Subject pronouns
Use I, you, he, she, it, we and they in place of names and nouns.
8 minBeginner
1The grammar
A subject pronoun takes the place of a noun. It tells us who or what does the action. The subject pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we and they.
Use 'he' for a man, 'she' for a woman and 'it' for a thing or a place. Use 'we' for a group with you in it. Use 'they' for other groups of people or things. 'You' is the same for one person and for many people.
An English sentence needs a subject, except for instructions like 'Take a coat'. Do not leave it out: It is hot today. Also, do not use a noun and its pronoun together: Maria works here, not 'Maria she works here'.
We also use 'they' for one person when we do not know if that person is a man or a woman: Someone called. They left a message. Always write 'I' with a capital letter.
2Structure and formation
One person or thing
I / you / he / she / it + verb
She is my manager.
More than one
we / you / they + verb
They are my neighbours.
Noun to pronoun
Anna = she, Tom = he, the car = it, Anna and Tom = they, Tom and I = we
Tom and I are friends. We play tennis.
Weather and time
It + is + ...
It is nine o'clock.
3Examples
I work in a bank.
'I' is always a capital letter.
You are early today.
'You' can be one person or many.
Carlos is my boss. He is from Mexico.
'He' takes the place of Carlos, a man.
Emma lives near me. She has two cats.
'She' takes the place of Emma, a woman.
My laptop is old. It is very slow.
'It' takes the place of one thing.
My wife and I like this café. We go there every week.
'We' = my wife and I.
Where are the keys? They are on the table.
'They' takes the place of a plural noun.
4Common mistakes
Is very hot today.
It is very hot today.
A sentence needs a subject. Use 'it' for the weather.
My brother he lives in Rome.
My brother lives in Rome.
Use the noun or the pronoun, not both.
Me and Sara are at the office.
Sara and I are at the office.
The subject form is 'I', not 'me'. Say the other person first.
i am tired.
I am tired.
'I' is always a capital letter.
Julia is my friend. He is a doctor.
Julia is my friend. She is a doctor.
Julia is a woman, so use 'she'.
5Practical usage
Do not repeat names
Say a name once, then use a pronoun: This is Mr Tanaka. He is our new client.
Talking about weather and time
Use 'it' as the subject: It is cold today. It is six o'clock.
Now practise it
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