Pronouns – NDA English Notes

In Chapter 2 you studied nouns, the words that name people, places, things, and ideas. Now consider what happens when you need to refer to the same noun again within a passage:

“Priya studied hard. Priya passed the examination. Priya celebrated Priya’s success.”

The repetition of “Priya” four times in three sentences is clumsy and unnatural. Pronouns solve this problem. They replace nouns already named, letting language flow without unnecessary repetition. But pronouns are not free substitutes for any noun. They are reference words, and every reference word must match the noun it replaces precisely.

That matching requirement is the central principle of this chapter. Every rule about pronouns- possessive forms, reflexive pronouns, relative pronoun selection, antecedent agreement- is a specific application of the same idea: the pronoun must match its antecedent in person, number, gender, case, and function.

NDA has tested pronoun knowledge in ten confirmed questions across Spotting Errors, Sentence Improvement, and Sentence Completion formats. The errors it selects are almost always invisible at normal reading speed. They feel natural in informal English but violate the formal rules that examinations enforce. A student who understands how pronouns work will spot those errors systematically.

2. What Is a Pronoun?

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. The noun it replaces is called its antecedent. Every pronoun points back to an antecedent, and without that antecedent, the pronoun has no meaning.

“The general gave his orders.”  → “his” replaces “the general”

“India won the match. It was a great victory.”  → “it” replaces “India”

“The students worked hard. They deserved to pass.”  → “they” replaces “the students”

English uses pronouns for three reasons. First, to avoid repetition: saying “Gopal…Gopal…Gopal” in a single paragraph sounds awkward. Second, to maintain flow: pronouns allow sentences to connect naturally. Third, to show grammatical relationships: pronouns signal person, number, and case in ways that keep sentence structure clear.

3. The Antecedent: The Noun a Pronoun Replaces

The antecedent is the noun (or noun phrase) that the pronoun refers back to. Identifying the antecedent is the first step in solving every pronoun question. Once you know what the pronoun is replacing, you can check whether the pronoun matches it correctly across five dimensions.

A pronoun must match its antecedent in all five of the following ways:

• Person: First person (I, we), second person (you), third person (he, she, it, they).
• Number: Singular (he, she, it) or plural (they, them, their).
• Gender: Masculine (he, him, his), feminine (she, her, hers), or neuter (it, its).
• Case: Subject (who does the action), object (who receives it), or possessive (who owns something).
• Function: What role the pronoun plays in its own clause.

When any one of these five dimensions mismatches, the pronoun is incorrect. NDA Spotting Errors questions are designed to present exactly these mismatches in sentences that otherwise read smoothly.

CORRECT:  “Every soldier carried his weapon.”  (his = singular, masculine: matches “soldier”)

ERROR:  “Every soldier carried their weapon.”  (their = plural: mismatches singular “soldier”)

CORRECT:  “She and I went together.”  (I = first-person subject)

ERROR:  “Her and me went together.”  (her/me = object case in subject position)

4. The Complete Pronoun Paradigm

Before studying any specific pronoun rule, study this table. It shows every English pronoun form across every person, number, and case. Every rule in every section that follows is a part of this map.

Row / Function	1st Sg	2nd Sg	3rd Sg M	3rd Sg F	3rd Sg N	1st Plural	2nd Plural	3rd Plural
Subject	I	you	he	she	it	we	you	they
Object	me	you	him	her	it	us	you	them
Poss. Adj.	my	your	his	her	its	our	your	their
Poss. Pron.	mine	yours	his	hers	its	ours	yours	theirs
Reflexive	myself	yourself	himself	herself	itself	ourselves	yourselves	themselves

Special case: The impersonal pronoun “one” has its own reflexive: oneself. It is used only when the subject is the impersonal “one”, never as a substitute for any other reflexive.

Notice the five rows: they match the five pronoun functions: subject, object, possessive adjective (used before a noun: “my book”), possessive pronoun (used alone: “the book is mine”), and reflexive. Notice also that not one possessive pronoun in the entire table takes an apostrophe. This is the single most important observation from this table, and Section 6 explains why.

