personal pronoun in essay writing

• Tips & Guides

How To Avoid Using “We,” “You,” And “I” in an Essay

• Posted on October 27, 2022 October 27, 2022

Maintaining a formal voice while writing academic essays and papers is essential to sound objective. 

One of the main rules of academic or formal writing is to avoid first-person pronouns like “we,” “you,” and “I.” These words pull focus away from the topic and shift it to the speaker – the opposite of your goal.

While it may seem difficult at first, some tricks can help you avoid personal language and keep a professional tone.

Let’s learn how to avoid using “we” in an essay.

What Is a Personal Pronoun?

Pronouns are words used to refer to a noun indirectly. Examples include “he,” “his,” “her,” and “hers.” Any time you refer to a noun – whether a person, object, or animal – without using its name, you use a pronoun.

Personal pronouns are a type of pronoun. A personal pronoun is a pronoun you use whenever you directly refer to the subject of the sentence. 

Take the following short paragraph as an example:

“Mr. Smith told the class yesterday to work on our essays. Mr. Smith also said that Mr. Smith lost Mr. Smith’s laptop in the lunchroom.”

The above sentence contains no pronouns at all. There are three places where you would insert a pronoun, but only two where you would put a personal pronoun. See the revised sentence below:

“Mr. Smith told the class yesterday to work on our essays. He also said that he lost his laptop in the lunchroom.”

“He” is a personal pronoun because we are talking directly about Mr. Smith. “His” is not a personal pronoun (it’s a possessive pronoun) because we are not speaking directly about Mr. Smith. Rather, we are talking about Mr. Smith’s laptop.

If later on you talk about Mr. Smith’s laptop, you may say:

“Mr. Smith found it in his car, not the lunchroom!” 

In this case, “it” is a personal pronoun because in this point of view we are making a reference to the laptop directly and not as something owned by Mr. Smith.

Why Avoid Personal Pronouns in Essay Writing

We’re teaching you how to avoid using “I” in writing, but why is this necessary? Academic writing aims to focus on a clear topic, sound objective, and paint the writer as a source of authority. Word choice can significantly impact your success in achieving these goals.

Writing that uses personal pronouns can unintentionally shift the reader’s focus onto the writer, pulling their focus away from the topic at hand.

Personal pronouns may also make your work seem less objective. 

One of the most challenging parts of essay writing is learning which words to avoid and how to avoid them. Fortunately, following a few simple tricks, you can master the English Language and write like a pro in no time.

Alternatives To Using Personal Pronouns

How to not use “I” in a paper? What are the alternatives? There are many ways to avoid the use of personal pronouns in academic writing. By shifting your word choice and sentence structure, you can keep the overall meaning of your sentences while re-shaping your tone.

Utilize Passive Voice

In conventional writing, students are taught to avoid the passive voice as much as possible, but it can be an excellent way to avoid first-person pronouns in academic writing.

You can use the passive voice to avoid using pronouns. Take this sentence, for example:

“ We used 150 ml of HCl for the experiment.”

Instead of using “we” and the active voice, you can use a passive voice without a pronoun. The sentence above becomes:

“150 ml of HCl were used for the experiment.” 

Using the passive voice removes your team from the experiment and makes your work sound more objective.

Take a Third-Person Perspective

Another answer to “how to avoid using ‘we’ in an essay?” is the use of a third-person perspective. Changing the perspective is a good way to take first-person pronouns out of a sentence. A third-person point of view will not use any first-person pronouns because the information is not given from the speaker’s perspective.

A third-person sentence is spoken entirely about the subject where the speaker is outside of the sentence.

Take a look at the sentence below:

“In this article you will learn about formal writing.”

The perspective in that sentence is second person, and it uses the personal pronoun “you.” You can change this sentence to sound more objective by using third-person pronouns:

“In this article the reader will learn about formal writing.”

The use of a third-person point of view makes the second sentence sound more academic and confident. Second-person pronouns, like those used in the first sentence, sound less formal and objective.

Be Specific With Word Choice

You can avoid first-personal pronouns by choosing your words carefully. Often, you may find that you are inserting unnecessary nouns into your work. 

Take the following sentence as an example:

“ My research shows the students did poorly on the test.”

In this case, the first-person pronoun ‘my’ can be entirely cut out from the sentence. It then becomes:

“Research shows the students did poorly on the test.”

The second sentence is more succinct and sounds more authoritative without changing the sentence structure.

You should also make sure to watch out for the improper use of adverbs and nouns. Being careful with your word choice regarding nouns, adverbs, verbs, and adjectives can help mitigate your use of personal pronouns. 

“They bravely started the French revolution in 1789.” 

While this sentence might be fine in a story about the revolution, an essay or academic piece should only focus on the facts. The world ‘bravely’ is a good indicator that you are inserting unnecessary personal pronouns into your work.

We can revise this sentence into:

“The French revolution started in 1789.” 

Avoid adverbs (adjectives that describe verbs), and you will find that you avoid personal pronouns by default.

Closing Thoughts

In academic writing, It is crucial to sound objective and focus on the topic. Using personal pronouns pulls the focus away from the subject and makes writing sound subjective.

Hopefully, this article has helped you learn how to avoid using “we” in an essay.

When working on any formal writing assignment, avoid personal pronouns and informal language as much as possible.

While getting the hang of academic writing, you will likely make some mistakes, so revising is vital. Always double-check for personal pronouns, plagiarism , spelling mistakes, and correctly cited pieces. 

 You can prevent and correct mistakes using a plagiarism checker at any time, completely for free.

Quetext is a platform that helps you with all those tasks. Check out all resources that are available to you today.

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Writing academically: Personal pronouns

• Academic style
• Personal pronouns
• Contractions
• Abbreviations
• Signposting
• Paragraph structure
• Using sources in your writing

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Personal pronouns are used to replace people, places or things to make sentences shorter and clearer. Examples of personal pronouns include: I, we, it, they, you, and she. Your choice of personal pronoun will determine if you are writing in the first person or the third person.

Examples of pronouns

First person: I conducted an experiment on seedling growth under various conditions.

Second person: You will see that the results of my experiment provided support for growing seedlings in dark conditions.

Third person: It was found that seedling growth was significantly greater in the dark than in the light.

Which to use?

First (i) or third (it).

How do you decide whether to write in the first person, the second person, or the third person? In general the approach you choose depends on the nature of the assignment, and on your department:

Nature of the assignment  – usually by default you will write an academic assignment in the third person. The main exception to this is when writing  reflectively,  in which case you are relating your own thoughts and experiences, and first person is more appropriate.

Discipline  – most disciplines, particularly the sciences and social sciences require you to write in the third person. Some areas of the humanities require first person, but this may depend on the nature of the assignment. If in doubt refer to your module handbooks and speak to your tutors.

Second (You)

The second person (e.g. “you”) is the least commonly used form in academic writing, and generally addresses the reader or audience directly .

It is considered a bit chatty and as a consequence not normally used in academic writing.

One example of where it may be appropriate to use the second person is in the delivery of presentations where you may wish to address your audience directly.

Language is changing however and so is society.

Many people no longer associate themselves with a specific gender which can cause grammatical issues when referring to them.

They/their as gender neutral single third person pronouns is common in our spoken language and is becoming more acceptable in written language.

As with all things, check with your tutor to see if he/she/they (!) have a personal preference if you are unsure.

'We' should only be used if you have co-written a paper. We suggest that... would then be perfectly acceptable. Students often fall into the trap of using 'we' to mean all human kind, or all researchers, or all historians etc. This should also be avoided as you are making the reader guess who you are referring to.  It is better to use the actual noun rather than the pronoun in this case. Alternatively you can switch to the third person i.e.

