Pronouns take the place of a noun. "I", "he" and "we" are examples of personal pronouns. It's a good idea to use them to avoid repetition in your English writing.
Sometimes when you are writing and are caught up in the flow, just getting your words down, you might end up with a sentence such as this: "Sofia lifted her foot gingerly from the pavement. Sofia's shoe pulled a huge lump of chewing gum up from the pavement with the shoe, and Sofia watched as the gum stretched out to a remarkable length, tenaciously clinging both to the sole of Sofia's shoe and to the dirty pavement." Too much repetition of the name Sofia, and the word "shoe", becomes distracting here. Instead it would be better to replace "Sofia" with the pronouns "she" and "her" and "shoe" with "it" and "its". Then we would have the improved sentence: "Sofia lifted her foot gingerly from the pavement. Her shoe pulled a huge lump of chewing gum up from the pavement with it, and she watched as the gum stretched out to a remarkable length, tenaciously clinging both to her sole and to the dirty pavement." That's a bit better, isn't it?
Play this first quiz on pronouns and if you get full marks, see if you can match your score in our second quiz!
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1.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
James took the book; he gave it to the teacher. |
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book, to |
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he, it |
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James, teacher |
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took, gave |
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2.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The teacher thanked him and gave it to Bob. |
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him, it |
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teacher, Bob |
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thanked, gave |
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The, and |
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3.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The concert was long and it was late when it finished. |
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concert, late |
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it, it |
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long, late |
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was, finished |
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4.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
How late was it when you left the concert? |
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How, when |
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it, you |
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late, left |
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you, the |
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5.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The torrential rain made him wet; he shivered with cold. |
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him, he |
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made, shivered |
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rain, cold |
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torrential, wet |
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6.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
We didn't play football yesterday as it rained all day. |
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as, all |
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football, day |
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play, rained |
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We, it |
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7.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The cousins came to tea with us; we played cricket too. |
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came, played |
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cousins, tea |
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tea, cricket |
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us, we |
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8.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
They were camping and came to us for shelter. |
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and, for |
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camping, shelter |
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They, us |
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were, came |
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9.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
They were grateful for the hot tea mum gave them. |
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grateful, for |
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hot, tea |
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They, them |
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were, gave |
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10.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The rain stopped and they returned to the campsite. |
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campsite |
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rain |
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stopped |
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they |
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1.
|
See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
James took the book; he gave it to the teacher. |
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| [ ] |
book, to |
| [x] |
he, it |
| [ ] |
James, teacher |
| [ ] |
took, gave |
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2.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The teacher thanked him and gave it to Bob. |
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| [x] |
him, it |
| [ ] |
teacher, Bob |
| [ ] |
thanked, gave |
| [ ] |
The, and |
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3.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The concert was long and it was late when it finished. |
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| [ ] |
concert, late |
| [x] |
it, it |
| [ ] |
long, late |
| [ ] |
was, finished |
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4.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
How late was it when you left the concert? |
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How, when |
| [x] |
it, you |
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late, left |
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you, the |
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5.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The torrential rain made him wet; he shivered with cold. |
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| [x] |
him, he |
| [ ] |
made, shivered |
| [ ] |
rain, cold |
| [ ] |
torrential, wet |
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6.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
We didn't play football yesterday as it rained all day. |
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| [ ] |
as, all |
| [ ] |
football, day |
| [ ] |
play, rained |
| [x] |
We, it |
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7.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The cousins came to tea with us; we played cricket too. |
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| [ ] |
came, played |
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cousins, tea |
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tea, cricket |
| [x] |
us, we |
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8.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
They were camping and came to us for shelter. |
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| [ ] |
and, for |
| [ ] |
camping, shelter |
| [x] |
They, us |
| [ ] |
were, came |
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9.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
They were grateful for the hot tea mum gave them. |
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| [ ] |
grateful, for |
| [ ] |
hot, tea |
| [x] |
They, them |
| [ ] |
were, gave |
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10.
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See if you can find the pronoun(s) in the following sentence.
The rain stopped and they returned to the campsite. |
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| [ ] |
campsite |
| [ ] |
rain |
| [ ] |
stopped |
| [x] |
they |
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