Table of Contents
What is a Pronoun?
A Pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or of more than one noun.
[ Noun বা বিশেষ্য পদের পরিবর্তে যে পদ ব্যবহার করা হয় তাকে Pronoun বা সর্বনাম পদ বলে। ]
For example,
The boy said that he was tired.
In the sentence pronoun ‘he’ has replaced the noun ‘boy’.
Antecedent: The word whose place a Pronoun takes is called it’s Antecedent.
[ কোন Sentence এ যে Word এর পরিবর্তে Pronoun টি বসে সেই Word কে ওই Pronoun এর Antecedent বলে। ]
In the above example, the noun ‘boy’ is the antecedent of the pronoun ‘he’.
**Note: Sometimes a Pronoun takes the place of another Pronoun. [কখনও কখনও একটি Pronoun অপর Pronoun এর পরিবর্তেও বসে। ]
KINDS OF PRONOUNS
There are several kinds of Pronouns –
1. Personal Pronoun
2. Possessive Pronoun
3. Reflexive Pronoun
4. Relative Pronoun
5. Interrogative Pronoun
6. Demonstrative Pronoun
7. Indefinite Pronoun
8. Distributive Pronoun
9. Reciprocal Pronoun
PERSONAL PRONOUN
Definition: Personal Pronouns are pronouns that refer to a specific person or thing in a sentence.
[ যে Pronoun দ্বারা কোন ব্যক্তিকে বা বস্তু কে বোঝায় তাকে বলে Personal Pronoun। ]
It can be divided into two groups: Nominative and Objective.
• Nominative Personal Pronouns can act as the subject of a sentence. ( Nominative Personal Pronoun বাক্যের কর্তার কাজ করে। )
For example: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
I went to the store after work.
You should not go to class if you are sick.
• Objective Personal Pronouns, on the other hand, act as objects of a sentence. ( Objective Personal Pronoun বাক্যের কর্মের কাজ করে। )
For example: me, you, him, her, it, us, them.
Tiyas came out with Joy and me.
Priya really likes him.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUN
Definition: Possessive Pronouns are pronouns that show ownership; in other words, someone possesses something.
[ যে Pronoun এর দ্বারা কোনো কিছুর possession বা অধিকার বোঝানো হয় তাকে Possessive Pronoun বলে। ]
For example: my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers, its, our/ours, their/theirs.
That book is mine.
Their shoes are under the bed.
REFLEXIVE PRONOUN
Definition: Reflexive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to show that the subject of the sentence is receiving the action of the verb.
[ Reflexive Pronoun হল এমন এক Pronoun যা এটি বোঝানোর জন্য ব্যবহৃত হয় যে – বাক্যের কর্তাটিই ক্রিয়ার কাজের গ্রাহক। ]
** It is formed by adding ‘self ’ (in the case of singular number) or ‘selves’ (in the case of plural number). And it is also used to intensify or emphasize a preceding noun or pronoun.
[ এটি self (singular number এর ক্ষেত্রে) ও selves (plural number এর ক্ষেত্রে) সহযোগে গঠিত হয়। এবং এটি পূর্ববর্তী Noun বা Pronoun কে জোর দিয়ে বোঝাতেও ব্যবহৃত হয়। ]
For example: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves.
She can handle the situation herself.
We can write the paper ourselves.
DECLENSION OF PERSONAL, POSSESSIVE & REFLEXIVE PRONOUN
RELATIVE PRONOUN
Definition: Relative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to connect clarifying information to nouns or other pronouns within a sentence.
[ যে Pronoun দুটি বাক্যের মধ্যে সম্বন্ধ তৈরি করে, তাকে Relative Pronoun বলে। ]
**As Relative Pronouns link the dependant clause of a sentence to its main clause, they are called LinkingLinking Pronouns.
For example: who, that, which, whom, whose, whoever, whichever, whomever, whatever.
| Relative Pronoun | Used For | Example |
| Who (used when referring to a subject) | Persons | Who sings this song? |
| Whom (used when referring to an object) | Persons | With whom did Abhi go out? |
| Whose (Possessive) | Persons & Things | This is the man whose pocket was picked. |
| Which ( used as object & subject | Things without life & Animals | This is the book which I bought. |
| That | Things, Pereons, Animals | This is the car that I saw. |
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN
Definition: Interrogative Pronouns are pronouns that are used only in reference to a question.