5. Personal Pronouns: Case and the Order Rule

Personal pronouns change form depending on their position in a sentence. The subject row is used when the pronoun is doing the action. The object row is used when the pronoun receives the action or follows a preposition. Errors appear most often in compound subjects and objects, where two people are involved.

Subject position:  “I studied hard. He passed. They celebrated.”

Object position:  “She called me. We gave him the report. Come with us.”

Case in Compound Subjects and Objects

When a pronoun is part of a compound subject, it takes the subject case. When it is part of a compound object, it takes the object case. The removal test works reliably: remove the other person and check which form sounds correct alone.

Correct: “She and I went to the meeting.”  (Remove “She” → I went.)

Correct: “She gave the report to Gopal and me.”  (Remove “Gopal and” → she gave it to me.)

Incorrect: “Her and me went to the meeting.”  (Her went? Me went? Both wrong.)

Incorrect: “She gave it to Gopal and I.”  (She gave it to I? Wrong.)

The Order Rule: First-Person Pronoun Always Last

When a personal pronoun forms part of a compound with another noun or pronoun, the first-person pronoun (“I”, “me”, “we”, “us”) must be placed last. This is both a social convention and a grammatical one.

Correct: “Gopal and I went to the meeting.”

Correct: “She and I prepared the report.”

Incorrect:  “He invited Priya and me.”

Incorrect:  “I and Gopal went to the meeting.”  : “I” placed first

NDA 2012-I: Spotting Errors:

“I and Gopal went to the meeting together.”

Incorrect:   Part (a) : “I and Gopal”

Correct: “Gopal and I went to the meeting together.”  [NDA 2012-I]

The first-person pronoun must follow the other person in the compound.

6. Possessive Pronouns: No Apostrophe, Ever

Look again at the possessive rows of the paradigm table. One rule applies to every possessive pronoun in the English language without exception:

★ IMPORTANT Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs) never take an apostrophe. Not ever. Not in any sentence. Not for any reason.

Why? Because possessive pronouns are complete words that already encode possession in their form. They do not need an apostrophe to signal ownership. They signal it by existing. Nouns take apostrophes because the apostrophe is added to an otherwise non-possessive base (Gopal + ‘s → Gopal’s). Pronouns are already possessive. No transformation needed, no apostrophe required.

Form	Type	Rule	Example
his / her / its / our / their	Possessive adjective	NO apostrophe	its pages / their results / our team
mine / yours / his / hers / ours / theirs	Possessive pronoun	NO apostrophe	The book is hers. The results are ours.
Gopal’s / India’s / student’s	Possessive noun	Apostrophe REQUIRED	Gopal’s book / India’s strength
one’s	Possessive of “one”	Apostrophe REQUIRED	one’s dreams / one’s duties

The Two Highest-Risk Pairs

Two possessive pronoun errors appear so frequently in NDA papers and in everyday writing that they deserve dedicated attention. NDA 2022-I asked both in the same sitting.

“Its” vs “It’s”

“its”  possessive pronoun, NO apostrophe. Means: belonging to it.

“The country is proud of its heritage.” Correct

Test: can you replace it with “belonging to it”? → Use: its. NEVER write it’s when you mean possession.

“it’s”  contraction, APOSTROPHE. Means: it is OR it has.

“It’s a beautiful day.” (= It is a beautiful day.)

Test: can you replace it with “it is” and the sentence still makes sense? → Use: it’s. If the sentence is about possession, never use it’s.

NDA 2022-I: Spotting Errors:

“India’s strengths are its diversity of culture and the spirit of tolerance in it’s people.”

Error: Part (c) : “it’s people”

Correct: “in its people” : possessive pronoun, no apostrophe.

“It’s” here would mean “it is people” : which is nonsensical.  [NDA 2022-I]

“One’s” vs “Ones”

“one’s”  possessive of “one”, APOSTROPHE. Means: belonging to one (the person).

