Subscribe (RSS)- Singular I and plural we are of the first person.
- Singular and plural you are of the second person.
- Singular he, she, and it and plural they are the third person personal pronouns.
Note
In older forms of English, such as the language of the King James Version of the Bible, singular thou and plural ye are used as the second person personal pronoun.
In some American English dialects, you all is used as the plural of the second person pronoun.
Singular third person pronouns have forms that indicate gender.
- He is the masculine form.
- She is the feminine.
- It is the neuter.
It is often used in a vague sense, as the subject of verbs descriptive of the weather.
For example
It rains.
It thunders.
It is also used as an expletive object of a verb.
For example
Come and trip it as you go.
It can also introduce a sentence whose subject is placed after the predicate.
For example
It is pleasant to see the sun.
It has been ascertained that water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen.
It is used as subject to represent a noun or a pronoun of any number, gender, or person.
For example
It is James.
It is I.
It is they.
It is she.
Note
It’s me, it’s them, and it’s her are commonly used in informally speech.
It is I, it is they, and it is she are preferred for all formal speech and in writing.
Personal pronouns also have a reflexive form. The reflexive personal pronouns are:
- myself and ourselves
- yourself and yourselves
- himself, herself, itself, and themselves
Reflexive personal pronouns are sometimes, but seldom, used as the subject of a proposition. The reflexive form is often used in apposition with the subject.
For example
He, himself, is not whereof he affirms.
The reflexive form of personal pronouns are also often used as the object of a transitive verb.
For example
The boy struck himself.
