achieve cohesion in your writing. They connect ideas and prevent unnecessary repetition of nouns.
Subject Pronouns:
I he she it we you they this that these those
Object Pronouns:
me him her it us you them this that these those
Possessives:
my his her its our your their
Look at these examples:
Alex wants to be a tour guide because he loves traveling.
In this sentence the pronoun he is used to avoid repeating the name Alex. He means Alex.
The noun that a pronoun replaces is called the antecedent. In the example above, Alex is the antecedent for the pronoun he.
Arya loves her new job. It allows her to meet a lot of people.
In this sentence, job is the antecedent for it.
Practice 1:
Read the paragraphs below and replace the underlined words with an appropriate pronoun:
Restaurant meals have several disadvantages. In the first place, restaurant meals are more expensive than home-cooked meals. In addition, restaurant portions tend to be big, which makes restaurant portions higher in calories. Restaurant chefs often use rich sauces in their cooking. These sauces may be delicious, but the sauces are also often high in calories and fat.
There are several reasons why I have decided to sell my car. For one thing, my car is old and frequently needs repairs. In addition, my car's tires need to be replaced. But the main reason is that I don't use my car very much anymore because I take the bus to work most of the time.
Remember, if it is not clear what the antecedent is, you should not use a pronoun even if it means repeating words.
Look at this example:
I rode my bike into a car but fortunately, it wasn’t damaged.
What was damaged? The bike or the car? It isn’t clear which one the pronoun it refers to. The sentence would be clearer without a pronoun.
I rode my bike into a car but fortunately, the bike wasn’t damaged.
Let’s look at another example:
James told Alex that he had chosen to receive a scholarship.
Who was chosen to receive a scholarship? James or Alex? It isn’t clear which person the pronoun he refers to. Therefore, this sentence would be clearer without a pronoun too.
James told Alex that Alex had chosen to receive a scholarship.
