Pronouns explained for parents (Australia)

You're reading a chapter book with your Year 3 child. Two characters, a boy called Tom and his grandfather, are fixing a leaky boat. Halfway down the page you ask, "Who fell in the water?" Your child guesses Tom. It was actually the grandfather. The text said he, and your child lost track of who he was.

That small moment is all about pronouns. These little words, such as he, she, it, they and we, appear in almost every sentence children read. They save writers from repeating names over and over, but they also ask readers to keep track of who and what is being talked about. When a child can't follow a pronoun, a story can quickly stop making sense.

This guide explains what pronouns are, the main types children meet in primary school, why following them matters so much for reading comprehension, the common mistakes in speaking and writing, what the Australian Curriculum expects, and simple games you can play at home.

What is a pronoun?

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or a noun group. Instead of saying "Ava picked up Ava's bag and put Ava's bag on Ava's back", we say "Ava picked up her bag and put it on her back."

The word or phrase a pronoun replaces is sometimes called its referent or antecedent. Most children don't need those labels. A simpler way to put it at home: a pronoun "points back" to someone or something already mentioned.

• The puppy chased its tail until it fell over. (it points to the puppy)
• Grace and Leo built a cubby. They used old sheets. (they points to Grace and Leo)
• Dad found the remote. It was under the couch. (it points to the remote)

If your child is still getting comfortable with naming words, start with the guide to nouns, verbs and adjectives, then come back here.

The pronouns children meet in primary school

There are quite a few kinds of pronouns, but these are the ones that matter most from Prep to Year 6.

Personal pronouns

These stand in for people and things. Their form changes depending on whether the person is doing the action or having something done to them.

Compare She waved at him with He waved at her. The same two people swap roles, and the pronouns change to show it.

They can also refer to one person, for example when we don't know someone's gender or when a person uses they for themselves. You'll see it used this way in many modern children's books.

Possessive pronouns

These show belonging and stand on their own: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.

• That scooter is mine.
• Is this hat yours or hers?

Close relatives such as my, your, her, our and their sit in front of a noun (my scooter, their house). Grammar books may call these possessive determiners or possessive adjectives, but at primary level many teachers simply group them with pronouns. The guide to possessives explains apostrophes of ownership, which possessive pronouns never use.

Pointing pronouns

This, that, these and those can point to something without naming it again.

• I made a sandcastle. This took me all morning.
• Those are the best chips I've ever had.

In longer texts, words like this often point back to a whole idea rather than one thing: The river flooded the town. This forced families to leave. Following that kind of link is a big step in upper primary reading.

Words ending in -self and -selves

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves point back to someone already named in the same sentence: Max taught himself to whistle. Children sometimes say "hisself" or "theirselves". Gently model the standard form without fuss.

Question pronouns

Who, whom, whose, which and what start questions: Who left the gate open? In Years 5 and 6 some of these also link clauses, as in the girl who won the race. The guide to simple, compound and complex sentences covers those clauses.

Why pronouns matter so much for reading

It's easy to think of pronouns as a grammar topic for writing lessons. In fact they're one of the quiet keys to reading comprehension.

Keeping track of characters

Stories often have two or more characters of the same type, such as two boys, two girls or two animals. Every he or she has to be matched to the right one. If a child mixes them up, they'll misunderstand who did what, and the plot falls apart. When this happens, the habits in clarifying while reading help children stop and sort it out.

Linking ideas across sentences

Writers use pronouns to stitch sentences together. In information texts this is especially common: Koalas sleep for most of the day. They need the rest because their diet of gum leaves gives them little energy. A reader has to carry koalas forward through they, their and them. Teachers call this kind of connection cohesion.

Reading between the lines

Sometimes the writer never names the person a pronoun refers to straight away. A mystery might say, Someone had been in the shed. They had left muddy footprints. Working out who they might be is a form of inference.

Knowing whose eyes we're looking through

Pronouns tell readers who's telling a story. I and we usually signal a first-person narrator; he, she and they usually signal third person. That's the core of point of view.

Following conversation

In dialogue, I and you change meaning depending on who's speaking. A child who loses track of speakers may think I always means the same character. The guide to dialogue has tips for following who's talking.

Helping your child follow pronouns while reading

Ask "who's she?" Every so often, stop and point to a pronoun. Ask who or what it means. Keep it light, like a quick quiz rather than a test.

Trace back with a finger. If your child isn't sure, have them run a finger back through the previous sentences to find the most likely person or thing.

Draw arrows. On a photocopied page or a whiteboard sentence, draw an arrow from each pronoun to the word it points to. Children enjoy seeing the links visually.

Try the swap test. Replace the pronoun with the name and read the sentence again. If it still makes sense, the match is right. Grandpa slipped and he fell in becomes Grandpa slipped and Grandpa fell in. Yes, that fits.

Talk about tricky cases. Point out sentences where a pronoun could refer to more than one person: Jess told Mia that she had won. Who won? Discussing it shows children that writers sometimes need to be clearer, which helps their own writing too.

Summarise in names. After a page, ask your child to retell it using names instead of pronouns. If they can, they've tracked the links. That links nicely to summarising.

Pronouns in children's writing

Writing brings its own pronoun challenges.

Too many pronouns. Young writers sometimes use he or it so often that readers lose track. He went to see him and he gave him the ball. Encourage your child to reread and swap in a name when it's unclear who's who.

