THIRD PERSON—Mas. THIRD PERSON—Fem. THIRD PERSON—Neut. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Nom. he, they, she, they, it, they, Pos. his, their or her or their or its,* their or theirs, hers, theirs, theirs, Obj. him; them. her; them. it; them.
[Footnote *: The possessive its is our only personal pronoun form not found in Saxon. His, the possessive of the masculine he, was there the possessive (genitive) of the neuter hit also—our it. But it came to be thought improper to employ his to denote inanimate things as well as animate. The literature of the 16th and 17th centuries shows a growing sense of this impropriety, and abounds with of it, thereof, her, it, the, and it own in place of his as the possessive of it. The first appearance of the new coinage its is placed in 1598. Long after its introduction many looked askance at its, because of the grammatical blunder it contains—the_ t_ in its being a nominative neuter ending, and the s a possessive ending. But no one thinks now of shunning what was then regarded as a grammatical monstrosity.]
COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj.
myself* thyself himself; or ourselves. or yourselves. herself; themselves. ourself; yourself; itself;
[Footnote *: The compound personal pronouns are used (1) for emphasis; as, I myself saw it: and (2) as reflexives, to turn the action of the verb back upon the actor; as, He found himself deserted by his friends. They are not the only words used in this last relation; where no obscurity would arise, we may use the simple personal pronouns instead. And millions in those solitudes … have laid them down in their last sleep.—Bryant. My uncle stopped a minute to look about him.—Dickens.
The compound personal pronouns should not be used as subjects.]
+Remark+.—The possessive of these pronouns is wanting.
Ourself and we are used by rulers, editors, and others to hide their individuality, and give authority to what they say.
+Relative Pronouns+.