Subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it…
The subject is never left out, one «you» for everyone, and «it» for things.
| Pronoun | Used for |
|---|---|
| I | the speaker (always a capital letter) |
| you | one person or several people, formal or informal |
| he | a male person |
| she | a female person |
| it | a thing, an animal, an idea |
| we | the speaker + others |
| they | several people or things; also one person whose gender is unknown or not binary |
English has no grammatical gender: a table, a book and a car are all it. He and she are for people (and sometimes pets).
- The car? It's red.a thing → it
- My sister? She's a nurse.a female person → she
- You are my friend. / You are my friends.the same «you» for one person or many
There is no polite form of «you»: politeness comes from vocabulary and tone (please, could you…, sir, madam).
Test yourself
-
Which pronoun replaces «the table»?
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it -
Correct: Is very cold today.
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It's very cold today. -
Which pronoun for «my brother and I»?
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we -
Is «I» written with a capital letter in the middle of a sentence?
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Yes, always.