The key difference between noun and pronoun is that noun is a term used to specify a person, animal, or object, rather than pronouns, such as he, she, yourself, mine, who, this, and someone, frequently replace or represent nouns or noun phrases in sentences.
What is Noun?
Nouns are words used to identify persons, places, things, or concepts in a sentence. They serve various grammatical roles, including subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, object complement, appositive, or modifier.
Here are a few examples of nouns:
- Feline
- Two-wheeler
- The famous singer Taylor Swift
- The vibrant city of Kuala Lumpur
What is Pronoun?
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns serve to refer to a previously mentioned noun or to represent a noun that doesn’t require specific identification.
Personal pronouns are the most common type and are categorized into three perspectives:
First-person
Referring to the speaker or writer.
Second person
Referring to the person or people being addressed.
Third person
Referring to other individuals or objects.
Like nouns, personal pronouns can take on the role of a verb’s subject or the object of a verb or preposition, as seen in the sentence: “She likes him, but he loves her.”
Noun vs Pronoun
The basic differences between nouns and pronouns are given below:
| Category | Noun | Pronoun |
| Definition | A word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea. | A word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence. |
| Examples | Dog, cat, book, city, love | He, she, it, they, we, you |
| Specificity | Often specific and can refer to a particular entity. | Generally less specific, relying on context to clarify. |
| Usage | Typically used as the subject or object of a sentence. | Used to avoid repetitive use of nouns and to make sentences less cumbersome. |
| Function | Names or identifies something. | Replaces or refers to a previously mentioned noun. |
| Agreement | Nouns must agree with verbs and adjectives in terms of number and gender. | Pronouns must also agree with the nouns they replace. |