Wrong: We have been able to make connections between corvid and ape intelligence. For example...

Better: Some researchers have been able to make connections between corvid and ape intelligence. For example...

Or: It is possible to make connections between corvid and ape intelligence. For example...

There is a lot of debate about whether you should be able to use they/their as gender-neutral single third person pronouns as in the following sentences:

Example: Each child was able to make the choice they believed to be correct. A nurse should be able to make appropriate decisions about the care of their patient.

Strictly speaking, these sentences are grammatically incorrect as they and their are plural pronouns . One way to solve the problem is by switching to the plural noun in the earlier part of the sentence:

Example: Nurses should be able to make appropriate decisions about the care of their patients.

Where this is not appropriate you could use the more correct his/her or he/she (or even (s)he) which also avoids the problem:

Example: Each child was able to make the choice (s)he believed to be correct.

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Part Three Editing / Grammar Skills

Unit 17 Pronouns

Learning Objectives

• To learn personal, indefinite, and demonstrative pronouns
• To understand the common uses of pronouns as in subject, object, possessive, and reflexive forms
• To apply the noun-pronoun agreement rule and other uses of pronouns through multiple examples and a variety of writing situations

Statistics from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ . Last accessed on May 15, 2021.

II. Personal Pronouns and Their Uses

All pronouns are words to represent nouns. They can help avoid [1] repeating the same nouns and make the language more concise [2] . When you write a pronoun, you are using it to replace a noun in the previous sentence or previous part of the sentence.

1. The Worldometer is an organization located in the U.S. It provides real time statistics to everyone in the world.

• “It” refers to “the Worldometer”.

2. Some people might think that 3,000 was not significant. They might be expecting a much larger number.

• “They” refers to “some people”.

There are different types of pronouns depending on their functions in sentences. Pronouns that refer to people are called personal pronouns : I, you, he, she, we, they, herself, etc. “It” also belongs to this group.

A subject pronoun is used as the subject of a sentence. In most cases, it is placed before a verb.

• There are many people in the world. They live in different parts of the globe.
• It is interesting to know that the population is growing faster in developing countries than in developed countries.

An object pronoun is used as the object of a sentence or the object of a preposition. It is used after a verb or after a preposition.

• When my niece was born, my whole family celebrated the event. We celebrated it with a big party.
• The baby was able to crawl [3] at three months old. We were very proud of her .

A reflexive pronoun is used while referring back to the subject. It is also used with “by” to mean “independently” or “without help”.

• My niece was able to feed herself at ten months old.
• Children like to try out new things by themselves .

A possessive adjective is followed by a noun to show ownership.

• When my uncle came to the U.S. to work a few years ago, he brought his whole family.
• My aunt was very happy with her new life here.

A possessive pronoun is used to replace the “possessive pronoun adjective + noun” already mentioned. It is also used in phrases like “a friend of mine” and “a coworker of hers”.

• Our company hires foreign workers, but Vishal’s company hires more. His company hires more foreign workers than ours . (ours = our company)
• The population in each country changes. Many years ago, there were more people in my country than in Nina’s. Now, hers has more than mine . (hers = her country; mine = my country)
• My new co-worker is also a friend of mine . I am a friend of his .

Exercise 1 . Read the following information about migrant workers. Some pronouns are boldfaced.  Highlight the closest noun that each underlined pronoun refers to.  Highlight only one noun for each pronoun. When you finish the entire exercise, you can retry or see all the answers. (To highlight, you position your computer curser on the verbs and right click.)

The first sentence is an example:

“They” refers to “people”.

Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migrant_worker#:~:text=A%20migrant%20worker%20is%20a,region%20in%20which%20they%20work.

Last accessed on July May 20, 2021.

III. Indefinite Pronouns and Their Uses

Indefinite pronouns refer to people, things, or ideas in general and can be the subject or object of a sentence.

Indefinite pronouns are singular. The easiest way to remember them is to think of them as he/she/it. Therefore, the verbs and other pronouns related to the indefinite pronouns must take the singular form as well.

• Everyone is doing his/her best for the family.
• Everything is ready for the family reunion. Everybody is excited to see his/her family again.
• No one needs to bring a gift for the reunion.

Repeating “he or she”, “his or her”, or “himself or herself” can be awkward [4] , especially when it is used multiple times in the same piece of writing. Therefore, it is very common to turn an indefinite pronoun or a noun to its plural form.

• All people are doing their best for the family.
• All things are ready for the family union. All members are excited to see their family again.

Exercise 2. Choose and highlight the correct form of pronoun for the blanks in sentences 1-3. Choose and highlight the correct form of verb for the blanks in sentences 4-6. When you finish the entire exercise, you can retry or see all the answers. (To highlight, you position your computer curser on the verbs and right click.)

Examples : 

When   a   migrant   worker   works   elsewhere ,  there   are   both   positive   and   negative   effects   on   __________  ( his/her  ,  their )  family .

A   migrant   worker   often   __________  ( have , has  )  to   adjust   to   a   new   environment .

IV. Demonstrative Pronouns and Their Uses

There are four demonstrative pronouns : this, that, these, those.

• This is the money from Joe. It will help the family tremendously [5] .
• Joe is working in construction in another city. That is hard work for him.
• Last year, Joe was able to have a two-week vacation.  He was very excited about that .
• Joe went on two short trips with his family. Those were happy trips.

“This” and “that” can also be used to mean the idea or situation just mentioned.

• Joe was coming home for a two-week vacation.  This made the whole family very excited.
• Joe had not been home for two years.  That was hard for the family.

This = the idea or situation that Joe was coming home for a two-week vacation

That = the idea or situation that Joe had not been home for two years

Exercise 3.  The demonstrative pronouns and their related verbs are bold-faced in the following sentences about census.  Click “True” for correct sentences and “False” for the wrong ones.  You will get instant feedback on your answer. If a sentence is wrong, you will also see the correct answer and explanation in blue . 

Adapted from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/3-ways-that-the-u-s-population-will-change-over-the-nextdecade#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20population%20today%2C%20at,just%20under%201.4%20billion%2C%20respectively . Last accessed on May 20, 2021.

V. Noun-Pronoun Agreement

Noun-pronoun agreement means that whenever a pronoun is used, it must match the noun it refers to in number and gender.

Agreement in number : A singular pronoun must match a singular noun, and a plural pronoun must match a plural noun. In the following sentences, the underlined pronouns refer to the nouns in bold .

• When my niece was born, my whole family celebrated the event . We celebrated it with a big party. (singular)
• There are many people in the world. They live in different parts of the globe. (plural)

Agreement in gender : A masculine pronoun should match a masculine noun, and a feminine pronoun should match a feminine noun. A gender-neutral pronoun should match a gender-neutral noun. In the following sentences, the underlined pronouns refer to the nouns in bold .

• When my uncle moved to the U.S. a few years ago, he brought his whole family. (masculine)
• My niece could walk steadily at age one. We were very proud of her . (feminine)
• Many children have to take care of themselves at an early age. (gender-neutral)
• They love the U.S . for its better educational and career opportunities. (gender-neutral)

When you read the sentences you have already studied earlier in this unit, you will see that all the pronouns follow the noun-pronoun agreement rule.

Exercise 4 . Here is the paragraph from the pretest of this unit. This time, fill in the correct pronoun for each blank.  When you finish the entire exercise, you can click “Check” for feedback.  You may also retry or see all the answers.

VI. Ot her Ru les in Pronouns

1. When there is already a subject in the sentence, do not add a pronoun as part of the subject.

• My neighbors they migrated to the U.S. last year to work as data analysts.
• My neighbors migrated to the U.S. last year to work as data analysts.
• Sanjay he is working in a trading company downtown.
• Sanjay is working in a trading company downtown.

