What are personal pronouns? It is the question you should ask yourself before you conclude whether you can use personal pronouns in an argumentative essay or not. Next, you need to understand how to use personal pronouns in your writing and the reasons to avoid personal pronouns. These are critical elements you need to understand as you embark on the journey of using personal pronouns.

An argumentative essay is part of academic writing, and you should be aware of personal pronouns in academic writing and then narrow down to personal pronouns in an argumentative essay. This information is essential to a writer who wants to produce quality argumentative essays and also make proper use of the pronouns.

How to use personal pronouns is understood when you have knowledge about personal pronouns and can differentiate them from other pronouns. Personal pronouns are widely used in communication; however, many people are not aware that they use them.

What are Personal Pronouns?

A personal pronoun is commonly used by the speaker to take ownership of what they are describing. The personal pronoun is a pronoun primarily used to take the place of a place, thing, or person.

Personal pronouns are sometimes called subclass nouns because they are used to replace a noun in a sentence, especially when it refers to people.

The commonly used pronouns are I, you, he, she, we, they, her, him, us and them.

These pronouns are important to avoid repetition of the same word in a sentence, and they are used to refer to someone who stars in our sentences. A personal pronoun can be subjective or objective depending on how you decide to use it, and it makes the sentence more fluid.

Like any other pronoun, it only replaces a pronoun in a speech and not any other parts of the speech, such as adjectives and verbs. The user of the personal pronoun primarily uses it to cut the monotony of mentioning the specific name of a person, animal or object.

From the grammatical view, personal pronouns act as nouns; sometimes, they can act as subjects or objects in a clause, a sentence, or a phrase.

Personal pronouns are not only used to refer to people; they are also used to refer to animals.

What are the Types of Personal Pronouns, and How Do you Use them?

The personal pronouns are divided depending on how they are used. They can be used to refer to a single person, object, or animal or to refer to many things or people.

Singular personal pronouns

The singular personal pronoun is used in reference to one thing or person. These are the commonly used personal pronouns.

They include the following.

First-person: I and Me

Second person: You

Third person: He, She, him, her and it.

They are commonly used in narratives and direct speech.

Plural personal pronouns

It used to refer to many things or people, anything more than one. This personal pronoun is used to show a collection of things and people.

The commonly used plural pronouns are as follows

First-person: We and Us

Second person: You

Third person: They and Them.

However, “they and them” can be used in singular personal pronouns when writing or speaking for neutral reference of people. This is commonly used when a person does not want to specify gender.

An example in a sentence is

The therapist helps anyone who comes to them for support.

People are free to make choices as they wish.

How Can you Use Personal Pronouns?

Before using personal pronouns, you need to have a deeper knowledge of what personal pronouns are to avoid making grammatical errors when you use them.

In most cases, people have assumed personal pronouns to be very simple and, therefore, can be easily used; however, this is not true. Proper usage of personal pronouns needs attention and awareness.

While using the personal pronoun, consider clarity. To avoid confusion, do not repeat the same noun several times in your writing.

Look at the voice; using the personal pronoun “You” makes the narrative live and creates a good conversational tone, thus attracting the readers to engage with your argument.

Emphasis is important when using personal pronouns. Some personal pronouns can effectively deliver the message with a particular point that the readers can focus on. Personal pronouns such as “this and that.”

Personal pronouns have their grammatical uses, and understanding their roles is critical to ensuring you use them properly. The personal pronouns are divided into sections as follows.

1. Subject pronoun: This is a personal pronoun that replaces the subject in a given sentence. An example can be: I ate the food.
2. Object pronoun: The pronoun replaces the object in a given sentence. An example is “The doctor helped me.”
3. Possessive pronoun: It shows ownership in a sentence. An example is “This is my school.”

Using personal pronouns in writing, whether academic or not, should be done with full knowledge of personal pronouns to avoid confusion and make the writing flow.

Can Personal Pronouns be Used in Academic Writing?

The answer is yes. However, it depends on several factors, such as the academic writing instructions. The instructor’s directives determine where and how personal pronoun is used. Academic writing uses a formal tone, and most formal writing tends to avoid personal pronouns with the aim of sticking to the objective of the writing. They avoid the use of personal pronouns because it can make the writing appeal to impartiality.