“It is important to fulfil one’s duties.”  /  “to realise one’s dreams and ambitions”

“ones”  plural noun, NO apostrophe. Means: plural of “one” (the thing).

“She chose the blue ones.”  /  “The young ones played happily.” : No apostrophe; plain plural noun.

NDA 2022-I : Spotting Errors:

“The greatest glory in life is to be able to realize ones dreams and ambitions.”

Error: Part (b) : “ones dreams”

Correct: “one’s dreams” : possessive of “one”, requires apostrophe.

“Ones” without the apostrophe is a plural noun, not a possessive.  [NDA 2022-I]

The fastest test for both pairs: for “its/it’s”, replace with “it is”. If the sentence makes sense, use “it’s”. If not, use “its”. For “one’s/ones”, ask: do you mean “belonging to one” (possessive → apostrophe) or “multiple things” (plural → no apostrophe)?

7. Reflexive Pronouns: The Antecedent Must Match

A reflexive pronoun is used in two situations: when the object of a sentence is the same person as the subject (“She cut herself”), and when a noun or pronoun is emphasised (“The general himself inspected the troops”). In both cases, the reflexive must match its antecedent precisely.

myself / yourself / himself / herself / itself / ourselves / yourselves / themselves / oneself

Each reflexive form is tied to a specific subject form. “Myself” belongs to “I”. “Themselves” belongs to “they”. “Himself” belongs to “he”. English has no generic reflexive that can serve all subjects.

“Oneself” Is Not a Universal Formal Reflexive

“Oneself” is the reflexive of the impersonal pronoun “one”, as in “One must be able to think for oneself.” Use it when the subject is “one.” It cannot be substituted for “themselves”, “himself”, or any other reflexive simply because a sentence sounds formal. Formality does not override antecedent matching.

NDA 2012-II: Spotting Errors:

“He told his friends that each of them should be able to carry out the orders oneself.”

Error: Part (c) : “oneself”

Antecedent: “each of them” : third-person plural.

Required reflexive: themselves

Correct: “…carry out the orders themselves.”  [NDA 2012-II]

“Oneself” sounds formal and authoritative. Students who associate formality with correctness reach for it in formal sentences. But formality does not override antecedent matching. “Them” requires “themselves” in every register.

8. Demonstrative Pronouns and Number Agreement

Demonstrative pronouns point to specific things. English has four: this (singular, near), that (singular, far), these (plural, near), those (plural, far). When a demonstrative pronoun refers to a noun or group, it must match the number of that noun or group.

Demonstrative	Number	Distance	Example
this	Singular	Near (speaker)	This is the correct answer.
that	Singular	Far (or general reference)	That was the committee’s decision.
these	Plural	Near (speaker)	These are the students who qualified.
those	Plural	Far (or general reference)	Those selected for the award deserve recognition.

NDA 2022-II: Spotting Errors:

“Rahim was one of that selected for the award.”

Error: Part (a): “one of that”

Correct: “one of those selected for the award.”

“That” is singular. “Those” is plural. The selection involved multiple people: a group. The demonstrative must match the number of its referent.  [NDA 2022-II]

“One of that” catches students because “that” sounds definite and complete. But ask: how many people were selected? More than one. “That” (singular) cannot refer to a group. “Those” (plural) is the correct demonstrative.

9. Pronoun–Antecedent Agreement

The most contested application of the antecedent-matching principle involves singular indefinite pronouns as antecedents. Certain pronouns (when they function as antecedents) are grammatically singular, even though they seem to refer to many people.

★ IMPORTANT Singular Indefinite Antecedents (all are grammatically singular): each · every · everyone · everybody · everything · anyone · anybody · anything · someone · somebody · something · no one · nobody · nothing · either · neither · one

When any of these words is the antecedent, the pronoun that refers back to it must be singular. NDA examination English operates in the formal prescriptive register. In this register, the traditional rule applies: singular antecedent requires singular pronoun reference.

FORMAL (NDA standard):  “Every soldier must carry his or her weapon.”