2. Do not use “me and my…”.

• Me and my cousin live in the same city.
• My cousin and I live in the same city.
• Our grandparents visit me and my cousin every year.
• Our grandparents visit my cousin and me every year.

3. Make the pronoun and the noun it refers to very clear. If the pronoun causes confusion, write the noun instead.

• Sanjay told Guang that he was happy about his job . (Who is “he”, Sanjay or Guang?)
• Sanjay told Guang, “I am happy about my job.”
• Sanjay told Guang, “I am happy about your job.”
• Sanjay was happy about his job, and he told Guang so.
• Sanjay was happy about Guang’s job, and he told him so.

4. Change the pronouns used in the reported speech if needed to keep the meaning of the sentence logical.   

• When I asked my friend about the 2020 Census results, he said that you should check them online.
• When I asked my friend about the 2020 Census results, he said, “ You should check them online.”
• When I asked my friend about the 2020 Census results, he said that I should check them online.
• My grandmother always reminds me that you must take good care of yourself in the new country.
• My grandmother always reminds me, “ You must take good care of yourself in the new country.”
• My grandmother always reminds me that I must take good care of myself in the new country.

5. Do not be confused by the following:

they are = they’re ≠ their

you are = you’re ≠ your

it is = it’s ≠ its

• The computer and medical fields provide a lot of employment. Their very popular among migrant workers.
• The computer and medical fields provide lot of employment. They are (They’re) very popular among migrant workers.
• The job application has started. Your welcome to apply.
• The job application has started. You are (You’re) welcome to apply.
• The new position is out of town. Its 100 miles away from home.
• The new position is out of town. It is (It’s) 100 miles away from home.
• It’s location is not convenient, but it’s salary is good.
• Its location is not convenient, but its salary is good.

Exercise 5 . The following paragraph is about census in other countries. There are six more errors in the use of pronouns (not including the example). Find them and correct them. The first one is an example.

                 What about Other Countries?

          A census helps a country know how many people there are and how policies can be adjusted [6] to best serve it (the m ) . The U.S. it is not the only country that has a census every ten years. Other countries such as China and Thailand do the same. Some countries like Japan and Canada they have a census every five years. Whether in our native country Thailand or in the U.S., me and my family participate in the census every time it happens. My parents always say that you should not miss any census because the government will use it’s results to better manage the country. My parents are model citizens. Their always doing their best.

VII. Unit Review Practice

Exercise 6. Read the following paragraph about foreign-born workers. Choose and highlight the most appropriate pronouns in the blanks. When you finish the entire exercise, you can retry or see all the answers.

The first sentence is an example: 

When migrant workers go to another country instead of another city of __________ (they, their ) own country, they are often called foreign-born workers.

Adapted from https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/foreign-born-workers-made-up-17-point-4-percent-of-labor-force-in-2019.htm , U.S. B ureau of Labor Statistics , May 29, 2020 . Last accessed on June 1, 2021.

Exercise 7. Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate pronouns in the following paragraph about a going-away party.  You will get instant feedback on your answers. At the end of the exercise, you may retry or see all the answers.

The party for Yuko was fun. Yuko, Elena, and I met in our ESL class two years ago. Since then, we  have become good friends.

Exercise 8.   Read the following paragraph about Americans teaching English overseas. There are six more errors in the use of pronouns (not including the example). Find them and correct them. The first one is an example.

Teaching English Overseas [7]

          Many Americans go overseas to work. He (They) can work in a U.S.-based company or in a company of the foreign country where their living. One of the most popular overseas jobs is teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). Native English speakers are very welcome because they not only teach English but also share different cultural perspectives [8] . Its also a great learning experience for the American teachers themselves. Of course, it will be extremely helpful if the EFL teachers can speak the local language. However, there are many opportunities for them to learn when their overseas. EFL teachers can teach in all types of settings – kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools, colleges and universities, and even companies. Depending on the country and type of setting, the qualifications and benefits may be different. For example, for most positions in elementary and high schools, an American teacher needs to have a bachelor’s degree, a teaching certificate or something similar, and some related work experience. It will be better if he or she has taught in another similar overseas program. Naturally, if someone accepts the job, they must have a passport and a working visa before leaving the U.S. The benefits usually include a reasonable salary, housing, and travel expenses. Some Americans apply for an overseas position directly by himself because the process might be more direct. Some others like to use an agency to help them as it can provide useful resources and tell them what to do. If anyone is interested in teaching overseas, they can find a lot of information online.

• What do you think of leaving home to work in a far-away city or country? What would be the advantages and disadvantages for you and your family?
• Does your native country conduct [9] a census regularly? If so, how often? How are the census results used?
• Have you ever participated in a census? If so, where was it? When was it? Were there any questions that you found interesting or surprising?
• The following is from U.S. and World Population Clock https://www.census.gov/popclock/ .  Is any of the information below surprising or interesting to you? Why do you think so?
• At 3:30 pm on May 17, 2021
• 332,339,884 people in the U.S.
• One birth every 8 seconds.
• One death every 12 seconds.
• One net [10] international migrant every 670 seconds.

  NSNT Practice

Go to The NSNT Free Writing Approach and Additional Weekly Prompts for Writing in Appendix A. ( Open Appendix A here. ) Choose two topics that you have not written about. You may start with the NSNT approach. Then revise and edit your paragraphs. Pay attention to the use of word forms. You are encouraged to share your writing with your partner and help each other improve.

Vocabulary Review

The words here have appeared in this unit.  The best way to learn them is to guess the meaning of each word from the context.  Then hover your computer mouse over the number beside each word to check its meaning and part of speech. These words are also listed in the footnote area at the end of each unit.

Here, you can use the flashcards below to review these words.

• A pronoun refers to a noun.
• Subject pronoun – as the subject of a sentence, usually used before a verb.
• Object pronoun – as the object of a verb or a preposition, usually used after a verb or a preposition.
• Possessive adjective – to show who or what owns it, followed by a noun.
• Possessive pronoun – to replace the “possessive adjective + noun” already mentioned.
• Indefinite pronoun – to represent people, things, and ideas in general. All indefinite pronouns are singular and must take a singular form of the verb and the singular form of other related pronouns (he, she, it).
• Demonstrative pronoun – to point to a close-by or a far-away person, thing, or idea. There are four such pronouns: this, that, these, those.
• Pronoun rules include:
• All pronouns must follow the noun-pronoun agreement rule; that is, they must match the noun they are referring to in number and gender.
• Do not use a subject pronoun when there is already a subject of the sentence.
• Do not use “me and my…”.
• When the use of pronoun causes confusion, use a noun instead.
• Change to appropriate pronouns in a reported speech.
• they are = they’re ≠ their; you are = you are ≠ your; it is = it’s ≠ its

Media Attributions

• people moving around on the street © Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash
• three birds migrating © Photo by Chris Briggs on Unsplash
• US Census 2020 paper © Photo by Enayet Raheem on Unsplash
• people on boats in Bangkok, Thailand © Photo by Frida Aguilar Estrada on Unsplash
• a bunch of colorful balloons © Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash
• a person with a toy plane on a world map © Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
• a pen writing in a notebook © Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
• a page in a dictionary © Pixabay
• avoid: verb, keep away from ↵
• concise: adjective, clear, without unnecessary words ↵
• crawl: verb, move along with hands and legs ↵
• awkward: adjective, unnatural, uncomfortable ↵
• tremendously: adverb, very much ↵
• adjust: verb, make changes based on needs ↵
• overseas: adverb, across the ocean ↵
• perspective: noun, an idea or a thought ↵
• conduct: verb, have, perform, do ↵
• net: adjective, related to the leftover after deductions ↵

Building Academic Writing Skills Copyright © 2022 by Cui, Lin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Knowledge Base
• Nouns and pronouns
• Personal Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples

Personal Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples

Published on 15 October 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 23 February 2023.

