personal pronoun

noun

: a pronoun (such as I, you, or they) that expresses a distinction of person

Examples of personal pronoun in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Musk himself often jokes about the use of personal pronouns on his Twitter account—a dig against the trans community. Scott Nover, Quartz, 21 June 2023 In Arizona in particular, legislators have targeted everything from personal pronouns and who uses what restroom, to public drag shows and the banning of books. Fernando Cervantes Jr., The Arizona Republic, 6 June 2023 While many transgender people use ‘he/him’ and ‘she/her’ pronouns, others — including nonbinary, agender or gender-fluid people — use ‘they/them’ as a gender-neutral singular personal pronoun. Dawn Ennis, Forbes, 24 July 2022 The company has also created personal pronoun pins that employees can choose to wear with their uniforms. Zoe Sottile, CNN, 2 Apr. 2022 Do any of your teachers ever ask students for their personal pronouns? Jeremy Engle, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2020 For example, people exhibiting symptoms of depression tend to use personal pronouns, like I, much more than do non-depressed people. Cassie Werber, Quartz at Work, 3 Mar. 2020 The language mavens at Merriam-Webster have declared the personal pronoun their word of the year based on a 313% increase in look-ups on the company's search site, Merriam-Webster.com, this year when compared with 2018. CBS News, 10 Dec. 2019 Use numbers and personal pronouns to engage your reader Email marketing is engagement marketing. Maria Semple, NBC News, 18 Oct. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'personal pronoun.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of personal pronoun was in 1668

Dictionary Entries Near personal pronoun

Cite this Entry

“Personal pronoun.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personal%20pronoun. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

personal pronoun

noun
: a pronoun (as I, you, or they) used as a substitute for a noun that names a definite person or thing
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!