The usage of personal pronouns can vary depending on the discipline and the instruction of the academic task assigned. Some academic tasks, like reflection assignments, are likely to use personal pronouns to show ownership of the experience and the lesson learned.

It is quite unfortunate that the use of personal pronouns in academic writing holds a delicate stance, and it is still a debatable issue to date. Most scholars claim that first-person writing should be avoided in academic writing to avoid making it appear informal and make irrelevant errors.

Academic writing is meant to show the seriousness of the students in academics, and therefore, personal pronouns are not recommended unless the instructions require them.

When writing research projects, students should avoid using personal pronouns such as “I, my, our, and we,” and the same case should be applicable to the literature reviews and lab reports.

The probability of using personal pronouns in academic writing is minimal, and the learners must be aware of when and where to use personal pronouns.

Can We Use Personal Pronouns in an Argumentative Essay?

An argumentative essay is part of academic writing, and the instructor provides instructions for the assigned essay. The writer must follow all the instructions of the essay, and in most cases, the instructor restricts the use of personal pronouns in the work.

Formal styles must be observed in academic writing, and in some cases, when the personal pronoun is used without the instructor’s consent, then it makes the writing look off limits, and the writer is assumed to be underqualified to write academic writing.

Argumentative essays can use personal pronouns under given conditions. The use of personal pronouns in an argumentative essay can make the writer sound biased and take sides, and it also makes them appear to be subjective information. A good writer should be neutral, and this is achieved by having a formal tone in academic writing that avoids personal pronouns.

Using personal pronouns in argumentative essays remains a delicate stance. The argumentative essay is intended to present a well-structured and reasoned argument from the writer. The argued idea is supported with reliable evidence. Using personal pronouns in an essay can make the entire written content controversial.

An argument is valid when it is backed up by other scholars, which makes it more formal. This content is not written in personal pronouns because it is formal writing with evidence from other authors.

Note that if you choose to use personal pronouns in the argumentative essay, if the instruction recommends it, then it is important to balance the writing so that it does not diverge from the objective and some more subjective aspects of the content. Sustain the formality of the essay by minimizing the usage of personal pronouns to make the facts and evidence presented in the argument more logical.

What are the Reasons to Use Personal Pronouns?

Personal pronouns can be recommended in various writing situations because of their importance.

• Engagement

The proper use of the personal pronoun in a sentence makes the entire writing more engaging and interactive. It makes the writing relatable and connects the reader with the content. The proper usage of “You” makes the argument livelier and more interactive with the readers.

• Clarity and credibility

Using some personal pronouns to clarify your ideas and perspective and distinguish them from other people’s ideas makes the point clear so that readers can understand your stand. Using words like “we believe” can confidently support creating authority in your words or topic.

• Persuasion and ownership

The writing using words like “us” or “we” in a well-structured sentence develops a sense of unity and solidarity in the reader’s mind. Using words like “our investigation suggests” shows a sense of ownership and states that the research is based on your findings.

Why Should We Avoid Using Personal Pronouns?

Personal pronouns can be avoided based on various factors, and reasons to avoid personal pronouns should be clear, such as for

• Formality

Most academic institutions emphasize the usage of a formal tone in writing. This implies they do not recommend personal pronouns because they sound more biased. Most publications use a formal tone to sound neutral to their readers. Personal pronouns such as “you” can make the writing casual. When such personal pronouns are used in the argumentative essay, it makes it informal and lacks seriousness.

• Objectivity

Academic writing has an objective, and personal pronouns should be avoided to maintain an objective tone throughout the paper. Objective writing is mainly interested in presenting the facts and evidence to the readers. They do not provide a personal opinion, which requires personal pronouns. Using personal pronouns in academic writing can sound subjective, contrary to the intended logical points.

• Focus and consistency

Academic writing content gains quality with a constituency and good flowing facts and evidence that avoids personal pronouns. Meeting the academic standards of writing requires striving to focus on the formal tone to keep your essay delivering the primary message.

What are the Differences Between Personal Pronouns and Indefinite Pronouns?

The personal pronoun represents or replaces an object, animal, or person in a sentence. It acts as a substitute for the noun. Every personal pronoun used has a set that shows the contrast of gender, person, animal, and numbers.

The indefinite pronoun is mainly used instead of the noun without specifying a specific person or the thing it represents in the sentence. This pronoun can identify people, things, and animals in one sentence. Some indefinite pronouns used are each, other, either, and another.