Personal pronouns are words like ‘you’ that refer to the person speaking or writing, to the person they’re addressing, or to other people and things.

Like other pronouns , they are used in place of nouns to allow us to speak and write more concisely. For example, without the first-person pronoun ‘I’, you would have to use your name every time you wanted to make a statement about yourself.

Personal pronouns change form based on person , number , gender , and case , as shown in the table below, which you can also download.

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Table of contents

Person, number, gender, and case, first-person pronouns, second-person pronouns, third-person pronouns, impersonal pronouns, other personal pronouns, frequently asked questions.

Four factors indicate which personal pronoun you should use in a particular grammatical context to refer to a particular person or thing. These are:

• Person (first, second, or third)
• Number (singular or plural)
• Gender (masculine, feminine, neuter, or epicene)
• Case (subject, object, possessive, or reflexive)

To demonstrate correct pronoun-antecedent agreement , a personal pronoun must match its antecedent (the person or thing it refers back to) in person, number, and gender. Case is determined by how the pronoun is used in the sentence, not by the antecedent.

Personal pronouns are called ‘personal’ not because they always refer to people (‘it’, for example, doesn’t) but because they indicate a grammatical feature called person . There are three possibilities:

• First-person pronouns are used to refer to the person speaking or writing.
• Second-person pronouns are used to refer to the person being addressed.
• Third-person pronouns are used to refer to anyone or anything else.

Number indicates whether the personal pronoun refers to an individual person or thing or to a group of two or more.

• Singular pronouns refer to an individual person or thing.
• Plural pronouns refer to two or more people or things.

Gender is how personal pronouns indicate the gender of the person referred to – or the lack of gender of objects and concepts.

• Masculine pronouns refer to men and boys.
• Feminine pronouns refer to women and girls.
• Gender-neutral pronouns , also referred to as epicene , refer to people who identify as neither male nor female, or to people whose gender is not considered relevant in context.
• Neuter pronouns refer to things that are not people: objects, concepts, places, and sometimes animals.

Case means the grammatical role that the pronoun plays in a sentence. Personal pronouns can play four different roles in a sentence:

• Subject pronouns act as the subject of a verb – the person or thing that performs the action described.
• Object pronouns act as the object of a verb or preposition –   the person or thing that is acted upon.
• Possessive pronouns indicate ownership – they stand for something or someone that belongs to someone or something else. These are slightly different from possessive determiners .
• Reflexive pronouns are used instead of object pronouns when when the object of the sentence is the same as the subject. The same words also serve as emphatic pronouns .

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The first-person pronouns don’t vary based on gender, but they do vary based on number and case, as shown in the table below. The first-person singular subject pronoun ‘I’ is the only English pronoun that is always capitalised .

Note that there is ongoing debate about the use of first-person pronouns in academic writing .

If we work hard, the prize could be ours .

The second-person pronouns also do not vary based on gender, only the reflexive form varies based on number, and the subject and object forms are the same. This makes them the least variable set of personal pronouns but can occasionally lead to ambiguity.

Second-person pronouns should almost never be used in academic writing , as addressing the reader directly is seen as too informal.

May I ask you a question? Is this jacket yours ?

The third-person pronouns are much more variable than the first- and second-person pronouns, since they also change form based on gender, in addition to number and case.

As well as forms for the masculine and feminine, there is a neuter (or inanimate) form that’s used to refer to things other than people (e.g., ideas, objects, animals).

There’s also an increasingly widely used gender-neutral (or epicene) form, the singular ‘they’ . This is largely identical to the plural form (which is always gender-neutral), except that the reflexive ‘themself’ is sometimes used instead of ‘themselves’ (though it’s often considered nonstandard).

I’m glad she can be herself now.

Participants assessed themselves in terms of performance.

The impersonal pronoun ‘one’, as the name suggests, doesn’t vary based on person  – it’s not in the first, second, or third person.

Rather, like an indefinite pronoun , it refers to a nonspecific, generic individual, usually for the purpose of making a generalisation or stating a principle. It’s considered quite formal and often replaced with ‘you’, or otherwise avoided, in informal contexts.

The impersonal pronoun doesn’t vary based on number or gender, and it has the same form whether used as a subject or object. It does have a separate form for the reflexive, but no possessive pronoun form.

There are a few other personal pronouns that are rarely used, nonstandard, or archaic (no longer used). These generally shouldn’t show up in your academic or formal writing, but it’s worth knowing they exist.

Archaic second-person pronouns

The lack of variety in English second-person pronouns is somewhat unusual, as other languages (e.g., French) make clearer distinctions between singular and plural and between formal and informal ways of addressing someone.

Early Modern English used a larger set of second-person pronouns to convey this kind of distinction. The ‘th’ pronouns were used for informal address, while the ‘y’ pronouns were used for both formal address and plurals.

These additional pronouns are not used in contemporary standard English unless a deliberate attempt is being made to imitate old-fashioned or biblical language in a humorous or literary context. Some of them have survived in certain dialects of English.

‘Y’all’ and other nonstandard second-person plural pronouns

The lack of distinction between singular and plural in the standard second-person pronouns has given rise to various ways of expressing the plural in different dialects.

Though some of these are very widely used in everyday speech, they are all still regarded as nonstandard and not used in formal or academic writing. Some examples are given in the table below.

‘Ourself’

In some contexts, an individual might refer to themselves as ‘we’ and therefore use the alternative reflexive pronoun ourself .

This commonly occurs with the royal we (used by monarchs), the editorial we (used by an individual speaking for a publication or organisation), and the generic we (used to make generalisations). It’s not advisable to use any of these, or the word ‘ourself’, in academic writing.

‘Hisself’, ‘theirselves’, and ‘theirself’

Other nonstandard reflexive pronouns are hisself (replacing ‘himself’), theirselves (replacing ‘themselves’), and theirself (replacing ‘themself’). These are all widely regarded as mistakes and should be avoided in writing generally, whether formal or informal.

The third-person plural object pronoun ‘them’ is often replaced by ’em in informal contexts. It’s older than you’d expect, believed to actually be an abbreviation of the Middle English pronoun ‘hem’ rather than the current pronoun ‘them’. But it’s not used in formal or academic writing.

Capitalised pronouns in a religious context

The second- and third-person pronouns He/Him/His/Himself , She/Her/Hers/Herself , and You/Yours/Yourself are sometimes capitalised in a religious context when they are used to refer to a deity.

This is commonly encountered in sacred works such as the Bible or the Quran and in the writing of other religious figures, though it’s not always done consistently. It’s not necessary to imitate this usage in a nonreligious context.

Personal pronouns are words like ‘he’, ‘me’, and ‘yourselves’ that refer to the person you’re addressing, to other people or things, or to yourself. Like other pronouns, they usually stand in for previously mentioned nouns (antecedents).

They are called ‘personal’ not because they always refer to people (e.g., ‘it’ doesn’t) but because they indicate grammatical person ( first , second , or third person). Personal pronouns also change their forms based on number, gender, and grammatical role in a sentence.

In grammar, person is how we distinguish between the speaker or writer (first person), the person being addressed (second person), and any other people, objects, ideas, etc. referred to (third person).

Person is expressed through the different personal pronouns , such as ‘I’ ( first-person pronoun ), ‘you’ ( second-person pronoun ), and ‘they’ (third-person pronoun). It also affects how verbs are conjugated, due to subject-verb agreement (e.g., ‘I am’ vs. ‘you are’).

