Pronouns and Determiners in English – Complete Guide with Hindi Explanation

Pronouns and Determiners in English – Complete Guide

Welcome to this complete lesson on Pronouns and Determiners. These important parts of English grammar help us refer to people, things, places and quantities without repeating the same nouns unnecessarily.

In this lesson, you will learn the main types of pronouns and determiners, their correct usage, common mistakes and practical examples.

हिंदी में समझें: Pronouns यानी सर्वनाम, जो संज्ञा (Noun) की जगह इस्तेमाल होते हैं। Determiners वे शब्द हैं जो किसी noun के बारे में बताते हैं कि वह कौन-सा है, किसका है या कितनी मात्रा में है।

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In This Lesson – Topic Index

1. Personal Pronouns
2. Subject and Object Pronouns
3. Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives
4. Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns
5. Demonstrative Pronouns
6. Relative Pronouns
7. Indefinite Pronouns
8. Using This, That, These and Those
9. Determiners: Some, Any, Much and Many
10. Pronoun and Determiner Practice

1. Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are words used instead of the names of people, animals or things. They help us avoid repeating nouns.

हिंदी में: Personal Pronouns वे शब्द हैं जो किसी व्यक्ति, वस्तु या जानवर के नाम की जगह आते हैं। जैसे – I, you, he, she, it, we और they.

Common Personal Pronouns

Pronoun	Hindi Meaning	Example
I	मैं	I am a student.
You	तुम / आप	You are helpful.
He	वह (पुरुष)	He is my brother.
She	वह (महिला)	She is a teacher.
It	यह / वह (वस्तु या जानवर)	It is a beautiful flower.
We	हम	We are ready.
They	वे	They are playing.

Examples in Sentences

Ravi is my friend. He is very kind.
रवि मेरा दोस्त है। वह बहुत दयालु है।

My sister is a doctor. She works in Delhi.
मेरी बहन डॉक्टर है। वह दिल्ली में काम करती है।

The children are happy. They are playing outside.
बच्चे खुश हैं। वे बाहर खेल रहे हैं।

Important Points

• Use I when talking about yourself.
• Use he for a male person and she for a female person when that reference is appropriate.
• Use it for things and animals when their sex is not being specified.
• Use we for yourself and one or more other people.
• Use they for plural people or things. It can also be used for one person when gender is unknown or when that person uses they/them pronouns.

Remember: A pronoun should clearly refer to the noun it replaces. This makes sentences easier to understand.

2. Subject and Object Pronouns

Personal pronouns have different forms depending on their grammatical role in a sentence. The two important forms are subject pronouns and object pronouns.

हिंदी में: Subject Pronoun वाक्य में काम करने वाले व्यक्ति या वस्तु को बताता है। Object Pronoun उस व्यक्ति या वस्तु को बताता है जिस पर काम का प्रभाव पड़ता है या जिसके साथ क्रिया का संबंध होता है।

Subject and Object Pronoun Table

Subject Pronoun	Object Pronoun	Example
I	me	She called me.
You	you	I helped you.
He	him	We know him.
She	her	I met her.
It	it	She opened it.
We	us	They invited us.
They	them	I saw them.

Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns usually come before the main verb and perform the action or are the subject being described.

• I work every day.
• She speaks English.
• They live nearby.

Object Pronouns

Object pronouns are used as the object of a verb or after a preposition.

• He helped me.
• I spoke to her.
• The teacher praised them.

Common Mistakes

Incorrect	Correct
Me and Ravi went home.	Ravi and I went home.
She gave the book to I.	She gave the book to me.
Him is my friend.	He is my friend.

Quick tip: Ask “Who performs the action?” to identify the subject. Ask “Whom or what does the action affect?” to identify the object.

3. Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Possessive forms show ownership or a relationship. They are divided into possessive adjectives (also called possessive determiners) and possessive pronouns.

हिंदी में: इनका उपयोग यह बताने के लिए होता है कि कोई चीज किसकी है। जैसे – मेरा, तुम्हारा, उसका, हमारा और उनका।

Possessive Adjectives / Determiners

These words come before nouns and tell us who owns or is associated with something.

Word	Example
My	This is my book.
Your	Is this your pen?
His	His car is new.
Her	Her bag is blue.
Its	The dog wagged its tail.
Our	Our school is nearby.
Their	Their house is large.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership without repeating the noun. They can stand independently.

Possessive Pronoun	Example
Mine	This book is mine.
Yours	The choice is yours.
His	That bicycle is his.
Hers	This bag is hers.
Ours	The victory is ours.
Theirs	Those seats are theirs.

Compare the Two Forms

This is my phone. – यह मेरा फोन है।

This phone is mine. – यह फोन मेरा है।

That is their house. – वह उनका घर है।

That house is theirs. – वह घर उनका है।

Common Mistakes

• This book is my. → This book is mine.
• That is mine book. → That is my book.
• The dog wagged it's tail. → The dog wagged its tail.

