In the Circassian language pronouns belong to the following groups:

• personal,
• demonstrative,
• possessive,
• interrogative,
• adherent,
• indefinite.

Personal pronouns are only expressed in first and second person in singular and plural forms:

1. сэ "I", тэ "we"
2. о "you", шъо "you" (plural).

In order to express third person, the special demonstrative pronouns ар "he", мор "that", мыр "this", а́хэр, мыхэ́р "they, that" are used. For Circassian personal pronouns there is no contrast between the nominative and ergative grammatical cases (like it is with Circassian nouns). These two grammatical cases merge into one common case, so personal pronouns have only three different cases:

1. nominative/ergative,
2. instrumental,
3. translative.

Grammatical cases of personal pronouns

In a sentence a personal pronoun usually plays role of subject or object:

• Сэ се́джэ "I read (study)";
• О уе́джэ тхылъым "You are reading the book";
• Тэ тэ́к1о шко́лым "We are going to school";
• Шъо 1оф шъо́ш1э "You (plural) are working";
• Сэрк1э́ мы 1офы́р зэш1охыгъэ́ хъущтэ́п "This problem can not be solved by me alone".

Demonstrative pronouns are мы "this", мо "that", а "that". There is a contradistinction between мы and мо on how far the referred object is. The pronoun а is neutral on this matter.

• Мы унэ́м нахьи́ мо унак1э́у къаш1ырэ́р нахь дах "This house, which is being built, is more beautiful than that one";
• А тхылъэ́у пщэфыгъэ́м сегъэплъыба́ "Show me the book you have bought, please".

Demonstrative pronouns switch four grammatical cases:

• Nominative мыр, мор, ар;
• Ergative мыщ, мощ, ащ;
• Instrumental мыщк1э́, мощк1э́, ащк1э́;
• Translative мырэ́у, морэ́у, арэ́у.

The plural form of demonstrative pronouns is expressed by the -хэ- formant:

• Nominative мыхэ́р,
• Ergative мыхэ́м,
• Instrumental мыхэмк1э́,
• Translative мыхэ́у.

Possessive pronouns express the idea that something belongs to someone. There are several possessive pronouns in the Circassian language:

• сэсы́й "my/mine",
• оу́й "your/yours",
• йый "his",
• тэты́й "our/ours",
• шъошъу́й "your/yours" (plural),
• яй "their/theirs".

These pronouns change their form in different grammatical cases in the same way. Let us show examples of how they are used in a sentence:

• Мы унэ́р сэсы́й "This house is mine";
• Мы чъыгхэ́р тэтые́х "These trees are ours".

The following pronouns are interrogative pronouns of the Circassian language:

• хэт (хэта́)? "who?",
• сыд (сыда́)? "what?",
• тхьапш? "how much (many)?",
• тары́? "which?",
• сыди́гъу? "when?",
• тыдэ́? "where?",
• сыд фэд? "what kind of?".

The interrogative pronoun хэт? "who?" is used to address the nouns that belong to the class of human being, and the pronoun сыд? "what?" is for the nouns that belong to the class of thing. For example:

• Хэт зы1уагъэ́р? "Who has said (that)?",
• Хэт унэ́м къихьагъэ́р? "Who has entered the house?",
• Сыд плъэгъугъа́? -Хьэ слъэгъугъэ́. "What have you seen? - I've seen a dog".
• Сыд къэпщагъэ́р? - "What have you brought?", Пхъэ къэсща́гъэр - "I have brought firewood".

Circassian adherent pronouns:

• ежь "self",
• зэк1э́ "whole",
• шъхьадж "every",
• ышъхьэк1э́ "self personally",
• хэти́, хэтрэ́ "everyone", "each",
• сыди́, сыдрэ́ "everything", "each" and some others.

Examples:

• Хэти́ зышъхьамысыжьэ́у 1оф ыш1э́н фа́е "Everyone must work hard";
• Сыдрэ́ 1офри́ дэ́гъу, у́гу къыбде1э́у бгъэцак1эмэ́ "Each job is good if it is made with soul".

There is only one pronoun in the Circassian language which belongs to the group of indefinite pronouns. This pronoun is зыгорэ́. It has several close meanings: "someone", "one", "something", "somebody" and so on. The indefinite pronoun has the same forms in different grammatical cases like nouns have:

Here are examples of how these forms are used in a sentence:

• Зыгорэ́ пчъэм къытеуа́гъ "Someone has knocked the door";
• А тхылъ гъэш1эгъоны́м зыгорэ́ къытегущы1эгъа́гъ "Somebody has spoken about this interesting book".