In fiction, a first-person narrative is one written directly from the perspective of the protagonist . A third-person narrative describes the protagonist from the perspective of a separate narrator. A second-person narrative (very rare) addresses the reader as if they were the protagonist.

The term preferred pronouns is used to mean the personal pronouns a person identifies with and would like to be referred to by. People usually state the subject and object pronoun (e.g., ‘she/her’) but may also include the possessive (e.g., ‘she/her/hers’).

Most people go by the masculine ‘he/him’, the feminine ‘she/her’, the gender-neutral singular ‘they/them’, or some combination of these. There are also neopronouns used to express nonbinary gender identity, such as ‘xe/xem’. These are less common than the singular ‘they’ .

The practice of stating one’s preferred pronouns (e.g., in a professional context or on a social media profile) is meant to promote inclusion for transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

Sources for this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

Caulfield, J. (2023, February 23). Personal Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 3 September 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/nouns/personal-pronoun/

Aarts, B. (2011).  Oxford modern English grammar . Oxford University Press.

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015).  Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage  (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Garner, B. A. (2016).  Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

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Use of Pronouns in Academic Writing

Published by Alvin Nicolas at August 17th, 2021 , Revised On August 24, 2023

Pronouns are words that make reference to both specific and nonspecific things and people. They are used in place of nouns.

First-person pronouns (I, We) are rarely used in academic writing. They are primarily used in a reflective piece, such as a reflective essay or personal statement. You should avoid using second-person pronouns such as “you” and “yours”. The use of third-person pronouns (He, She, They) is allowed, but it is still recommended to consider gender bias when using them in academic writing.

The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun that the pronoun represents. In English, you will see the antecedent appear both before and after the pronoun, even though it is usually mentioned in the text before the pronoun. The students could not complete the work on time because they procrastinated for too long. Before he devoured a big burger, Michael looked a bit nervous.

The Antecedent of a Pronoun

Make sure the antecedent is evident and explicit whenever you use a pronoun in a sentence. You may want to replace the pronoun with the noun to eliminate any vagueness.

• After the production and the car’s mechanical inspection were complete, it was delivered to the owner.

In the above sentence, it is unclear what the pronoun “it” is referring to.

• After the production and the car’s mechanical inspection was complete, the car was delivered to the owner.

Use of First Person Pronouns (I, We) in Academic Writing

The use of first-person pronouns, such as “I” and “We”, is a widely debated topic in academic writing.

While some style guides, such as ‘APA” and “Harvard”, encourage first-person pronouns when describing the author’s actions, many other style guides discourage their use in academic writing to keep the attention to the information presented within rather than who describes it.

Similarly, you will find some leniency towards the use of first-person pronouns in some academic disciplines, while others strictly prohibit using them to maintain an impartial and neutral tone.

It will be fair to say that first-person pronouns are increasingly regular in many forms of academic writing.  If ever in doubt whether or not you should use first-person pronouns in your essay or assignment, speak with your tutor to be entirely sure.

Avoid overusing first-person pronouns in academic papers regardless of the style guide used. It is recommended to use them only where required for improving the clarity of the text.

If you are writing about a situation involving only yourself or if you are the sole author of the paper, then use the singular pronouns (I, my). Use plural pronouns (We, They, Our) when there are coauthors to work.

Avoiding First Person Pronouns

You can avoid first-person pronouns by employing any of the following three methods.

There are advantages and disadvantages of each of these three strategies. For example, passive voice introduces dangling modifiers, which can make your text unclear and ambiguous. Therefore, it would be best to keep first-person pronouns in the text if you can use them.

In some forms of academic writing, such as a personal statement and reflective essay, it is completely acceptable to use first-person pronouns.

The Problem with the Editorial We

Avoid using the first person plural to refer to people in academic text, known as the “editorial we”. The use of the “editorial we” is quite common in newspapers when the author speaks on behalf of the people to express a shared experience or view.

Refrain from using broad generalizations in academic text. You have to be crystal clear and very specific about who you are making reference to. Use nouns in place of pronouns where possible.

• When we tested the data, we found that the hypothesis to be incorrect.
• When the researchers tested the data, they found the hypothesis to be incorrect.
• As we started to work on the project, we realized how complex the requirements were.
• As the students started to work on the project, they realized how complex the requirements were.

If you are talking on behalf of a specific group you belong to, then the use of “we” is acceptable.

• It is essential to be aware of our own
• It is essential for essayists to be aware of their own weaknesses.
• Essayists need to be aware of their own

Use of Second Person Pronouns (You) in Academic Writing

It is strictly prohibited to use the second-person pronoun “you” to address the audience in any form of academic writing. You can rephrase the sentence or introduce the impersonal pronoun “one” to avoid second-person pronouns in the text.

• To achieve the highest academic grade, you must avoid procrastination.
• To achieve the highest academic grade, one must avoid procrastination.
• As you can notice in below Table 2.1, all participants selected the first option.
• As shown in below Table 2.1, all participants selected the first option.

Use of Third Person Pronouns (He, She, They) in Academic Writing

Third-person pronouns in the English language are usually gendered (She/Her, He/Him). Educational institutes worldwide are increasingly advocating for gender-neutral language, so you should avoid using third-person pronouns in academic text.

In the older academic text, you will see gender-based nouns (Fishermen, Traitor) and pronouns (him, her, he, she) being commonly used. However, this style of writing is outdated and warned against in the present times.

You may also see some authors using both masculine and feminine pronouns, such as “he” or “she”, in the same text, but this generally results in unclear and inappropriate sentences.

Considering using gender-neutral pronouns, such as “they”, ‘there”, “them” for unknown people and undetermined people. The use of “they” in academic writing is highly encouraged. Many style guides, including Harvard, MLA, and APA, now endorse gender natural pronouns in academic writing.

On the other hand, you can also choose to avoid using pronouns altogether by either revising the sentence structure or pluralizing the sentence’s subject.

• When a student is asked to write an essay, he can take a specific position on the topic.
• When a student is asked to write an essay, they can take a specific position on the topic.
• When students are asked to write an essay, they are expected to take a specific position on the topic.
• Students are expected to take a specific position on the essay topic.
• The writer submitted his work for approval
• The writer submitted their work for approval.
• The writers submitted their work for approval.
• The writers’ work was submitted for approval.

Make sure it is clear who you are referring to with the singular “they” pronoun. You may want to rewrite the sentence or name the subject directly if the pronoun makes the sentence ambiguous.

For example, in the following example, you can see it is unclear who the plural pronoun “they” is referring to. To avoid confusion, the subject is named directly, and the context approves that “their paper” addresses the writer.

• If the writer doesn’t complete the client’s paper in time, they will be frustrated.
• The client will be frustrated if the writer doesn’t complete their paper in due time.

If you need to make reference to a specific person, it would be better to address them using self-identified pronouns. For example, in the following sentence, you can see that each person is referred to using a different possessive pronoun.

The students described their experience with different academic projects: Mike talked about his essay, James talked about their poster presentation, and Sara talked about her dissertation paper.

Ensure Consistency Throughout the Text

Avoid switching back and forth between first-person pronouns (I, We, Our) and third-person pronouns (The writers, the students) in a single piece. It is vitally important to maintain consistency throughout the text.

For example, The writers completed the work in due time, and our content quality is well above the standard expected. We completed the work in due time, and our content quality is well above the standard expected. The writers completed the work in due time, and the content quality is well above the standard expected.“

How to Use Demonstrative Pronouns (This, That, Those, These) in Academic Writing

Make sure it is clear who you are referring to when using demonstrative pronouns. Consider placing a descriptive word or phrase after the demonstrative pronouns to give more clarity to the sentence.

