PRONOUNS
17. Pronoun and Antecedent. A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. The noun in whose stead it stands is called its Antecedent. John took Mary's book and gave it to his friend. In this sentence book is the antecedent of the pronoun it, and John is the antecedent of his.
18. Pronouns should agree with their antecedents in person, gender, and number.
19. Personal Pronouns are those that by their form indicate the speaker, the person spoken to, or the person or thing spoken about.
Pronouns of the First Person indicate the speaker; they are: I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours.
Pronouns of the Second Person indicate the person or thing spoken to; they are: you, your, yours. There are also the grave or solemn forms in the second person, which are now little used; these are: thou, thee, thy, thine, and ye.
Pronouns of the Third Person indicate the person or thing spoken of; they are: he, his, him, she, her, hers, they, their, theirs, them, it, its.
Few errors are made in the use of the proper person of the pronoun.
20. Gender of Pronouns. The following pronouns indicate sex or gender; Masculine: he, his, him. Feminine: she, her, hers. Neuter: it, its.
In order to secure agreement in gender it is necessary to know the gender of the noun, expressed or understood, to which the pronoun refers. Gender of nouns is important only so far as it concerns the use of pronouns. Study carefully the following rules in regard to gender. These rules apply to the singular number only, since all plurals of whatever gender are referred to by they, their, theirs, etc.