[ Interrogative Pronoun প্রশ্ন করার জন্য ব্যবহার করা হয় এবং এগুলি সাধারণত বাক্যের প্রথমে বসে। ]
For example: who, what, which, whom, whose.
| Interrogative Pronouns | Used For | Example |
| Who, Whom, Whose | Used for indicating persons | Who are you? Whom does he want to meet? Whose book is this? |
| Which | Used for indicating both persons and things | Which one of these pens is yours? Which is your friend? |
| What | Used in the general sense of asking | What is your name? |
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN
Definition: Demonstrative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to identify nouns. They point out people or things.
[ যেসব Pronoun কোন Noun কে বিশেষভাবে বোঝায় তাদের Demonstrative Pronoun বলে। ]
For example: this, that, these, those.
These are the books that John was talking about.
*Here, the pronoun “these” identifies which books John was talking about.
INDEFINITE PRONOUN
Definition: Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that are used in reference to a person or thing that is not specific or not known. Indefinite pronouns are also used to identify a general group of people or things.
[ যখন নির্দিষ্ট করে কোনো ব্যক্তি বা বস্তু কে বোঝানো যায়না তখন Indefinite Pronoun ব্যবহার করা হয়। ]
For example: everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, somebody, most, all, each, every, some, none, one, few, both, many, several.
Everybody has to clear six semesters in order to graduate.
All of the seniors were excited for graduation.
DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUN
Definition: Distributive Pronouns are pronouns that refer to persons or things one at a time. That’s why they are always singular.
[ একজাতীয় ব্যক্তি বা বস্তুর মধ্যে প্রত্যেকটি পৃথকভাবে বোঝাতে Distributive Pronoun ব্যবহার করা হয় । ]
For example: each, either, neither.
Each of them is humble.
Either of the roads leads to the market.
Neither of the girls was late.
RECIPROCAL PRONOUN
Definition: Reciprocal Pronouns are pronouns that are used to refer to a mutual set of people.
[ Reciprocal Pronoun একাধিক ব্যক্তি বা বস্তুর মধ্যে পারস্পারিক সম্পর্ক বুঝিয়ে দেয়। ]
For example: each other, each other’s, one another, one another’s.
We need to help one another survive.
They had remembered each other’s phone numbers.
EXERCISE
A. Circle the correct pronouns given in the parentheses.
1. (I, me) will pick up the groceries.
2. (She, her) sent (I, me) a package in the mail.
3. Are you going to visit (he, him) this evening?
4. Wendy is somewhere around; have you seen (she, her)?
5. The commanding officer gave (him, he) and (me, I) a real bawling-out.
6 . They told (us, we) to meet (them, they) in the parking lot.
7. (They, them) invited (we, us) over for cocktails.
8. Our house is always open to (they, them).
9. Adrian chose (he, him) and (I, me) for teammates.
10. There were dozens of bees buzzing around (we, us).
B. Identify the underlined part of speech.
1. Those are Tom’s.
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
2. They didn’t give themselves a chance to think before beginning the competition.
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
3. The dog that bit her brother belongs to the man down the road.
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
4. Do you know when the movie starts?
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
5. They think hers is the most interesting submission.
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
6. The audience sat transfixed as the woman who had just won the award fell down the stairs.
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
7. Someone will need to finish doing the lunch dishes before Don fixes dinner.
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
8. Have you been there before?
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
9. The studio plans to give them each a fruit basket.
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
10. Ted will choose where they going because either of the options works for Alicia.
a. personal pronoun
b. relative pronoun
c. indefinite pronoun
d. interrogative pronoun
e. reflexive pronoun
f. demonstrative pronoun
C. Underline the correct word or words in the parentheses in the sentences below.
1. If anybody here has a cell phone (they/he or she) should turn it off now.
2. Many high schools now require (its / their) students to take a computer course.
3. Each of the actresses who auditioned believes (she/they) should be chosen for the role.
4. Students complain that (they / the maintenance crew) keep(s) the library too hot.
5. While Eric was adding sugar to his coffee, he spilled (it / the sugar) all over the table.
