Pronouns in Australian English
The pronoun case
A plain guide to the small words that stand in for others: I and me, who and whom, its and it’s, and the singular they. Six drawers, each sorted from the Australian Government Style Manual, the dictionaries and named historical sources.
A guide to usage, written to Australian conventions. It is not a government publication.
The case
Six drawers, one question each. Every rule in them comes from a named source, linked where it is used.
- Drawer 1What is a pronoun?The six kinds, set out in one table.
- Drawer 2I or me?Subject and object, with corrected proofs.
- Drawer 3Who or whom?When each is used, and what usage guides say now.
- Drawer 4Singular theyIn written English since 1375, and the Style Manual’s advice.
- Drawer 5Its or it’sThe apostrophe rule for possessive pronouns.
- Drawer 6Pronouns and inclusive languageThe Style Manual’s guidance on people’s pronouns.
The proof
Six lines pulled from the drawers, for checking at a glance.
Use I for the subject and me for the object: “My colleague and I travelled”, “sent their director and me an email”.I or me, in full
Whom is the object form of who, and belongs mostly to formal styles and writing.Who or whom, in full
If you can expand it to it is or it has, write it’s; otherwise its.Its or it’s, in full
No possessive pronoun takes an apostrophe: hers, ours, theirs.The kinds of pronoun
Singular they takes a plural verb, and the Oxford English Dictionary traces it to 1375.Singular they, in full
Learn the person’s pronoun; if it isn’t clear and you can’t ask, choose gender-neutral pronouns.Pronouns and inclusive language
About this guide
pronoun.com.au is a concept website: a plain-language guide to pronouns, written to Australian usage. It is not published by the Australian Government or by any dictionary.
The main reference is the Australian Government Style Manual, which describes itself as the standard for Australian Government writing and editing, alongside the Cambridge and Oxford learner’s grammars for current usage, and named historical sources for the history. Grammar examples marked as the Style Manual’s or a dictionary’s are theirs; the others are made up to illustrate a rule.
Usage changes, and so do the sources. Where this guide and a source differ, the source is right.