Too few pronouns. The opposite also happens: Bella went to the shops. Bella bought milk. Bella walked home. Show how a pronoun or two makes writing flow better.

Mixing up "me" and "I". Children often say "Me and Sam went to the park." A quick test is to remove the other person: you wouldn't say "Me went to the park", so it's "Sam and I went." The same test fixes the opposite slip: "Mum drove Sam and I" becomes "Mum drove Sam and me", because you'd say "Mum drove me."

Switching person midway. A story that begins with I may drift into he without the writer noticing. Reading it aloud usually catches this. Tense can drift in the same way (walked sliding into walks); see verb tenses explained for parents.

Confusing sound-alike words. Its and it's, their, there and they're, and your and you're catch out lots of kids. The possessive pronoun or determiner has no apostrophe. The guide to contractions covers the apostrophe versions, and homophones covers the sound-alike spelling.

Where pronouns sit in the curriculum

Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum: English places pronouns within its Language strand. The Year 1 content names them directly: students learn that some words stand for people, places and things, and that this group includes pronouns as well as nouns. As students move through the primary years, they learn more about how words work together in sentences.

In Year 4, students learn how text connectives and word associations are used to sequence and connect ideas. The curriculum's examples for this include recognising how authors build texts that hang together by using pronouns that link to something previously mentioned, along with words such as this, that, these and those. Upper primary reading then asks students to follow these links through longer, more complex texts.

The Victorian Curriculum 2.0 is broadly the same here, and every school chooses its own teaching sequence inside each year level.

Pronoun skills from Prep to Year 6

Prep: using I, me, you, he and she in everyday talk; understanding who he or she refers to in simple picture books read aloud. See Prep reading.

Year 1: recognising pronouns as words that stand for people and things; using I with a capital letter. See Year 1 reading.

Year 2: tracking pronouns across two or three sentences; using they and them correctly in writing. See Year 2 reading.

Year 3: following pronouns in chapter books with several characters; fixing "me and him" in speech and writing. See Year 3 reading.

Year 4: understanding pronouns and pointing words as linking devices; choosing between a name and a pronoun for clarity. See Year 4 reading.

Year 5: following this and that when they point to whole ideas; noticing how pronoun choice shapes point of view. See Year 5 reading.

Year 6: tracking pronouns through complex sentences and relative clauses with who and which. See Year 6 reading.

Games to play at home

1. Pronoun detectives. Choose a page in a book you're reading together. Your child hunts for every pronoun and says who or what each one means.
2. Silly sentences. Say a sentence with no pronouns: "Nan made Nan's lunch and ate Nan's lunch on Nan's deck." Your child fixes it with pronouns, usually between giggles.
3. Guess who. Describe someone in the family using only pronouns: "She has curly hair. Her favourite food is sushi." Your child guesses who it is.
4. Arrow artist. Write three linked sentences on a whiteboard. Your child draws arrows from each pronoun to its noun.
5. Swap and check. Read a sentence and swap each pronoun for a name. Does the meaning hold? If not, which person did the writer actually mean?
6. Fix the muddle. Write a short, confusing sentence such as "Ben gave Sam his hat and he said thanks." Ask your child to rewrite it so it's crystal clear.

Short and playful works best. If reading practice is causing stress, try ideas from homework without tears.

Mix-ups worth expecting

Matching the pronoun to the nearest name. Children often assume he means the last boy mentioned. Encourage them to check the meaning, not just the position.

Skipping pronouns when reading aloud. Small words are easy to skip or swap, which can change meaning. Reading a sentence twice, the second time slowly, helps.

"Hisself" and "theirselves". Common in speech and not a concern in young children. Model himself and themselves naturally.

Using "it" for people. Some young children call a baby or pet "it". It's a good chance to talk about how we choose pronouns for people.

Losing track after a long gap. If a character was named a page ago, a later she can be hard to follow. Encourage your child to look back.

When to look more closely

Most children get better at tracking pronouns through plenty of reading and conversation. From Year 3 on, if yours often misunderstands who did what in stories, can't retell a simple passage accurately, or seems confused by everyday spoken language, mention it to the classroom teacher.

Broader concerns are covered in is my child behind in reading? as well as the guide on when to worry about reading. Nothing written online can assess your own child, so if comprehension or language problems continue, speak with the teacher, a speech pathologist or a similar qualified professional.

FAQ

What is a pronoun for kids?

A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun so we don't have to keep repeating it. Words like he, she, it, we and they are pronouns. In "Liam found his shoe, and he put it on", he means Liam and it means the shoe.

Is it "me and Sam" or "Sam and I"?

It depends on the sentence. Remove the other person and see what sounds right. "I went to the park" becomes "Sam and I went to the park". "Mum called me" becomes "Mum called Sam and me".

Why does my child get confused about who's who in stories?

Often they're losing track of pronouns, especially when two characters are both he or both she. Stopping to ask "Who's he here?" builds the habit of checking.

What year do Australian kids learn about pronouns?

Under version 9 of the Australian Curriculum, pronouns are named in Year 1 alongside nouns. In Year 4, students look at how pronouns link back to earlier ideas to help a text hold together.

Try this tonight

During your next bedtime story, pause twice on a he, she, it or they and ask your child who it means. If they're right, great. If not, trace back together. Two quick questions a night is enough to turn pronoun tracking into a habit.

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