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Personal and Impersonal Pronouns: Types and Examples

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Personal and Impersonal Pronoun with Examples

Before we dwell on personal and impersonal pronouns, let's reassess what pronouns are. A pronoun is a word that is used in the place of a noun. If we want to describe a person, writing or saying that person's name in every sentence will look inappropriate and boring. There comes the role of Pronoun. For example, John is my classmate, and John is intelligent. So, instead of saying John is intelligent, we should use He is intelligent. The Pronoun is of different types, but two of its forms are Personal and Impersonal Pronoun.


What are Personal Pronouns?

The Pronoun used for a person, animal, and things is known as Personal pronounsYour like I, Me, We, Us, etc. Personal Pronoun is of three types and stands for three persons. The three persons are referred to as the following:


  • First Person: The person who is speaking. For example, when a speaking person denotes themselves using I, me, or them, It is a personal pronoun. They include words like me, my, mine, I, we, ours, us, our, etc. It is said to be the Pronoun of first-person.

  • Second Person: The person one is communicating to. While speaking or writing, if you repeatedly use the referring person name, it is not befitting. They include words like you and yours. It is called the second person pronoun.

  • Third Person: The third person pronoun refers to the Person talking about. It includes words like his, her, him, he, she, they, them, their, etc. The Pronoun of the third person has three genders feminine, masculine, and neutral. For feminine third-person pronouns, we use she, her, hers, etc. For masculine third-person pronouns, we use his, him, he, etc. The neutral third person pronoun is it, its, etc.


Examples of Personal Pronouns

Example of Personal Pronoun, the pronouns are darkened:

  • My name is Ben, and I am a student.

  • All the chocolates are mine. Yours is finished.

  • You are a good person.

  • Sia is sad because she scored fewer marks.

  • Ryan likes cricket. He loves football too.

  • Kids have done their homework, and they are going to play.

  • Invite all of them to the party.


The possessive case of a personal pronoun has two forms. One includes words like my, ours, her and their, etc. Possessive adjectives or Pronominal adjectives. In this, the Pronoun acts as an adjective.


For example, This is my house. Here my is a possessive pronoun that describes adjectives for the house.


This house is mine. Here the word mine describes a simple possessive pronoun.


More examples:


Your recipe is amazing. (Possessive adjective)

  • The recipe of yours is amazing. (Possessive Pronoun)

  • These are his clothes. (Possessive adjective)

  • These clothes are his. (Possessive Pronoun)


What are Impersonal Pronouns?

The Pronoun which describes or stands for a thing or verb or any nonliving thing but not for a person is the impersonal Pronoun. Sometimes we use it in case of undetermined gender, like for an insect or animal. For example, this Pronoun seems to stand for no person, but we use it to describe things, places, or verbs. 


Examples:

  • It is raining. 

Here it describes the verb raining.

  • It is a tasty pizza.

Here it denotes pizza, a food item.

  • I did not see the bug, but it stung me.

In the above sentence, the word is referring to the insect.

  • The horse fell and broke its leg.

  • When I saw the baby, it was crying.

  • It is you who are to be blamed. 

  • It is easy to find fault.

  • It is doubtful whether the game will continue.


Advantages of learning Personal and Impersonal Pronoun – Definition and Examples 

The Personal and Impersonal Pronoun – Definition and Examples are the most important topics of English grammar. They give you a clear understanding of the words that can be used instead of nouns to make the sentences much smoother. Below are some advantages of learning the Personal and Impersonal Pronoun - Definition and Examples:

 

  • In the English language, personal and impersonal pronouns play a vital role. That is why you must learn the Personal and Impersonal Pronoun - Definition and Examples to have a strong grasp of these topics. 

  • The Personal and Impersonal Pronoun - Definition and Examples provides you with detailed explanations along with easy examples to give you a better understanding of the topics. 

  • Once you go through the Personal and Impersonal Pronoun - Definition and Examples thoroughly, you will be able to differentiate between the two pronouns with ease. 

  • Learning the Personal and Impersonal Pronoun - Definition and Examples will help you create meaningful sentences without breaking the flow. 

  • Vedantu provides you with the Personal and Impersonal Pronoun - Definition and Examples for absolutely free only on their website and mobile application, which is available on the app store and play store. 

  • The Personal and Impersonal Pronoun – Definition and Examples will tell you the correct use of pronouns. This way, you can understand when do you have to replace a noun with a personal or an impersonal pronoun. 

  • After learning the basics of personal and impersonal pronouns, you can use your knowledge to practice different worksheets and check whether you have understood the entire concept or not.

FAQs on Personal and Impersonal Pronouns: Types and Examples

1.What is the difference between Personal and Impersonal Pronouns?

Personal and Impersonal pronouns are the two common types of pronouns, entirely different from each other. Personal pronouns are the ones that you use for a human being. For example, he, she, we, I, me, they, them, etc. These pronouns are used for first-person, second-person, and third-person perspectives. On the other hand, impersonal pronouns are the ones that you use for things. In the English language, ‘It’ is the only impersonal pronoun. For example, I did not see the car when it hit me.

2.Give some examples of Personal and Impersonal Pronouns?

Below are some examples of Personal and Impersonal Pronouns.

Personal Pronoun

  • He writes much better than he sings. 

  • She did not attend the party last night.

  • I am working on a blog. 

  • We would like to invite Josh to dinner. 

  • Would you like to come to dinner with us? 

Impersonal Pronouns 

  • It was raining yesterday. 

  • It is not possible for me to attend the party. 

  • One cannot learn English in a day. 

  • If one wants to be successful, one should work hard.  

3.How to use third person pronouns?

Third Person Pronouns are used to refer to the person being talked about. Oftentimes, this type of pronouns are used formally in writing as well as speaking. Some examples of third person pronouns are she, her, him, his, itself, etc. We can use all these pronouns when: 


  • Discussing non-living things: I bought a mobile phone. It is better than my last one.

  • Stating facts: Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world. It is located in Agra. 

4.What is the importance of Personal and Impersonal Pronoun – Definition and Examples?

The Personal and Impersonal Pronoun – Definition and Examples are an important part of the English syllabus. Pronouns are a crucial concept of the English language. That is why you should have a clear understanding of the personal and impersonal pronouns. It will help you form the right sentence structure. The Personal and Impersonal Pronoun – Definition and Examples will create a base for you to learn the other important concepts of grammar. Moreover, learning personal and impersonal pronouns will improve your flow of writing and overall writing skills. 

5.What are some other types of pronouns?

Other than personal and impersonal pronouns, there are other types of pronouns you must know about. These pronouns are explained below.


  • Demonstrative Pronouns: Any pronoun that points to a specific thing is known as a demonstrative pronoun. For example: This is a sentence.  

  • Interrogative Pronouns: any pronoun used to ask a question is known as interrogative pronoun. Examples of interrogative pronouns are what, how, when, where, etc. 

  • Indefinite Pronouns: Any pronoun that does not refer to any noun i.e. person, place, object, is known as an indefinite pronoun.  

  • Relative Pronouns: relative pronouns are the ones that introduce a relative clause. For example, whom, which, that, etc.