Important: Its shows possession. It's is the contraction of “it is” or “it has”.

4. Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns

Reflexive and emphatic pronouns have the same forms, but they perform different functions in sentences.

Reflexive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun is used when the subject and object refer to the same person or thing.

हिंदी में: जब वाक्य में काम करने वाला और उस काम का प्रभाव पाने वाला एक ही व्यक्ति हो, तब Reflexive Pronoun का उपयोग होता है।

Subject	Reflexive Pronoun
I	myself
You	yourself
He	himself
She	herself
It	itself
We	ourselves
You (plural)	yourselves
They	themselves

Reflexive Examples

• I taught myself English.
• She looked at herself in the mirror.
• They introduced themselves.
• We enjoyed ourselves at the party.

Emphatic Pronouns

An emphatic pronoun adds emphasis to the subject. It is not essential to the basic meaning of the sentence.

• The manager himself welcomed us.
• I myself completed the project.
• The children themselves cleaned the room.

Difference Between Reflexive and Emphatic Use

Reflexive	Emphatic
She blamed herself.	She herself solved the problem.
He hurt himself.	He himself opened the door.

Remember: In reflexive use, the pronoun is needed to complete the meaning. In emphatic use, removing it leaves the basic sentence complete.

5. Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point to particular people or things. The four main demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these and those.

हिंदी में: Demonstrative Pronouns का उपयोग किसी खास व्यक्ति या वस्तु की ओर संकेत करने के लिए किया जाता है।

Pronoun	Use	Example
This	One thing near the speaker	This is my bag.
That	One thing farther away	That is your house.
These	Several things near the speaker	These are fresh apples.
Those	Several things farther away	Those are my shoes.

More Examples

• This is what I wanted.
• That was a wonderful experience.
• These are very useful.
• Those belong to my brother.

Pronoun or Determiner?

The same words can work as demonstrative pronouns or demonstrative determiners.

Demonstrative Pronoun	Demonstrative Determiner
This is expensive.	This phone is expensive.
Those are beautiful.	Those flowers are beautiful.

When the word stands alone instead of a noun, it is a pronoun. When it comes before a noun, it is a determiner.

6. Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. They connect additional information to a noun or pronoun in the main clause.

हिंदी में: Relative Pronouns दो विचारों को जोड़ते हैं और किसी व्यक्ति, वस्तु या स्थान के बारे में अतिरिक्त जानकारी देते हैं।

Common Relative Pronouns

Pronoun	Typical Use	Example
Who	People, usually as subject	The woman who called me is my teacher.
Whom	People, as object	The man whom I met was friendly.
Whose	Possession	The boy whose bag was lost is here.
Which	Things and animals	The book which I bought is useful.
That	People or things in defining clauses	The phone that I use is new.

Examples

I know a girl who speaks Korean.
मैं एक लड़की को जानता हूँ जो कोरियन बोलती है।

This is the movie that we watched yesterday.
यह वह फिल्म है जो हमने कल देखी थी।

The student whose project won is my friend.
जिस विद्यार्थी का प्रोजेक्ट जीता, वह मेरा दोस्त है।

Important Usage Notes

• Who generally refers to people as the subject of the relative clause.
• Whom is used as an object, especially in formal English. In everyday English, who is often used instead.
• Whose expresses possession.
• Which is commonly used for things and animals.
• That can be used for people or things in defining relative clauses, but not normally in non-defining clauses.

Tip: A relative clause gives information about the noun before it. Read the entire sentence to understand what the relative pronoun refers to.

7. Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to people, things or quantities without identifying them exactly.

हिंदी में: Indefinite Pronouns ऐसे सर्वनाम हैं जिनसे किसी खास व्यक्ति या वस्तु का नाम स्पष्ट नहीं होता। जैसे – someone, anyone, everyone, something और nothing.

Common Indefinite Pronouns

Pronoun	Meaning	Example
Someone	कोई व्यक्ति	Someone is waiting outside.
Anyone	कोई भी / कोई व्यक्ति	Does anyone know the answer?
Everyone	हर कोई	Everyone is welcome.
No one	कोई नहीं	No one was absent.
Something	कुछ	Something is wrong.
Anything	कुछ भी	I cannot find anything.
Nothing	कुछ नहीं	Nothing is impossible.
Everything	सब कुछ	Everything is ready.
Many	बहुत से	Many were invited.
Few	कुछ / बहुत कम	Few understood the question.
Several	कई	Several have applied.
None	कोई नहीं / कुछ नहीं	None of the answers was correct.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Many indefinite pronouns such as everyone, someone, anyone, no one, something and nothing take singular verbs.

• Everyone is ready.
• Someone has called you.
• Nothing was missing.

Some indefinite pronouns, such as many, few, several and both, take plural verbs.

• Many are interested.
• Several have arrived.
• Both were selected.

Important: Some words can function as pronouns or determiners depending on whether they stand alone or come before a noun.

