Pronouns IV

PRONOUNS

DEFINITION • a pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun or noun

phrase

TYPES OF PRONOUNS • Personal pronoun • Relative pronouns • Demonstrative pronouns • Reflexive pronouns • Indefinite pronouns • Reciprocal pronouns • Intensive pronouns

Personal Pronouns • Devided into three parts

a. Subject pronouns • We use subject pronouns as a subject of the verb • Ex : I always bring a dictionary in English class.

She gave some books for the children.

Person

number

subject

First

Singular

I

Plural

We

second

singular 

you plural third

singular

She, he, it

plural

they

b. Object pronouns • We use object pronouns as an object of the sentence • Ex : the cat is cute. I like it very much.

John asked me where Rina lives.

Person

number

Object

First

Singular

Me

Plural

us

singular

you

second

plural third

singular

her, him, it

plural

them

c. Possessive Pronouns • When the possessive is used in place of the possessive

word and the noun it modifies, the noun is omitted • Stand alone • Not followed by a noun • Example : that book is mine

Hers are in the box

Person

number

possession

First

Singular

mine

Plural

ours

singular

yours

second

plural third

singular

hers, his, its

plural

theirs

Possesive

modifies a noun (possesive adjective

• Followed by a noun • Cannot stand alone • Example : my book is on the table

her books are in the box

Person

number

Possessive adjective

First

Singular

my

Plural second

our  

singular  your  plural

third

singular

plural

her, his, its

their  

Relative pronouns • Relative pronouns are used to combine two sentences that

contain identical nouns or pronouns. • The sentence in which the noun is replaced by a relative pronoun becomes a subordinating clause. • The English relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, that • Examples : 1. He met the mayor, who was elected in a landslide. 2. She approached the officer, whom her brother knew from college. 3. I opened the ledger, which had two large ink stains on it. 4. Tim liked the girl, whose eyes were following him wherever he went. 5. Here’s the jacket that was made in France.

Demonstrative pronouns • The singular demonstrative pronouns are this and that. This

• • • • • •

refers to someone or something nearby or part of the present topic of conversation. That points to someone or something in the distance or referred to in the past. Their plural forms are these and those and refer, respectively, to something nearby or in the distance. These pronouns also function as adjectives. located nearby this /thes e located in the distance that/thos e This fellow is in a lot of trouble. He is nearby. We’re talking about him now. That fellow was rather arrogant. He is in the distance. We talked about him earlier. These people are friends of mine. They are nearby. We’re talking about them now. Those people work for Mr. Paine. They are in the distance. We talked about them earlier.

Reflexive pronouns • Reflexive pronouns are used only as objects and never as

subjects of a sentence. They can be direct objects, indirect objects, or the objects of prepositions. • Examples:

1. He cut himself shaving. direct object  2. He bought himself some new ties. indirect object  3. He was talking to himself . object of preposition

• When the subject and object are diff erent persons or

things, the object is a personal pronoun. For example: The man asked her what happened. • When the subject and object are the same person or thing

that a reflexive pronoun is used. The man asked himself what happened.

Indefinite pronouns • The indefinite pronouns have a unique function. They act

in a sentence like other pronouns —that is, they are substitutions for nouns; however, the indefinite pronouns are not a replacement for aspecific noun. Instead, they refer to anyone, everyone, or no one in particular . Here are some of the most commonly used indefinite pronouns that are always singular: • anyone/anybody

neither 

• each

no one/nobody

• either

one

• everyone/everybody

someone/somebody

• much

Reciprocal pronouns • There are only two reciprocal pronouns: one another and

each other . Either one is correct, and each can replace the other in a sentence. They are used to combine two sentences that say that two persons or things are carrying out the same action. For example: 1.John loves Mary. Mary loves John. John and Mary love one another . 2.The dog glares at the cat. The cat glares at the dog. The dog and cat glare at each other .. 3.She kissed me. I kissed her. We kissed each other . .

• When pronouns are used in pairs of sentences as in the

last example (She kissed me. I kissed her.), the pronoun I indicates that a second-person-plural pronoun (we) will be used witha reciprocal pronoun. • If the pronoun is in the third person, a third-person-plural

pronoun (they)will be used with a reciprocal pronoun. • He sees her. She sees him. They see one another .

• We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another when two or more people do the same thing. Traditionally, each other refers to two people and one another refers to more than two people, but this distinction is • •

• • • •

disappearing in modern English. Peter and Mary helped one another . = Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter. We sent each other Christmas cards. = We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas card. They didn’t look at one another . = He didn't look at her and she didn't look at him. We also use the possessive forms each other’s and one another’s: They helped to look after each other’s children. We often stayed in one another’s houses. NOTE: We do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.

Intensive pronouns • Intensive pronouns are often mistaken as reflexive

pronouns because they look like reflexive pronouns. • PERSONAL PRONOUNS INTENSIVE PRONOUNS

I

myself 

you

yourself  

he

himself 

she

herself 

it

itself 

• I believe that war with them can be avoided. • I myself believe that war with them can be avoided. • You said that you could afford it. • You yourself said that you could afford it. • They are the ones to blame. • They themselves are the ones to blame.