The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
pronoun
in English, the part of speech used as a substitute for an antecedent noun that is clearly understood, and with which it agrees in person, number, and gender. In English the pronouns are classified as personal (I, we, you, thou, he, she, it, they), demonstrative (this, these, that, those), relative (who, which, that, as), indefinite (e.g., each, all, everyone, either, one, both, any, such, somebody), interrogative (who, which, what), possessive, sometimes termed possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, our, their), and reflexive (e.g., myself, herself). The case of the pronoun depends upon its function in the sentence structure.
