Subject pronouns replace the subject of a sentence: the person or thing doing the action. They help you avoid repeating names or nouns and are required in most English sentences with a main verb. You choose a subject pronoun based on person, number, and sometimes gender. Subject pronouns usually appear before the verb in statements and questions.

A subject pronoun answers “Who does the action?” or “What is it about?” In “She runs,” the pronoun is the subject that performs the action “runs.” Subject pronouns are different from object pronouns, which receive the action, as in “I see her.”

English has seven main subject pronouns. Choose the one that matches the subject you mean: speaker, listener, or someone else; singular or plural. “It” is used for things, animals when gender is unknown or not important, and many situations like time and weather.

Word/Phrase	Definition	Example
I	The speaker, singular	I agree.
you	The listener, singular or plural	You are ready.
he	Male person, singular	He works here.
she	Female person, singular	She called.
it	Thing, animal, or situation, singular	It is cold.
we	Speaker plus others, plural	We won.
they	Other people or things, plural	They left.

Subject pronouns encode person and number. First person refers to the speaker: “I” and “we.” Second person refers to the listener: “you” for both singular and plural. Third person refers to others: “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they,” with “they” as the plural form.

Use “he” and “she” for people when gender is known and relevant. Use “it” for most objects and for many animals, especially when the animal is not being treated as a person. Use “they” when referring to multiple people or things, and also when you want a gender-neutral singular pronoun for a person.

“They” can be singular when the person’s gender is unknown, not specified, or when someone prefers “they” as their pronoun. In this use, “they” still takes plural verb forms in standard English, such as “they are” and “they have.” This is common in modern spoken and written English and is widely accepted.

Subject pronouns typically come before the main verb: “She lives here.” With auxiliary verbs, the subject pronoun comes before the auxiliary: “They are working.” In questions, the subject pronoun usually comes after the auxiliary or modal: “Are you coming?” but it still remains the subject.

English often uses “it” as a grammatical subject when there is no real subject to name. This happens with weather, time, distance, and some general statements: “It is raining,” “It is late,” “It is far,” “It is important to practice.” This “it” does not refer to a specific thing.

Subject pronouns control subject-verb agreement in the present tense. Most verbs add -s with third-person singular subjects: “he runs,” “she runs,” “it runs,” but not with “I,” “you,” “we,” or “they.” The verb “be” has special forms that must match the subject pronoun.

The verb “be” changes more than most verbs and must agree with the subject pronoun. In the present tense, “I” uses “am,” third-person singular uses “is,” and plural subjects typically use “are.” In the past tense, “I,” “he,” “she,” and “it” use “was,” while “you,” “we,” and “they” commonly use “were.”

Subject	Form	Example
I	am	I am ready.
you	are	You are early.
he	is	He is here.
she	is	She is busy.
it	is	It is quiet.
we	are	We are friends.
they	are	They are tired.

Subject pronouns identify who or what performs the action and usually appear before the verb. Choose them by person and number, and use “they” for plural groups or as a singular gender-neutral option. Remember special uses like dummy “it” and the agreement patterns, especially with the verb “be.”