The pronoun is one of the independent parts of speech. In the school curriculum, more than one lesson is assigned for its study. In this article, we will learn how to parse a pronoun as part of speech. But before that, let's talk a little about the pronoun itself and define its main grammatical features, since without this knowledge it will not be possible to make a full analysis.
We will also try to compose an algorithm for parsing this part of speech and give an example to better understand the essence of the issue and consolidate the knowledge you have gained. In addition, we will raise the issue of the syntactic role of pronouns in a sentence, and also pay a little attention to such an important issue as the spelling of pronouns.
General information
The pronoun is an independent part of the speech that answers the questions “who?”, “What?”, “What?”, “Whose?”, “How much?”, “How?”, “When?”, “Where?” Moreover, this part of speech indicates objects, their signs or quantity, but does not name them. Pronouns possess such characteristics as rank, person, number, gender, case.

In Russian, the role of pronouns is quite important. Words that relate to this part of speech? are one of the most used. With their help, you can avoid repetition, successfully replacing words in the text with pronouns, give expressive coloring (for example, replacing “I” with “we” in scientific texts, sarcasm when referring to well-known people with “you”, etc. ) And this is not a complete list of the stylistic possibilities of this part of speech. It is worth noting that the school curriculum also focuses on the use of personal pronouns. Especially for this, exercises have been developed in which the child learns the rules for contacting his friends and adults. For example, writing letters for a friend and teacher and comparing them, composing dialogues with the pronouns “you” and “you”.
Etymology
Before we talk about how to parse a pronoun as part of a speech, let's say a few words about its origin. Pronouns were already known in the Pre-Slavic language and were used quite widely. In fact, this part of the speech was formed even before the allocation of Russian from the Proto-Slavic language. If you familiarize yourself with historical grammar, it becomes clear that all pronouns have long roots, that is, they are formed quite a long time ago, and at this stage we should not wait for the replenishment of this part of the speech with new vocabulary. Words-pronouns practically did not change their style and sound over the centuries.
Discharge
If you want to learn how to make out a pronoun, then first of all you should familiarize yourself with its characteristics and categories. In Russian, there are 9 categories of pronouns. Each has its own meaning.
- Personal pronouns point directly to people and objects.
- They also distinguish the reflexive pronoun "self", which is used to convey the orientation of the action on the subject, who performs the same action.
- Possessive pronouns indicate that an item belongs to a specific person or even an item.
- Using indicative pronouns, you can indicate the quantity or attribute.
- Definitive pronouns indicate a sign of a person or subject.
- Interrogative pronouns are the same interrogative words. They indicate not only individuals, but also objects or their signs, quantity.
- Relative ones include the same pronouns as interrogative ones, but their function is to combine parts of complex sentences.
- Negative pronouns indicate the absence of a sign or subject.
- Indefinite pronouns indicate unidentified objects or their attributes.
If you want to analyze the pronoun as part of speech, before that pay attention to the table with the ranks. Better to learn it from memory.
Person, number and gender
Personal pronouns distinguish such a sign as a person. There are three persons in total: the first, second and third. The first is the pronoun "I". To the second - “you”, to the third - “he”, “she”, “they”. Pronouns are divided into persons not only in the singular, but also in the plural.
So, we have sorted out what kind of pronoun happens and what are its permanent attributes. Now let's talk about inconsistent symptoms. This includes the number of pronouns. Most of them can be both singular and plural. Some also have a genus.
Case
It is worth noting that all pronouns, as well as nouns, adjectives and numerals, can vary in cases. The declension of pronouns occurs in the same way as nouns. In the event that they replace another part of speech, pronouns can be inclined using questions of this part of speech. It is worth noting that the reflexive pronoun has no form in the nominative case. Such words as “nobody” and “nothing” also have no nominative case. Note that the pronouns “such” and “what”, as well as “someone” and “something” are not at all inclined.
Spelling of pronouns
Before deciphering the pronoun as part of speech, let’s talk about spelling. There are several basic rules that you should know. They are not as complex as they might seem at first glance, but their use will significantly increase your literacy.
- First of all, if the indirect letter n- is present in indirect cases of third-person pronouns, the preposition is used before the pronoun. For example: with her, with them.
- Indefinite pronouns are used with the non- prefix. For example: someone, something.
- Particles, something, something, are always written with a hyphen. For example: anyone, anything.
- In the event that a preposition is between a particle and a pronoun, this phrase is written separately in three words. For example: some.
- As for negative pronouns, they can have either a non-prefix or a non-stressed one. For example: nobody, nothing.
As you can see, there are not many of these rules and they are easy to remember. If you doubt the correct spelling of a pronoun, you can always check using special spelling guides or spelling dictionaries.
Syntactic role
The last thing to know before considering how to parse a pronoun as part of speech is its syntactic role in the sentence. Like a noun, a pronoun can play almost any syntactic role. Most often it serves as a subject, answering the nominative case. Note that the pronoun "self" cannot be subject.
Also, the pronoun can be the second main member of the sentence - the predicate. In this case, it answers the questions "what?" or "what?", "what is it?" or "who is that?" This part of the speech also answers questions of complementation, definition, and even circumstances.
As you can see, a pronoun can act as any member of a sentence, and also replace any nominal independent part of speech.
Parse Procedure
So, we found out all the signs of the pronouns, and now we can talk directly about how to parse the pronoun as part of speech. We suggest using the following parsing algorithm:
1. We write the pronoun.
2. We select the question to which it answers.
3. Determine the discharge.
4. We write the initial form of this pronoun.
5. We determine the face.
6. Determine the Number.
7. If possible, determine the genus.
8. Determine the case.
9. Find out the syntactic role of the word in the sentence.
That's the whole algorithm. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in analyzing a pronoun.
Good example
For clarity, we will analyze the pronoun as part of the speech from the sentence: "I woke up quite late."
1. "I" is a pronoun.
2. The question that answers: "who?"
3. The category is personal.
4. The initial form is "I".
5. The face is the first.
6. The number is the only one.
7. Genus - cannot be determined
8. Case - nominative.
9. The syntactic role is the subject.
Now we have examined not only the spelling of the pronouns, but also the order of their analysis, the main features.
Finally
A pronoun is one of the most significant parts of speech in the Russian language, which answers questions of nouns, numerals, adjectives and indicates a subject or its sign, but does not name it at the same time. Pronouns are divided into categories by value, have such grammatical characteristics as person, gender, number, case, and can vary by case. The sentence can fulfill any syntactic role. We also learned how to parse a pronoun as part of speech, established a parsing order, and even made an analysis of the pronoun “I”. We hope this article was useful to you.