I, you, he, she, it, we, they

A subject pronoun stands for a person or thing that you have already named, or that both people can see. It comes before the verb.

• I – the person who is speaking. It's always a capital letter.
• you – the person or people you're talking to
• he – a man or a boy
• she – a woman or a girl
• it – a thing, an animal or an idea
• we – you and other people together
• they – more than one person or thing

You for one person or many

You has one form for one person and for a group.

It and they for things

Use it for one thing and they for more than one.

They is also for one person when you don't know or don't say if it's a man or a woman.

The subject is always there

A sentence with a verb needs a subject, even when it's clear who you mean. Only instructions like Sit down. have no subject. For weather, time and distance there's no real subject, so you use it.

Common mistakes

• × Is raining. → It's raining.
• × Am from Osaka. → I'm from Osaka.
• × My sister she lives in Leeds. → My sister lives in Leeds. (a name or a pronoun, not both)
• × Him is tall. → He is tall.
• × i like music. → I like music.