Third-Person Pronouns

Power of Pronouns

A pronoun is a very helpful part of speech. It takes the place of a noun or nouns and can help your writing from sounding repetitive. Instead of using the name of the noun over and over, you can replace it with a pronoun like 'it', 'she', or 'he'. Remember that pronouns can propel the quality of your writing by getting rid of extra nouns!

Third-Person Pronouns

In writing, there are three different points of view: first, second, and third. In first person, the speaker is talking about or including themselves (I, me, we). Second person is less common: the speaker speaks directly to the reader or the audience (you).

But the most common point of view in writing is third person. In the third person, the writer or speaker is able to write or talk about other people or characters. Third person is the most common way of writing, whether you are telling a story or composing an essay. Third-person pronouns can refer to people or to things. They are singular or plural, and they can be subjective (acting as the subject of a sentence) or objective (receiving the action or as an object of a preposition). Look at the table to see the types of third-person pronouns.

Subjective pronouns will usually be at the beginning of a sentence or a phrase; they are the doers of the action. For example:

• He walked to the store to buy milk.
• They are planning a vacation for this summer.
• After the curtains closed, she stood up and cheered even more.

Objective pronouns receive the action, or come at the end of a prepositional phrase. You are more likely to find them at the end of a sentence. For example:

• Maureen gave him the birthday gift.
• The waitress brought them the bill.
• James searched all over the store trying to find the perfect present for her.

Be careful to pay attention to the gender (male or female) of the noun you are replacing. Third person singular pronouns should match the gender of the noun they replace. For example, John would become 'he' or 'him' but Mary would be 'she' or 'her'.

Examples

Use third-person pronouns to replace nouns and keep your writing from sounding repetitive. Once you have used the name of a noun, you can replace it with a third-person pronoun to help your writing flow.

Subjective Pronouns

Here is a sentence with NO pronouns in the subject:

Mary was looking for the perfect pair of shoes, but Mary could not find shoes anywhere!

You can replace 'Mary' with the subjective pronoun 'she':

Mary was looking for the perfect pair of shoes, but she could not find shoes anywhere!

Here are two more examples where the subject is replaced with a third-person pronoun:

• Tina worked hard at her job. She was hoping to get a promotion soon. (She = Tina)
• The game was tied when the referee blew the whistle. It would go into overtime. (It = Game)

Objective Pronouns

Remember Mary looking for her shoes. You can actually add an objective pronoun to the same sentence:

Mary was looking for the perfect pair of shoes, but she could not find them.

In this example, 'shoes' is replaced with the pronoun 'them'. You would use 'them' because it is the object of the verb; 'them' tells what she (Mary, the subject) could not find.

Notice in these examples how the objective pronouns come after the verb or action:

• I lost my sunglasses when I went to the lake, but luckily, my friend found them! (Them = Sunglasses)
• Ana needed to get to ballet class. Molly offered to drive her. (Her = Ana)
• If you use a bookmark to save your place, you will be able to find it again. (It = Place)

In the three examples above, 'them', 'her', and 'it' are all objective pronouns. They are the object of the verbs. You may have noticed that 'it' can be subjective or objective--it is the only third person pronoun that can be in the subject or the object of a sentence!