For example, The political relationship between Israel and Arab states has continued to worsen over the last few decades, contrary to the expectations of enthusiasts in the regional political sphere. This shows that a lot more needs to be done to tackle this.            The political relationship between Israel and Arab states has continued to worsen over the last few decades, contrary to the expectations of enthusiasts in the regional political sphere. This situation shows that a lot more needs to be done to tackle this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 8 types of pronouns.

The 8 types of pronouns are:

• Personal: Refers to specific persons.
• Demonstrative: Points to specific things.
• Interrogative: Used for questioning.
• Possessive: Shows ownership.
• Reflexive: Reflects the subject.
• Reciprocal: Indicates mutual action.
• Relative: Introduces relative clauses.
• Indefinite: Refers vaguely or generally.

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• What Is a Pronoun? | Definition, Types & Examples

What Is a Pronoun? | Definition, Types & Examples

Published on October 17, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 2, 2023.

A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun , often to avoid the need to repeat the same noun over and over. Like nouns, pronouns can refer to people, things, concepts, and places. Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun.

People tend to use “pronouns” to mean personal pronouns specifically, but there are many other kinds of pronouns that are just as important to English grammar. The words highlighted in bold below are all pronouns.

It might rain tomorrow, but there isn’t much we can do about that .

These are the days that I like best.

Table of contents

How are pronouns used in sentences, pronouns vs. nouns, pronouns vs. determiners, personal pronouns (first-, second-, and third-person).

• Demonstrative pronouns
• Interrogative pronouns
• Relative pronouns
• Indefinite pronouns
• Reciprocal pronouns
• Dummy pronouns (expletives)

Other interesting language articles

Frequently asked questions.

The main function of pronouns is to replace nouns. Because of this, they are used in sentences in similar ways to nouns.

Like nouns, pronouns commonly serve as the subject of a sentence, followed by a verb (a word expressing an action).

We have never been to Germany before.

A pronoun can also function as the object in a sentence—either a direct or indirect object:

• The direct object is something or someone that is directly acted upon by the verb.
• The indirect object is someone or something that receives the direct object.

Can you promise her this ? Note A noun phrase is a noun or pronoun in combination with any determiners applied to it. Despite the name, noun phrases can just as well consist of pronouns as of nouns.

Pronoun antecedents

The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun that it refers back to. It’s usually mentioned in the text before the pronoun, but sometimes it comes just after it in a sentence. The antecedent may also be something the person you’re speaking to said. Pronoun-antecedent agreement means ensuring that the pronoun you use matches its antecedent in number, person, and gender.

As they debated the point, the students became increasingly animated.

Person A: What do you think of Julian ?

When you use any type of pronoun, it’s important to ensure that the antecedent is clear and unambiguous. If there is any ambiguity, use the noun instead. For example, below, “it” would be unclear, as it could refer to either the interview or the test.

• After the interview and the written test were completed, it was checked for incomplete answers.
• After the interview and the written test were completed, the test was checked for incomplete answers.

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While pronouns constitute a relatively small class of words that tends not to change over time, nouns are a much broader class that is constantly expanding. Like pronouns, nouns refer to things, people, places, and concepts, but they do so with much greater specificity.

Like pronouns, nouns can function as the head of a noun phrase and as the object or subject of a verb . A complete sentence may consist of just a noun and a verb (“Jeremy spoke.”), just as it could of a pronoun and a verb (“He spoke.”).

Unlike pronouns, nouns are fixed in form—they don’t change spellings depending on their grammatical role in a sentence. For example, while the third-person masculine pronoun “he” becomes “him” when used as an object, the noun “man” doesn’t change.

Many pronouns are closely related to determiners, being spelled similarly (or identically) and expressing related meanings. For example, possessive pronouns like “yours” are closely related to possessive determiners like “your”; and demonstrative pronouns like “that” are identical to the demonstrative determiners.

The grammatical distinction between the two is that pronouns stand on their own as the subject or object of a verb, whereas determiners are only used to modify nouns, not acting as subjects or objects in their own right.

Personal pronouns are words like “he” that refer to yourself, the person you’re addressing, or other people and things. They usually refer to an antecedent but may occur without one when the reference is self-evident (e.g., “I” always refers to the person saying or writing it).

Personal pronouns can change their form based on:

• Person ( first- , second- , or third-person )
• Number (singular or plural)
• Gender (masculine, feminine, neuter, or epicene)
• Case ( subject , object , possessive , or reflexive / intensive )

The impersonal pronoun “one” is used in general statements about no particular person. It has fewer forms than the personal pronouns but is otherwise used in the same way.

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The four demonstrative pronouns ( this , that , these , and those ) are used to indicate something previously mentioned or, in conversation, something that is clear from the context. For example, in the sentence “Take this,” “this” has no explicit antecedent, but it would be clear in context that it referred to whatever object you were being given.

The demonstrative pronouns give information about the relative closeness (literal or figurative) of the things they refer to, especially when they’re contrasted with each other:

• The “near” demonstrative this (singular) or these (plural) indicates something close to you.
• The “far” demonstrative that (singular) or those (plural) indicates something farther from you.

Interrogative pronouns are used (along with other types of interrogative words) to introduce questions. The interrogative pronouns are:

• What and which , used to ask questions about things
• Who and whom , used to ask about people
• Whose , used to ask about ownership

What were your favorite classes at school?

A relative pronoun is used to introduce a relative clause—a phrase that usually supplies more information about the preceding noun. They have a lot in common with interrogative pronouns. The relative pronouns are:

• Which(ever) , that , and what(ever) , used in relation to things
• Who(ever) and whom(ever) , used in relation to people
• Whose , used to indicate ownership

Relative pronouns are often omitted in practice (e.g., “the book [that] I read”). There’s nothing wrong with doing this as long as it doesn’t create ambiguity.

It doesn’t matter whose it was; it’s ours now!

Indefinite pronouns are words like “somebody” that refer to an unspecified person or thing. Many of them are formed using some combination of some- , any- , every- , or no- with -thing , -one , -where , or -body .

There are also various indefinite pronouns used to describe quantity, such as “little,” “many,” “none,” and “enough.” And there are distributive pronouns like “neither” and “each” that allow you to distinguish between options.

The impersonal pronoun “one” can also be regarded as indefinite.

No one likes him, and he doesn’t like anyone .

Some are born lucky, while others have to work hard for everything they get.

Reciprocal pronouns are used to indicate a reciprocal relationship between two people or things, where the members of a group each perform the same action relative to the other(s). The English reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another .

Some writers claim that “each other” should only be used to refer to groups of two and “one another” to groups of three or more. But this distinction is rejected by most style guides and not borne out in practice; you can use the two interchangeably.

A dummy pronoun (also called an expletive ) is a pronoun that doesn’t have any explicit meaning but is necessary to the sentence structure . Unlike other pronouns, dummy pronouns don’t actually replace a noun.

The two words used as dummy pronouns in English are it and there . Note that both words can also fulfill other grammatical roles. Dummy pronouns are commonly used to talk about the weather, to emphasize certain elements in a sentence, or to introduce the existence of something.

There are thousands of different species of birds in the world.

If you want to know more about nouns , pronouns, verbs , and other parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations and examples.

Nouns & pronouns

• Common nouns
• Proper nouns
• Collective nouns
• Personal pronouns
• Uncountable and countable nouns
• Verb tenses
• Phrasal verbs
• Types of verbs
• Active vs passive voice
• Subject-verb agreement
• Interjections
• Determiners
• Prepositions

The term preferred pronouns is used to mean the (third-person) personal pronouns a person identifies with and would like to be referred to by. People usually state the subject and object pronoun (e.g., “she/her”) but may also include the possessive (e.g., “she/her/hers”).

