There are 9 parts of speech or word classes in English language:
– nouns
– pronouns
– determiners
– verbs
– prepositions
– adjectives
– adverbs
– conjunctions
– interjections

Nouns are a group of words that we use to name:
– people: man, woman, teacher, John, Mary
– animals: cat, rabbit, horse, elephant
– plants: palm tree, coconut trees, grass, wheat, corn
– places: home, office, town, village, England
– concrete objects: chair, table, ball, water, money, sugar
– abstract objects: truth, lies, happiness, sorrow, time, friendship

Pronouns replaces nouns so that we don’t have to repeat them over and over again.

Do you like the manager?
I don’t like the manager.
The manager is not friendly.
(‘The manager’ is a noun phrase.)

By using pronouns, we can say:
Do you like the manager?
I don’t like him.
He is not friendly.

Do you know Jane?
I have a letter for Jane.
Please give this letter to Jane.
(‘Jane’ is a noun.)

By using pronouns, we can say:
Do you know Jane?
I have a letter for her.
Please give it to her.

There are 8 types of pronouns:
– Personal Pronouns
– Demonstrative Pronouns
– Possessive Pronouns
– Interrogative Pronouns
– Reflexive Pronouns
– Reciprocal Pronouns
– Indefinite Pronouns
– Relative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns replace a person, people, a thing and things that are:
– near in time or distance (this, these)
– far in time or distance (that, those)

This is John.
The person is near to the speaker.

That is John.
The person is far from the speaker.

These are John’s parents.
John’s parents are near to the speaker.

Those are John’s parents.
John’s parents are far from the speaker.

This is John’s bike.
John’s bike is near to the speaker.

That is John’s bike.
John’s bike is far from the speaker.

These are John’s books.
John’s books are near to the speaker.

Those are John’s books.
John’s books are far from the speaker.

Demonstrative Pronouns

This is incredible.
The timing of the incredible experience is near to now (the present).

That was incredible.
The timing of the incredible experience was far from now (the present).

These are incredible.
The timing of the incredible experiences is near to now (the present).

Those were incredible.
The timing of the incredible experiences was far from now (the present).

This and that are used with singular verbs.

This is my friend
That is my friend.

This belongs to John
That belongs to John
– base form: belong (plural verb)
– s form: belongs (singular verb)

These and those are used with plural verbs.

These are my friends.
Those are my friends.

These belong to John
Those belong to John

A possessive determiner is used:
– to specify or limit nouns,
– in front of a noun or noun phrase,
– cannot stand on its own.

Possessive determiners express ownership or relationship.

I am Daniel.
This is my book.
my = possessive determiner

You are John.
That is your book.
your = possessive determiner

That is Tom.
This is his book.
his = possessive determiner

That is Jane.
This is her book.
her = possessive determiner

That is my cat.
This is its food.
its = possessive determiner

This is my family.
These are our books.
our = possessive determiner

That is John’s family.
These are their books.
their = possessive determiner

Possessive determiners are always in front of nouns or noun phrases and cannot stand on their own.

I am Daniel.
This is my book.
This is my. (wrong)

You are John.
That is your book.
That is your. (wrong)

This is my family.
These are our books.
These are our. (wrong)

A possessive pronoun is used:
– to express ownership
– to replace possessive determiner + main noun
– can be the subject or object of a sentence
– cannot be immediately followed by a noun

Look at these cars.
My car is the red one.
Mine is the red one.
Mine car is the red one. (wrong)

I like your flowers.
Do you like my flowers?
Do you like mine?
Do you like mine flowers? (wrong)

My flowers are dying.
Your flowers are lovely.
Yours are lovely.
Yours flowers are lovely. (wrong)

I found John’s key but I couldn’t find your key.
I found John’s key but I couldn’t find yours.
I found John’s key but I couldn’t find yours key. (wrong)

All those cars are nice but her car is the best.
All those cars are nice but hers is the best.
All those cars are nice but hers car is the best. (wrong)

All those cars are nice but I like his car.
All those cars are nice but I like his.

Is this your car? Our car is over there.
Is this your car? Ours is over there.
Is this your car? Ours car is over there. (wrong)

Is this your car? That is our car.
Is this your car? That is ours.
Is this your car? That is ours car. (wrong)

Our photos are terrible. Your photos are great.
Our photos are terrible. Yours are great.
Our photos are terrible. Yours photos are great. (wrong)

Our photos are terrible. We like your photos.
Our photos are terrible. We like yours.
Our photos are terrible. We like yours photos. (wrong)

Our photos are terrible. Their photos are great.
Our photos are terrible. Theirs are great.
Our photos are terrible. Theirs photos are great. (wrong)

Our photos are terrible. We like their photos.
Our photos are terrible. We like theirs.
Our photos are terrible. We like theirs photos. (wrong)

Subject Pronouns:
I
you
he
she
it
we
they

Object Pronouns:
me
you
him
her
it
us
them

Possessive Determiners:
my
your
his
her
its
our
their

Possessive Pronouns:
mine
yours
his
hers
–
ours
theirs