Pronouns for Kids
What Are Pronouns? (for Kids)
Pronouns are used to avoid repetition. For example:- Jane has a dog. Jane also has a cat. (There are no pronouns in this example. Notice that "Jane" is repeated.)
- Jane has a dog. She also has a cat. (In this example, "she" is a pronoun. It replaces the word "Jane," which is a noun.)
- The king was a kind man. The king loved the king's people. (There are no pronouns in this example. Notice that "the king" is repeated.)
- The king was a kind man. He loved his people. (In this example, "He" and "his" are pronouns. They replace "king," which is a noun.)
It's Your Go!
Select the pronoun in each sentence:Using Pronouns
A pronoun is a word used to replace a noun. In the opening examples, we saw the following pronouns:- she, which replaced the noun "Jane"
- he, which replaced the noun "king"
- his, which also replaced the noun "king"
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns are used instead of a person, place, or thing that has already been mentioned. Here is the full list of personal pronouns.- I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them
- The lioness is feeding the cubs. She will take them to the river afterwards. (In this example, "she" is a personal pronoun. It replaces the noun "lioness." "Them" is a personal pronoun. It replaces the noun "cubs.")
- Twenty people swam the river. It was wide, but they all reached the other side. (In this example, "it" is a personal pronoun. It replaces the noun "river." "They" is a personal pronoun. It replaces the noun "people.")
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns are used to show ownership. Here is a full list of possessive pronouns:- mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, whose
- my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose
- Hello, Mr. Smith. The red apple is yours. (The word "yours" is a possessive pronoun. It is one of the ones that can be used on its own.)
- Hello, Mr. Smith. The red apple is your apple. (The word "your" is also a possessive pronoun. It is one of the ones that must be used with a noun, which is why it is before "apple.")
- Hello, Mr. Smith. The red apple is Mr. Smith's.
- Hello, Mr. Smith. The red apple is Mr. Smith's apple. (These are marked as wrong because they sound so clumsy.)
- The red apple is yours. (We know we are talking to Mr. Smith. The possessive pronoun "yours" replaces "Mr. Smith's," which is a noun.)
- The red apple is your apple. (Like before, the possessive pronoun "your" replaces "Mr. Smith.")
It's Your Go!
What type of pronoun is the word in bold?Can You Identify Pronouns?
Video Lesson
Here is a video lesson on pronouns: video lessonAre you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos.
Learning Resources
play:
"fish game" with pronouns "bubble pop" with pronouns whack-a-mole with pronouns drag-n-drop game with pronounslists:
top 30 pronouns sortable list of 75 pronounsmore actions:
Test Time!
This test is printable and sendable