Most people go by the masculine “he/him,” the feminine “she/her,” the gender-neutral singular “they/them,” or some combination of these. There are also neopronouns used to express nonbinary gender identity, such as “xe/xem.” These are less common than the singular “they.”

The practice of stating one’s preferred pronouns (e.g., in a professional context or on a social media profile) is meant to promote inclusion for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. The first- and second-person pronouns (“I” and “you”) are not included, since they’re the same for everyone.

A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun. Like nouns, pronouns refer to people, things, concepts, or places. Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun.

A pronoun can serve as the subject or object in a sentence, and it will usually refer back (or sometimes forward) to an antecedent—the noun that the pronoun stands in for. Pronouns are used to avoid the need to repeat the same nouns over and over.

Pronouns can be categorized into many types, all of which are very commonly used in English:

• Subject and object pronouns
• Possessive pronouns
• Reflexive pronouns and intensive pronouns
• Impersonal pronouns

Pronouns are words like “I,” “she,” and “they” that are used in a similar way to nouns . They stand in for a noun that has already been mentioned or refer to yourself and other people.

Pronouns can function just like nouns as the head of a noun phrase and as the subject or object of a verb . However, pronouns change their forms (e.g., from “I” to “me”) depending on the grammatical context they’re used in, whereas nouns usually don’t.

Sources in this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

Caulfield, J. (2023, March 02). What Is a Pronoun? | Definition, Types & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 7, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/nouns-and-pronouns/pronouns/

Aarts, B. (2011).  Oxford modern English grammar . Oxford University Press.

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015).  Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage  (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Garner, B. A. (2016).  Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

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What is a personal pronoun: First, Second, and Third Person

Published July 21, 2020. Updated January 21, 2022.

Personal pronouns, also known as subject pronouns, are words we use to refer to a person without stating their name. Just then, we used a personal pronoun, we , instead of referring to ourselves by name. Handy, right?

These pronouns come in handy when writing and speaking about yourself and others. Being that these words are so useful, it’s a good idea to learn how to use them properly.

If you’ve ever asked yourself, is I a first-person pronoun ? Or, is you a personal pronoun ? Or even, what are personal pronouns , anyway? , you’ve come to the right place! This guide will cover the answers to these questions:

What is a personal pronoun?

What are the different kinds of personal pronouns.

• What are first-person pronouns?
• Why do they matter?
• How do you use them?

By the end, you’ll know the definition of first-person and personal pronouns, why they are important for making language flow, and how to use them properly. If you need more info on subject pronouns, see this .

Let’s start with the basics first: what is a pronoun? Pronouns, simply put, are words that replace nouns. Pronouns can replace people, such as in this line from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone :

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool.

Pronouns can also replace places and things, such as in this line from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself .

Besides personal pronouns, there are also object pronouns, possessive pronouns, relative pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and, believe it or not, even more kinds of pronouns, but let’s not get into those now. Let’s focus on personal and first-person pronouns because, let’s face it, we all love talking about ourselves, right?

So, what is a personal pronoun? What sets it apart from the rest of the pronoun family? Personal pronouns only refer to people. Here are some examples you know and love. Each one serves to stand in for a person’s name or multiple people’s names.

Here are example sentences you might use on a daily basis:

I am going to class now.

You will love them .

They are meeting us later.

Not all personal pronouns are created equal. They can be broken down into four categories: point of view, case, gender, and quantity. It’s a lot to digest, but don’t worry. Let’s break it down.

Point of view

What are third-, second-, and first-person pronouns?

The most important use of personal pronouns is to talk about ourselves and others, and to do that, we need to use different points of view. Let’s hone in on the three points of view and how they differ.

First-Person Pronouns

The first-person point of view refers to language told from the speaker’s or writer’s point of view. First-person pronouns, then, are pronouns that you’d use when talking about yourself and groups you’re a part of. I , we , me , and us are first-person pronouns. Look how Ron uses them in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone :

“ I know who you are!” said Ron suddenly. “My brothers told me about you⁠—you’re Nearly Headless Nick!”

First-person pronouns are not appropriate in all situations, especially in formal or academic writing, except in specific cases. First-person accounts are not deemed acceptable in scientific and academic writing in which readers are looking for factual information. Use the first-person pronoun in academic writing to

• Give opinions that the larger community is not yet open to accepting
• Hedge or suggest something
• Create a bridge to connect with the readers, especially if the author is explaining a difficult concept
• Establish a teacher-student or an expert-novice context
• Explain terms to show the common practices or thoughts, where the words we and our are used
• Show the author’s expertise in the field where his or her opinion will carry credibility
• Avoid implicit assumptions
• Organize the text and give the reader an idea of what to expect
• Create sections and methodologies
• Show that what the author is trying to say is unique
• Build on the writer’s previous work
• Dispute what others have said

Second-Person Pronouns

The second-person point of view refers to language about the person being addressed. It’s often called the “you” point of view. The only second-person personal pronoun is you . See how Ron uses “you” in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone :

“ You don’t know that you ’ll make a fool of yourself,” said Ron reasonably.

Difference between Singular and Plural Second-Person Pronouns

Let us consider this with an example:

You may help yourself and rise up to the occasion. ( Yourself is used as a singular, second-person pronoun).

You may help yourselves and rise up to the occasion. ( Yourselves is used as a plural, second-person pronoun.)

In the above examples, the situation and context were the same. However, by positioning the singular and plural versions of the second-person pronoun you , the context changes and provides meaning to the reader.

Third-Person Pronouns

The third-person point of view refers to language about someone besides the speaker. Third-person pronouns are the words you use to talk about others: he , him , she , her , it , they , and them. Look how J.K. Rowling uses third-person pronouns in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to avoid repeating “Hermione”:

She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles.

Why are they important?

So, what are personal pronouns good for? If you’re wondering why you need to bother with pronouns when you have perfectly good names, this one’s for you. Take a look at the passage below from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets .

Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy.

Sounds good, right? Well, take a look at what happens if you take out all the pronouns in the same passage

Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. Slytherin believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. Slytherin disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing the students of Muggle parentage to be untrustworthy.

Not quite as eloquent, huh? Need we say more?

How to properly use personal pronouns

Now that we’ve established the necessity of personal pronouns, let’s talk about how to use them. There are a few common mistakes that are easy to make when using these pronouns. Let’s go through them and discuss how to avoid them.

1. Personal pronoun /antecedent disagreement If you use a personal pronoun to replace a noun, be sure the quantities match. So, if you are replacing the singular noun phrase “a student,” don’t use the plural pronoun “they” but rather “he or she.”

Incorrect : Jane, Lila, and Wendy all went to the beach. She had a good time. Correct : Jane, Lila, and Wendy all went to the beach. They had a good time.

2. Subjective vs. objective pronouns

Subjective pronouns ( I, you, he, she, it, we, they ) are subjects and should not be used as objects, just as objective pronouns ( me, you, her, him, it, us, them ) should not be used as subjects.

Take this example from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone :

Incorrect : The Potters knew very well what him and Petunia thought about them and their kind. Correct : The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind.

Would you ever say, “The Potters knew very well what  thought about them and their kind?” Probably not.

3. Using a “self” pronoun instead of a personal pronoun We didn’t discuss the reflexive “self” pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.) in this guide, but it’s a common error to sub in one of those him in place of a personal pronoun.

Take this example from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:

Incorrect : He couldn’t see how Petunia and himself could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. Correct : He couldn’t see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on.

As a final note, be sure to respect others’ identities by using their preferred pronouns. If you are aware of the pronouns that a person identifies with, you should use those pronouns. If you’re ever unsure, you may use they or them .

