IV. PRONOUNS

1. The pronoun is the part of speech used to replace an unnecessary noun. It is used for
convenience and to reduce redundancy.
Table 3 – Simple Pronoun Declension
First Person
Singular Plural
Nominative I Nominative We
Possessive My or mine Possessive Our
Objective Me Objective Us
Second Person
Older Modern
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative Thou Ye Nominative You You
Possessive Thy or thine Your Possessive Your Your
Objective Thee You Objective You You
Third Person
Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Neuter Neuter or Common
Nominative He She It Nominative They
Possessive His Her Its Possessive Their
Objective Him Her It Objective Them
Table 4 – Compound Pronoun Declension
First Person
Singular Plural
Nom & Obj Myself Nom & Obj Ourselves
Second Person
Singular Plural
Nom & Obj Thyself or yourself Nom & Obj Yourselves
Third Person
Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Neuter Neuter or Common
Nom & Obj Himself Herself Itself Nom & Obj Themselves
2. The antecedent is the noun or equivalent expression replaced by the pronoun. The
antecedent generally precedes the pronoun, but sometimes the antecedent can follow the
pronoun. Identifying the proper antecedent is crucial to understanding a pronoun.
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3. The pronoun has the same properties as the noun. It has gender, person, number, and case. In
fact, these properties can often be more easily identified in the pronoun. The gender, person, and
number of a pronoun always agree with its antecedent, but its case depends on sentence
construction.
APPLICATION:
Matt. 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Matt. 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Using the KJV and our new found understanding of the older 2nd person pronouns, we can notice
that in the first verse above, Jesus is speaking to one person (singular “thee”). In the second
verse, Jesus repeats the same thing to a group of people (plural “you). This means that the
Catholic Church cannot claim that Peter alone received the authority to reveal divine law (as they
understand it) because this promise is also made to a group of people (the Apostles).
4. Pronouns can be divided into four classes: personal, possessive, relative, and interrogative.
1 Personal Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
2 Possessive My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
3 Relative … Jesus, whom ye have crucified, …
4 Interrogative What seekest thou?
Personal Pronouns
5. Personal pronouns have a noun as their antecedent (1). The properties of a personal
pronoun are often clearly identified by the word itself. They can be simple or compound, where
a form of the term “self” is added.
6. “Mine” and “thine” are used before words beginning with a vowel sound in older English.
7. Thou, thy, thine, thee, thyself, and ye had no verifiable, exclusive meaning in their own era,
religious or otherwise. In modern times, the words have been commonly reserved for religious
or poetic purposes.
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Possessive, Relative, & Interrogative Pronouns
8. Possessive pronouns refer to the possessor or sometimes that which is possessed (2).
9. Relative pronouns are used to represent a preceding word or phrase and then to join them to
a limiting clause (3).
10. Interrogative pronouns are who, which, and what when used in questions (4). The
subsequent is the part of the answer represented by the interrogative pronoun. They must also
agree in gender, person, and number.
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Exercise IV: Pronouns
Instructions: Fill in the chart.
First Person
Singular Plural
Nominative Nominative
Possessive Possessive
Objective Objective
Second Person
Older Modern
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative Nominative
Possessive Possessive
Objective Objective
Third Person
Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Neuter Neuter or Common
Nominative Nominative
Possessive Possessive
Objective Objective
First Person
Singular Plural
Nom & Obj Nom & Obj
Second Person
Singular Plural
Nom & Obj Nom & Obj
Third Person
Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Neuter Neuter or Common
Nom & Obj Nom & Obj
Instructions: Give the person and number of each pronoun.
1 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
2 My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.