Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns represent specific people or things. We use them depending on:

• number: singular (eg: I) or plural (eg: we)
• person: 1st person (eg: I), 2nd person (eg: you) or 3rd person (eg: he)
• gender: male (eg: he), female (eg: she) or neuter (eg: it)
• case: subject (eg: we) or object (eg: us)

We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are talking about. My name is Josef but when I am talking about myself I almost always use "I" or "me", not "Josef". When I am talking direct to you, I almost always use "you", not your name. When I am talking about another person, say John, I may start with "John" but then use "he" or "him". And so on.
Here are the personal pronouns, followed by some example sentences:

number	person	gender	personal pronouns
			subject	object
singular	1st	male/female	I	me
	2nd	male/female	you	you
	3rd	male	he	him
		female	she	her
		neuter	it	it
plural	1st	male/female	we	us
	2nd	male/female	you	you
	3rd	male/female/neuter	they	them

Examples (in each case, the first example shows a subject pronoun, the second an object pronoun):

• I like coffee.
• John helped me.
  
• Do you like coffee?
• John loves you.
  
• He runs fast.
• Did Ram beat him?
  
• She is clever.
• Does Mary know her?
  
• It doesn't work.
• Can the engineer repair it?
  
• We went home.
• Anthony drove us.
  
• Do you need a table for three?
• Did John and Mary beat you at doubles?
  
• They played doubles.
• John and Mary beat them.

When we are talking about a single thing, we almost always use it. However, there are a few exceptions. We may sometimes refer to an animal as he/him or she/her, especially if the animal is domesticated or a pet. Ships (and some other vessels or vehicles) as well as some countries are often treated as female and referred to as she/her. Here are some examples:

• This is our dog Rusty. He's an Alsation.
• The Titanic was a great ship but she sank on her first voyage.
• My first car was a Mini and I treated her like my wife.
• Thailand has now opened her border with Cambodia.

For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or she. There are several solutions to this:

• If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.
• If a teacher needs help, he should see the principal.
• If a teacher needs help, they should see the principal.

We often use it to introduce a remark:

• It is nice to have a holiday sometimes.
• It is important to dress well.
• It's difficult to find a job.
• Is it normal to see them together?
• It didn't take long to walk here.

We also often use it to talk about the weather, temperature, time and distance:

• It's raining.
• It will probably be hot tomorrow.
• Is it nine o'clock yet?
• It's 50 kilometres from here to Cambridge.

Simple Present Tense Quiz

1	Do you like likes be like chocolate milk?	Click for answer like
2	He do does is not want to come to the movies.	Click for answer does
3	Is Are Am we too late to catch the bus?	Click for answer Are
4	It is are am a beautiful day today.	Click for answer is
5	Sorry, Lisa am is be not here at the moment.	Click for answer is
6	Is Are Am I correct?	Click for answer Am
7	Robert is does are not go to my school.	Click for answer does
8	My parents live lives are live in a 2 bedroom apartment.	Click for answer live
9	We do be are do are European.	Click for answer are
10	You looks are be so happy today!	Click for answer are

Simple Past Tense Quiz

1	I goed went gone to the mall after school.	Click for answer went
2	My brother seen saw sees a bear an hour ago.	Click for answer saw
3	Did Are Does Mike visit his grandmother last night?	Click for answer Did
4	Alex did not work worked working last weekend.	Click for answer work
5	Was Were Are Judy and Liz at last month's meeting?	Click for answer Were
6	We were was did not happy after the sad ending.	Click for answer were
7	Are Did Do you see Jody's new dog yesterday?	Click for answer Did
8	Sorry, I wasn't didn't am not hear you at the door.	Click for answer didn't
9	I studying study studied English for two years.	Click for answer studied
10	What do did were you eat for lunch yesterday?	Click for answer did

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