Key takeaways

Personal pronouns:

• Replace people in grammar.
• Include: I , you , he , she , it , we , they , me , you , her , him , it , us , them
• Are categorized by point of view, case, gender, and quantity.
• Save us from having to repeat names over and over.
• First-person pronouns include I, me, we, us

Worried about your writing? The Chegg Writing grammar checker can help you identify and fix potential writing issues.

Review questions and exercises

Next time your friend asks you, “What is a personal pronoun?” or “Is you a personal pronoun?”, you’ll know the answer, but let’s make sure you know your grammar backwards and forwards. You’ve got this!

• a. pronouns that indicate which entities are being referred to
• b. pronouns used when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same
• c. pronouns that indicate possession
• d. pronouns that refer to a particular grammatical person
• a. Jess and her are going to play soccer.
• b. She and Jess are going to play soccer.
• a. Yes, because it refers to a person
• b. No, because it shows possession
• a. We don’t want to go out to eat.
• b. She wants to go to the pool.
• c. Are you listening to him?
• d. Give her the phone.
• a. Her friends are fun, but they are not nice.
• b. His friends aren’t fun, but it is nice.
• a. Her and Jack got a snack from the vending machine.
• b. Jack and herself got a snack from the vending machine.
• c. She and Jack got a snack from the vending machine.

Works cited

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone . Scholastic Inc., 2018.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . Scholastic Inc., 2018.

Parts of Speech Guides

For more details, visit these additional guides on parts of speech .

More on pronouns

• Intro to pronouns
• Relative pronouns
• Indefinite pronouns
• Possessive pronouns
• Demonstrative pronouns
• Subject and object pronouns
• Reflexive pronouns
• Pronouns list
• Gender pronouns
• Intensive pronouns
• Personal pronouns
• Second person pronouns
• Third person pronouns

More on parts of speech

Published July 21, 2020.

By Jolee McManus. Jolee earned a BA in English from the University of Georgia. She has several years of experience as a writing tutor and freelance copywriter and editor.

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First-Person Pronouns in Academic Writing

• 3-minute read
• 11th June 2018

During school, many of us were told to never use “I” in an essay. And so we went on to college, trying our best to write papers without using any first-person pronouns. But where does this rule come from? And is it really wrong to use “I” in an essay? Read on to find out!

When Not to Use “I” in Academic Writing

It is true that using too many first-person pronouns in a college paper will look bad. This is because it looks like you’re expressing an opinion rather than discussing facts. For instance:

I think the Watergate scandal had a big effect on American politics.

The “I think” here is unnecessary. Watergate was undeniably a major incident in American politics, so it is not simply an opinion. You could even cite sources where its impact is discussed.

Similarly, overuse of first-person pronouns can detract from the focus of your writing. Take the following example from a scientific paper:

I observed the sample through a microscope, and I noticed an unusual microbe.

Here, the focus is on the person conducting the study instead of the study itself. But scientific writing is supposed to be objective. It would therefore be better to say:

The sample was observed through a microscope. This revealed an unusual microbe.

By using the passive voice here, we make sure the focus is on the experiment, not the experimenter.

In both of these cases, then, it would be better to avoid use of the first person.

Using First-Person Pronouns Correctly

However, there are cases when it is correct to use first-person pronouns in an essay. These include:

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• To emphasize or clarify your own role in a study
• To position yourself in relation to other thinkers

For example, we could write the following without using the first person:

In studying queue formation in Starbucks, the issue of how social behavior is affected by caffeine withdrawal was explored.

However, this gives us no indication of who is conducting the study and the use of passive voice leads to an awkward sentence. We might therefore want to use first-person pronouns to ensure clarity:

In studying queue formation in Starbucks, we explored how social behavior is affected by caffeine withdrawal.

Another alternative would be using “the researcher” or “the author” to refer to ourselves in the third person. But this can also be problematic. For instance:

While Ving and Rhames (2001) argued that tea drinkers are more violent, the researchers have not found evidence to back up this claim.

The identity of “the researchers” here could be ambiguous. Does it refer to Ving and Rhames? Another study by someone else? Or is it the authors of this paper? It would therefore be better to say:

While Ving and Rhames (2001) argued that tea drinkers are more violent, we have not found evidence to back up this claim.

With this simple change, we can immediately what this sentence is saying. In general, then:

• DO NOT use the first person if it makes your work sound overly subjective or draws focus from what you are meant to be discussing
• But DO use the first person if it helps to ensure clarity and concision in your writing

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Using Personal Pronouns in IELTS Essays

Last week I produced a video of me writing an IELTS essay live , and I got lots of great feedback and some negative emails. I love receiving positive or negative emails because it lets me know exactly what you guys think and what I can do to help you even more.

The strange thing was that nearly all the negativity was about personal pronouns . To summarise, many of you thought I used them too much and that this was not acceptable in a Task 2 essay. I was always of the opinion that it was fine to use personal pronouns, but this made me doubt myself, so I did some research.

I first chatted with some ex-examiners and consulted some of the IELTS blogs I respect, like DC IELTS and IELTS Ryan. Below is what everyone, including myself, thought about the issue.

What are personal pronouns?

Personal pronouns are words like ‘I’, ‘we’, ‘you’ and ‘they’. Some people think that they should never be used in IELTS essays because they will make the essay sound too informal and not academic enough.

I believe that…. (informal)

This essay believes that…. (formal/academic)

If you eat too much junk food, you will get fat. (informal)

If a person eats too much junk food, that person will get fat. (formal/academic)

What does the marking criteria say?

If you are ever in doubt about anything to do with IELTS Writing, always check what the official marking criteria say first.

What does it say about personal pronouns? Nothing. What does it say about being informal or formal for Task 2? Nothing.

What do the questions say?

If you look at some of the official questions from Cambridge Examination Papers they would also seem to encourage you to use personal pronouns.

They use language like:

‘Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.’

‘Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.’

‘To what extent do you agree or disagree.’

It would be very difficult to answer the question above without using personal pronouns, and I don’t think that Cambridge is trying to play tricks on us.

What do examiners say?

The ex-examiners I have spoken to all say the same thing. It is fine to use them, but don’t overuse them.

When can we actually use them?

It is absolutely fine to use personal pronouns when giving opinions and when giving examples. Just don’t use them throughout the whole essay, i.e. in every sentence.

Also, if you don’t want to use them and prefer to use very academic language, then that is fine too.

In the past, I have advised students to use academic ways to give examples and opinions, but this is only because I was afraid they would overuse personal pronouns throughout the essay.

It should also be noted that you have many things to be worrying about when writing your essay, so adding in the worry of counting how many personal pronouns you are using should not be encouraged. Relax.

It is acceptable to use them when giving your opinion or examples if you like, but don’t overuse them in the rest of the essay. However, it is not in the marking scheme, so do not make it a major concern. The things specifically listed in the marking criteria are the things you need to focus on.

Some of the emails I got were quite irate, and some were from IELTS teachers who said I was misleading students by including personal pronouns in my essay.

What I would say to that is IELTS Writing is not mathematics. If I had said that 2 + 2 = 5, then I could understand their anger, but writing is a fluid discipline, and many different answers and methods can result in a high score.

I also do not publish anything unless it has been approved by at least one of many ex-examiners I know.

I hope you found this useful and that it cleared up some of the issues. Please let me know what you think by commenting below or joining the conversation on Facebook .

About Christopher Pell

My name is Christopher Pell and I'm the Managing Director of IELTS Advantage.

I started IELTS Advantage as a simple blog to help 16 students in my class. Several years later, I am very humbled that my VIP Course has been able to help thousands of people around the world to score a Band 7+ in their IELTS tests.

If you need my help with your IELTS preparation, you can send me an email using the contact us page.