Subject Pronouns for intermediate learners

Pronouns that are used in the position of a subject in sentences are called subject pronouns. In this article, you find all your answers about subject pronouns.

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Subject Pronouns in the English Grammar

What Are Subject Pronouns?

In English, the subject is the doer of the action in a sentence. We often use a subject pronoun (also called a subjective pronoun) in order to avoid repeating nouns. We have six subject pronouns in English as listed in the table below:

Subject Pronouns
1st Person Singular I
2nd Person Singular You
3rd Person Singular (F) She
3rd Person Singular (M) He
3rd Person Singular (N) It
1st Person Plural We
2nd Person Plural You
3rd Person Plural They

Now, let us look at the following examples:

I can talk to my dad on the phone.

They must go to the university tomorrow.

Tip!

As you can see in the table above, the subject pronouns for the second person singular and the second person plural are the same. If you want to put more emphasis on the subject pronoun when using the second person plural, you can add all after it. Look at the example below:

You can all watch a movie together.

You all better be studying hard for your exams.

Here the sentence is about a group of people.

Third Person Singular Subject Pronouns

As you can see, we have three subject pronouns for the third person singular form in the sentence. Look at the list below:

  • He (Male)
  • She (Female)
  • It (Non-human)

How to Use Them

When we want to refer to humans or animals in sentences without repeating their names, we use subject pronouns. Pay attention that these pronouns must be used according to the subject's gender. Look at the following examples:

George is 23 years old. He is a writer.

Anna is a lawyer. She is a book worm.

Piggy is my cat. It has black eyes.

Subject and Verb Agreement

The Verb 'Be'

In English, one of the most common main verbs is 'to be'. Based on the subject pronoun used, the 'to be' verb is changed accordingly. Pay attention to the table below:

Subject Pronouns The Verb be
1st Person Singular I am
2nd Person Singular You are
3rd Person Singular (Female) She is
3rd Person Singular (Male) He is
3rd Person Singular (Non-human) It is
1st Person Plural We are
2nd Person Plural You are
3rd Person Plural They are

Tip!

In English, this form of the verb is called an irregular verb because it does not change based upon a specific formula.

Study the following examples closely:

She is a huge fan of Justin Bieber.

They are arguing with their mom.

He is wearing a black coat.

Regular Verbs

Most of the verbs in English are regular and they remain the same when using subject pronouns. However, there is an exception. When using the third-person singular subject pronouns, an '-s' is added to the end of the verb. Look at the examples below:

She looks at the window.

They park their car in the garage.

(Not they parks their car…)

He wants to eat an ice cream now.

As you can see, the suffix 's' is only added to verbs with the third person singular pronouns.

Tip!

In English, the suffix '-es' is added to some verb endings. These verbs mainly end with 'o, ch, sh, th, ss, gh, or, z, y.' Look at the following examples:

She teaches Russian in university.

He cries all the time. (cry + -es)

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