Transcript Indefinite Pronouns

Pronouns
• Definition
• Pronouns refer to wods used to replace
nouns (the names of people, places, and
things) that have already been mentioned,
or that the speaker/writer assumes are
understood by the listener/reader. For
example, “I want you to read this again.”
The words I, you, and this are pronouns.
Categories of pronouns
• 1. Personal pronoun: Generally refers to
people or animate nouns
2. Possessive pronoun: Shows
ownership. mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours,
their.
• 3. Reflexive pronoun: reflexive pronouns
in English are used as objects that are coreferential to the subject of the same
sentence.
Categories of pronouns
• 4. Reciprocal pronoun: English uses reciprocal
pronouns to show “mutuality of action: A does to
B what B does to A.” In these cases the
reciprocal construction appears in the same
clause as its antecedents. For example “Bob
and Joe ran into each other” but never “Bob
went into town and Joe ran into each other.”
• 5. Demonstrative pronoun: Indicates specificity.
this, that, these, those.
Categories of pronouns
• 6. Indefinite pronouns: Indefinite pronouns are
the opposite of demonstrative pronouns in that
they do not have a specific referent. anybody,
anyone, anything, everything, everybody,
nobody, no-one, nothing, somebody, someone,
something.
• 7. Interrogative pronouns: used to begin
questions. what, when, when, where, why, how
and variations of who (whom/ whose).
8. Relative pronouns: Relative pronouns in
English tend to initiate a relative clause. who,
whom, which, whose, that
Pronoun concord in number
1) Pronoun concord with every-, some-,
any- compounds as antecedent
2) Pronoun concord with coordinate
construction as antecedent
Pronoun concord in number
3) Pronoun concord with collective
noun as
antecedent
4) Pronoun concord with “plural noun/
pronoun + each” as antecedent
Pronoun concord in gender
1) Pronoun concord with male / female
noun as antecedent
2) Pronoun Concord with common gender
noun as antecedent
3) Pronoun concord with neutral gender
noun as antecedent
Pronoun concord in person
1) Pronoun concord in person on
sentential level
2) Pronoun concord in person on
textual level
Choice of pronoun case forms
1) Choice between subjective and
objective case
2) Choice between objective and
genitive case
Ordinary usages of pronouns
• a. Subjective Personal Pronouns
• A subjective personal pronoun indicates
that the pronoun is acting as the subject of
the sentence. The subjective personal
pronouns are "I," "you," "she," "he," "it,"
"we," "you," "they."
Ordinary usages of pronouns
• b. Objective Personal Pronouns
• An objective personal pronoun indicates
that the pronoun is acting as an object of a
verb, compound verb, preposition, or
infinitive phrase. The objective personal
pronouns are: "me," "you," "her," "him,"
"it," "us," "you," and "them."
Possessive pronouns
• Each of the personal pronouns has forms
which indicate possession.
This is your book.
This book is yours.
Possessive adjectives
• 1) Agreement of English Possessive
Adjectives with their Antecedents
• 2) Possessive adjectives used with
gerunds
Reflexive pronouns
a) Reflexive as appositive
b) Reflexive as prepositional
complementation
c) Reflexive as object
d) Other uses of reflexives
Reciprocal Pronouns
• Reciprocal pronouns refer to persons or
things which are acting on each other. In
English, the following two phrases are
used as reciprocal pronouns:
each other
one another
Demonstrative pronoun
• A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun that
is used to distinguish people or things. It
also can be used as a subject, object, or
can be predicative or attributive.
Indefinite Pronouns
• Indefinite pronouns refer to an unknown or
undetermined person, place or thing.
• Care must be taken to identify whether the
pronoun is singular or plural to ensure the
proper conjugation of the verb.
Indefinite Pronouns
• Indefinite pronouns that are always
singular: Another, Anyone, Anybody,
Anything, Everyone, Everybody,
Everything, Nothing, Each, Either No
One, Neither, Nobody, One, Someone,
Somebody, Something
Indefinite Pronouns
• Indefinite pronouns that are always
plural: Both, Few, Many, Several
• Either plural or singular: All, Most,
None, Some
Interrogative Pronouns
• Interrogative pronouns are used in asking
questions. The pronouns who, what and
which are used as interrogative pronouns.
e.g. Who telephoned?
What did you say?
Which is your brother?
Interrogative Pronouns
• The pronoun Who
The pronoun who usually refers only to
persons. Unlike the other interrogative
pronouns, who changes its form
depending on the case, as shown in the
following table.
• Subjective Case: who
• Objective Case: whom
• Possessive Case: whose
Interrogative Pronouns
• Whose
The form whose can be used either as a
possessive adjective followed by a noun, or as a
possessive pronoun.
The possessive form whose expresses the idea
of belonging to. For instance, the idea
expressed in the sentence: Whose books are
these? could also be expressed by the sentence:
To whom do these books belong?
Interrogative Pronouns
• What and Which
What and which can be used either as
interrogative pronouns, or as interrogative
adjectives followed by nouns.
e.g. What is that?
Which is his sister?
What time is it?
Which woman is his sister?
Relative pronouns
• A pronoun which is used to begin a
subordinate clause can be referred to as a
relative pronoun, since it indicates the
relationship of the subordinate clause to
the rest of the sentence.
Relative pronouns
• That
When used as a relative pronoun, that can
refer to either persons or things. The
relative pronoun that is generally used
only in defining relative clauses.
Relative pronouns
• Which
As was pointed out in an earlier section,
when used as an adjective or interrogative
pronoun, which can refer to either persons
or things. However, it is important to note
that when used as a relative pronoun,
which can refer only to things.
• Who, Whom and Whose
The use of who, whom and whose as
relative pronouns is similar to their use as
interrogative pronouns. Who is used as
the subject of a verb, whom is used as the
object of a verb or the object of a
preposition, and whose is used as an
adjective indicating possession. The
relative pronouns who, whom and whose
can generally refer only to persons, and
can be used either in defining or nonrestrictive relative clauses.