Pronouns: Subject Pronouns 1

Here is a list of subject pronouns. These are also called personal pronouns.

• I
• You
• We
• He
• She
• It
• They

We call these subject pronouns because they can replace a noun as the subject of a sentence. For example,

• Jon works. = He works.
• The cookie is good. = It is good.
• The children play. = They play.

Here are a few things to remember when using these pronouns.

1. “He” refers to a man.
2. “She” refers to a woman.
3. “It” refers to one thing or animal.
4. “They” refers to more than one thing, person or animal.
5. “We” refers to “Another Person + I”.
6. We always use the pronouns “I” and “You”. We do not say our own name or the name of the person that we are talking to in English.

No Pronoun	Subject Pronouns
X	I like pizza.
X	You are late.
Chris and I are brothers.	We are brothers.
Jon is a good man.	He is a good man.
Sally works at a car company.	She works at a car company.
I think that this hotel is nice.	I think that it is nice.
Jon and Sally work here.	They work here.
The shirts are expensive.	They are expensive.

Do not use pronouns if the listener does not know the subject. Look at this example.

A) She likes you.
B) Who are you talking about?

If Person B does not know who “she” is, then using the pronoun is not effective. Make sure you introduce the subject first, and then you can freely use subject pronouns.

A) Mary likes you.
B) Really? How do you know?
A) She told me.

Subject pronouns often go at the beginning of a sentence, but there are many times that we use them in the middle of a sentence (this sentence is one example).

• I think that she is cute.
• Jon left after they came.
• I didn’t want to go because you weren’t there.

These pronouns are used very often when speaking or writing in English. If you want to be good at English, then it is important that you know how to use these pronouns correctly.

A to Z Grammar Lessons Index