INFORMAL (modern usage):  “Every soldier must carry their weapon.”

FORMAL (NDA standard):  “Each of the students submitted his or her report.”

INFORMAL (modern usage):  “Each of the students submitted their report.”

In contemporary informal English, singular “they” with indefinite antecedents is widely accepted and endorsed by many modern style guides. This is not a question of absolute right and wrong. It is a question of register. For the NDA examination, the formal rule governs.

NDA 2022-I : Spotting Errors:

“Every person who believes in principles must stand up to fight for their convictions.”

Error: Part (c) : “their convictions”

Correct: “his or her convictions”

Antecedent: “Every person” : singular indefinite. Pronoun must be singular. In formal English, “their” is a plural pronoun and mismatches the singular antecedent.  [NDA 2022-I]

10. Relative Pronouns: The Conceptual Climax

This is the most important section of the chapter. Four of the ten NDA PYQs in the Pronouns chapter test relative pronoun knowledge, in Sentence Improvement and Sentence Completion formats, across all four dimensions of the relative pronoun paradigm.

A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause, a dependent clause that describes or identifies the noun before it. The relative pronoun does two jobs simultaneously: it refers back to the antecedent noun, and it plays a grammatical role (subject, object, or possessive) inside its own clause. This dual job is why relative pronoun selection is more complex than any other pronoun choice. You must check two things, not one.

“The woman who lived next door was kind.”

Relative clause: “who lived next door”  |  Antecedent: “the woman” (human)  |  Function of “who” in the clause: subject of “lived”

“I dislike films that have sad endings.”

Relative clause: “that have sad endings”  |  Antecedent: “films” (non-human)  |  Function of “that” in the clause: subject of “have”

The Two-Step Decision Process

Every relative pronoun question can be solved with two questions asked in sequence.

★ IMPORTANT Step 1: What is the antecedent? Is it human or non-human?   • Human → choose from: who / whom / whose   • Non-human → choose from: that / which / whose / of which   Step 2: What is the grammatical function of the relative pronoun inside its own clause?   • Subject of the clause → who (human) / that or which (non-human)   • Object of the clause → whom (human) / that or which (non-human)   • Possessive in the clause → whose (human or non-human)

The Relative Pronoun Decision Matrix

This table shows the correct pronoun for every combination of antecedent type and grammatical function.

Antecedent Type	Subject Function	Object Function	Possessive Function
Human (person, woman, soldier, student)	who: “the woman who lived next door”	whom: “the man whom we met yesterday”	whose: “the student whose book was lost”
Non-Human (film, machine, country, animal)	that / which: “films that have sad endings”	that / which: “the painting that they were looking at”	whose / of which: “the book whose pages were torn”

“Who”: Human Subject

“Who” is used when the antecedent is human AND the relative pronoun is the subject of the relative clause: it performs the action named in the clause.

NDA 2024-I: Sentence Completion:

“They told us about the woman _________ lived next door.”

Options: (a) whom  (b) which  (c) who  (d) whose

Answer: (c) who  : Step 1: “woman” : human. Step 2: subject of “lived”. → who.  [NDA 2024-I]

(a) “whom” : object case, but the pronoun is the subject of “lived”. Wrong case.

(b) “which” : “woman” is human; “which” is for non-human antecedents. Wrong.

(d) “whose” : possessive; there is no possession in “lived next door”. Wrong.

“Whom”: Human Object

“Whom” is the object case of “who”. It is used when the antecedent is human AND the relative pronoun is the object of the relative clause or follows a preposition. Test: if you can replace the relative pronoun with “him” or “her”, use “whom”. If “he” or “she” fits better, use “who”.

“The general whom we admired gave a rousing speech.”

Function: “whom” is the object of “admired” (we admired whom)

Substitute: “we admired him” → object → use: whom ✓

“The officer to whom the report was given left immediately.”

Function: “whom” follows the preposition “to”

“That” / “Which”: Non-Human

“That” and “which” refer to non-human antecedents. The choice between them depends on whether the relative clause is restrictive or non-restrictive.