8. Using This, That, These and Those

This, that, these and those are used to identify people and things according to number and distance. They can function as determiners before nouns or as pronouns when they stand alone.

Simple Usage Rule

Word	Number	Distance	Example
This	Singular	Near	This pen is mine.
That	Singular	Far	That building is tall.
These	Plural	Near	These books are new.
Those	Plural	Far	Those houses are old.

Examples in Daily Conversation

What is this? – यह क्या है?

Who is that? – वह कौन है?

These are my documents. – ये मेरे दस्तावेज़ हैं।

Those are beautiful mountains. – वे सुंदर पहाड़ हैं।

Common Mistakes

Incorrect	Correct
This books are useful.	These books are useful.
Those boy is my friend.	That boy is my friend.
These is my pen.	This is my pen.
That apples are fresh.	Those apples are fresh.

Quick memory rule: This/That = singular. These/Those = plural. This/These = near. That/Those = farther away.

9. Determiners: Some, Any, Much and Many

Determiners come before nouns and help specify quantity, ownership, identity or reference. In this lesson, we focus on some, any, much and many.

हिंदी में: Determiners noun से पहले आकर बताते हैं कि कितनी मात्रा या संख्या की बात हो रही है।

Some

Some is commonly used with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns, especially in affirmative sentences.

• I have some friends in Delhi.
• There is some milk in the fridge.
• Would you like some tea?

Any

Any is commonly used with plural countable and uncountable nouns in questions and negative sentences. It can also mean “it does not matter which” in affirmative sentences.

• Do you have any questions?
• We do not have any sugar.
• You can choose any seat.

Much

Much is used with uncountable nouns.

• How much water do you need?
• There is not much time left.
• We do not have much information.

Many

Many is used with plural countable nouns.

• How many books do you have?
• There are many students in the class.
• She has visited many countries.

Comparison Table

Determiner	Used With	Example
Some	Plural countable and uncountable nouns	some books, some water
Any	Plural countable and uncountable nouns	any questions, any milk
Much	Uncountable nouns	much time, much money
Many	Plural countable nouns	many people, many cars

Common Mistakes

• How much books do you have? → How many books do you have?
• I have many money. → I have a lot of money.
• There are much students. → There are many students.
• I don't have some questions. → I don't have any questions.

Remember: Countable nouns can be counted individually (one book, two books). Uncountable nouns are not normally counted as separate units (water, information, money).

10. Pronoun and Determiner Practice

Test your understanding of pronouns and determiners with these practical exercises. Try answering before opening the answers.

Exercise A: Choose the Correct Pronoun

1. Rita is my sister. ___ is a doctor.
2. My brother and I are students. ___ study together.
3. The teacher called Ravi and ___.
4. This bag belongs to me. It is ___.
5. She looked at ___ in the mirror.

Show Answers

1. She
2. We
3. me
4. mine
5. herself

Exercise B: Choose This, That, These or Those

1. ___ book in my hand is interesting.
2. ___ stars in the sky are beautiful.
3. ___ shoes near the door are mine.
4. ___ building across the road is a hospital.

Show Answers

1. This
2. Those
3. Those
4. That

Exercise C: Choose Some, Any, Much or Many

1. How ___ water do you drink daily?
2. There are ___ students in the classroom.
3. Do you have ___ questions?
4. I bought ___ fresh vegetables.
5. We do not have ___ time.

Show Answers

1. much
2. many
3. any
4. some
5. much

Exercise D: Correct the Mistakes

1. Me is your friend.
2. This books are mine.
3. She completed the work by hisself.
4. How much students are present?
5. This is her book. The book is her.

Show Answers

1. I am your friend.
2. These books are mine.
3. She completed the work by herself.
4. How many students are present?
5. This is her book. The book is hers.

Quick Revision

Topic	Key Point
Personal Pronouns	Replace names of people or things.
Subject Pronouns	Used as the subject of a clause.
Object Pronouns	Used as the object of a verb or preposition.
Possessive Forms	Show ownership or relationship.
Reflexive Pronouns	Refer back to the subject.
Emphatic Pronouns	Add emphasis to a noun or pronoun.
Demonstrative Pronouns	Point to particular people or things.
Relative Pronouns	Introduce relative clauses.
Indefinite Pronouns	Refer to unspecified people or things.
Determiners	Help identify or quantify nouns.

Daily Practice Plan

1. 5 minutes: Revise the personal and object pronoun forms.
2. 5 minutes: Write five sentences using possessive and reflexive forms.
3. 5 minutes: Practise this, that, these and those with objects around you.
4. 5 minutes: Make sentences using some, any, much and many.
5. 5 minutes: Read your sentences aloud and correct mistakes.

Conclusion

Pronouns and determiners are essential for clear and natural English communication. Pronouns help us avoid unnecessary repetition, while determiners give useful information about nouns.

Study each topic, practise the examples and use these forms in everyday conversations. Regular practice will help you become more confident in English grammar.

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