Pronouns… everybody has them and everybody uses them. It is important you wrap your head around the two major types of pronouns used in ASL to ensure clarity and avoid confusion.

Pronouns are referent words, meaning they are words used in place of a noun. In English, there are five types of pronouns:

• Subject Pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

• Object Pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, them

• Possessive Adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their

• Possessive Pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

• Reflexive Pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves

In American Sign Language, subject and object pronouns are produced the same way and possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns are produced the same way. Therefore, ASL has three types of pronouns:

• Personal Pronouns: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them

• Possessive Pronouns: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs

• Reflexive Pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves

Now, ASL is a gender-neutral pronoun language. This means when you produce a pronoun, the gender of a person does not change the sign. For example, the sentences: “He has a bike” and “She has a bike” will be produced the exact same way; both he and she will be produced with the 1 handshape.