Restrictive clause: defines or identifies the antecedent; without it, the sentence loses essential meaning. No comma before the clause. Use “that”.

Non-restrictive clause: adds information about an antecedent already clearly identified; the sentence is still complete without it. Comma before the clause. Use “which”.

Restrictive (no comma):  “The painting that they were looking at was done by my sister.”

Remove the clause → “The painting was done by my sister” : now which painting? Essential. → Use: that

Non-restrictive (comma):  “The painting, which my sister painted last year, won a prize.”

Remove the clause → “The painting won a prize.” Still complete. → Use: which (with comma)

NDA 2016-II: Sentence Improvement:

“The painting which they were looking at was done by my sister.”

Underlined: “which”  |  Options: (a) what  (b) that  (c) whom  (d) No improvement

Answer: (b) that  : The clause is restrictive : no comma before it. “That” is the preferred form.  [NDA 2016-II]

(a) “what” : not a relative pronoun in this context. Wrong.

(c) “whom” : “painting” is non-human; “whom” is for human antecedents. Wrong.

NDA 2024-I: Sentence Completion:

“I dislike films _________ have sad endings.”

Options: (a) who  (b) that  (c) whose  (d) whom

Answer: (b) that: Step 1: “films”: non-human. Step 2: subject of “have”. → that/which. “that” is preferred for restrictive clauses.  [NDA 2024-I]

(a) “who”: “films” is non-human; “who” is for humans only. Wrong.

(c) “whose”: possessive; “films” do not own “sad endings” in this structure.

(d) “whom”: object case for human antecedents only; “films” is non-human.

Pronoun	Antecedent Type	Case / Function	Example
Who	Human	Subject of relative clause	the woman who lived…
Whom	Human	Object or after preposition	the man whom we met…
Whose	Human or Non-human	Possessive	the student whose book… / the car whose engine…
that	Non-human (restrictive)	Subject or object	films that have sad endings…
which	Non-human (non-restrictive)	Subject or object, with comma	the painting, which she painted…

Reciprocal Pronouns : “Each Other” vs “One Another”

Reciprocal pronouns express a mutual action between two or more parties. English has two: “each other” and “one another”. The rule is precise:

“each other”  = a mutual relationship between exactly two people or entities

“one another”  = a mutual relationship among more than two people or entities

NDA 2016-II: Sentence Improvement:

“The couple seemed to love one another very much.”

Underlined: “one another”  |  Options: (a) every other  (b) each  (c) each other  (d) No improvement

Answer: (c) each other  : “The couple” = two people. For mutual action between two, use “each other”. “One another” is for mutual action among more than two.  [NDA 2016-II]

(a) “every other” : does not express reciprocal action. Wrong.

(b) “each” alone : not a reciprocal pronoun in this context. Wrong.

11. Pronoun Case: Object and Prepositional Positions

Pronoun case errors in object and prepositional positions are standard syllabus content and plausible future NDA targets, though not yet confirmed in the available PYQ corpus.

After Prepositions: Always Object Case

When a pronoun follows a preposition (to, for, with, between, by, after), it must take the object case. A common error is using the subject case instead.

CORRECT:  “between you and me”

ERROR:  “between you and I”  (I = subject case; wrong after preposition)

CORRECT:  “She gave it to Gopal and me.”

ERROR:  “She gave it to Gopal and I.”

“Who” vs “Whom” in Questions

“Who” is used when the interrogative pronoun is the subject. “Whom” is used when it is the object or follows a preposition. Apply the substitution test: if “he/she” fits, use “who”; if “him/her” fits, use “whom”.

“Who called you?”  (Who = subject of “called”)

“Whom did you call?”  (Whom = object of “call”)

“To whom should I send this?”  (Whom = after preposition “to”)

Pronoun Shift

A pronoun shift error occurs when a sentence begins with one pronoun person and switches to another without grammatical justification. “One should always do your duty” mixes “one” and “your”. The correct form is “One should always do one’s duty.”

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