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Pronouns Laptop O6t2fb0o
Pronouns Laptop O6t2fb0o
A pronoun is a word that can be used in place of a noun or a noun phrase, as the word
itself tells us:pro-noun. We use pronouns like she, he, it and they when we already know
who or what is referred to. This saves us from having to repeat the name or the noun
whenever we need to refer to it:
Determiners are always followed by a noun. Pronouns such as some or this followed by
a noun function as determiners when they stand on their own, they function as ponouns:
1- PERSONAL PRONOUNS
Though these words are called personal pronouns, they do not refer only to people. Eg :
Your breakfast is ready. It is on the table.
Personal pronouns display a person contrast; that is, they have separate 1st, 2nd and 3rd
person forms. Person distinguishes the speaker or writer (1st person: I, we) from the
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addressee (2nd person: you) and from those persons or things which are neither (3rd
person: he, she, it, they) E.g.:
If pronouns of different persons are coordinated, the first person comes last and the second
person usually comes first. This ordering is important from the viewpoint of style and
courtesy. E.g.:
Third person coordinates usually have the masculine before the feminine, the pronoun
before the noun phrase. Eg
In the third person (he, she, it), there is three-way gender contrast: masculine, feminine
and nonpersonal, the choice of pronouns depends on the noun being replaced.
Personal pronouns agree with the nouns they replace in number, showing us whether they
are referring to singular or plural.
Case in personal pronouns involves a distinction making broadly the grammatical roles
of subject and object. Compare:
He her
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The woman resisted the policeman
She him
The choice of subjective or objective forms does not depend solely upon the strict
grammatical distinction between subject and object. Rather, usage shows that we are
concerned more with subject territory (the pre-verbal part of a clause) in contrast to object
territory (the post verbal part of a clause)
EXCEPTIONS
Subject pronouns are not normally used by themselves or in short answers with
not. Object pronouns are used instead. Eg
She is as old as me
You are taller than him.
However, subject pronouns are used if as or than are followed by subject + verb.
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She’s been promoted. Lucky her!
The pronoun it
a) Any singular noun phase that does not determine reference by he or she, is referred
to by it, thus collectives and noncount concretes. E.g.
The committee met son after it had been appointed. (collective)
He bought some salmon because it was his favourite food. (noncount)
When used in this way, it is sometimes called an empty subject because it carries no real
information. It is present because every English sentence hast to contain a subject and a
verb.
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One likes to have one’s breakfast in bed now and again.
One can be linked with one’s, just as you can be linked with your. However, constructions
with one, one’s and oneself are often awkward because of the repetion of one:
2- REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
The reflexive pronouns are always coreferential with a noun or another pronoun,
agreeimg with it in number, gender and person.
By contrast, in:
The indirect object them refers to people other than the subject. The co reference must be
within the clause, thus we have a contrast between:
There are some verbs in English that must be always followed by reflexives. For example,
absent, avail, pride, ingratiate
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They pride themselves on their cleaned bedroom.
Other verbs are commonly followed by reflexives. Eg amuse, blame, cut, enjoy, hurt,
introduce
The important thing to remember is that this kind are never followed by objects pronouns
(me, you, him etc)
When the subject and the object refer to the same person
Reflexive pronouns can occur after prepositions which often follow verbs (look after,
listen to) or adjectives (pleased with). E.g.
Look at yourself
Lucy’s looking very pleased with herself.
He lives by himself
3- RECIPOCRAL PRONOUNS
The reciprocal pronouns each other and one another are used to indcate that two people
do the same thing, feel the same way or have the same relationship. For example, if your
friend Paul loves his girlfriend Anne and Anne loves him back, you can say “Paul and
Anne love each other” or “Paul and Anne love one another.”
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Reciprocal pronouns are not used as the subject of a clause but as the object of a verb.
Note that there is a little difference between each other and one another. They can both
be used to refer to two or more people or things, although some people prefer the use of
each other to refer to only to two items and one another to refer to more than two.
In formal written English, it is posible to use each as the subject of a clause and the other
as the object of a clause or of a preposition. So a more formal way of saying “They looked
at each other” is “Each looked at the other”.
4- POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
Compare:
Possessives show possession, i.e., that someone or sometinhg belongs to somebody. They
answer the question Whose?
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5- DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
But while all can be used as determiners irrespective of the gender of the noun phrase
head, as pronouns the reference must be to nouns of non personal (and usually inanimate)
gender.
this kitten
this woman
Occasionally, the demonstratives may be used as pronouns with animate reference where
there is ellipsis:
The pointing contrast between this/these and that/ those is not confined to spatial
perception. While this morning usually refers to “today”, that morning refers to “a more
distant morning”, past or future. More generally, this/ these have more immediate
relevance than that/those. E.g:
These figures have just been complied, those of yours are out of date.
Especially in informal usage, this/ these are used for the speaker’s approval and
that/those for disapproval:
How can this intelligent girl think of marrying that awful bore?
6- RELATIVE PRONOUNS
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1- Who whom whose which
2- That zero (ø)
Relative pronouns relate to a preceding noun or pronoun and introduce relative clauses.
These clauses describe the noun or pronoun so postmodified (called the antecedent- the
word to which the relative clause relates). E.g.:
Compare:
I’d like to come and see the house which/that/ø you have for sale.
In neither series are there distinctions of person or number, but in (1) we have some
distinctions of gender and case. With who and whom the antecedent must have personal
gender, with which it must have nonpersonal gender, with whose the antecedent is
usually personal but can also be nonpersonal. Then:
hospital
While who and whom have personal gender, their difference in form reflects the case
distinction, subjective and objective respectively, within the relative clause:
In series (2), that can be used without reference to the gender of the antecedent or to the
function within the relative clause, except that it cannot be predeced by a preposition:
that I admire
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7- INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
They differ from relative pronouns in that a) they do not relate to a preceding noun or
pronoun, and b) their antecedent is not within the sentence. Eg
Whose, who and whom can be used only with reference to items of personal gender.
While whom can function only in the objective case, who can be both subjective and
objective except after a preposition. Eg
When what is used as a pronoun, the questioner assumes that the reference is nonpersonal:
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But what and which can also be determiners, and in this function the noun phrase can be
personal or nonpersonal, the difference then being that which assumes a limited choice
of known answers:
The distinction between who, what and which is brought out in a set like the following:
8- INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
They are characterized by having a general and nonspecific reference which the term
“indefinite” tries to capture. They are called “indefinite” because we do not always know
who or what we are referring to. Equally, they are characterized by having functions
directly involves in expressing quantity, from totality (all) to its converse (nothing).
Reference in some cases involves gender, such that items in body are personal, items in -
thing nonpersonal. Several of the indefinites can function both as determiners and as
pronouns, as we shall see in what follows.
Indefinite pronouns can be divided into universal indefinites and partitive indefinites
a) Universal indefinites
The party was great. Everyone/ everybody was having a good time.
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Two further indefinites are: each and none. They are both able to operate irrespective of
gender.
Prescriptive grammars have tended to insist on the singular verb, but notional concord
invites a plural verb, which tends to be more frequently used and is generally accepted
even in formal usage.
Each (but not none) can also function as a dterminer, in which role it is closely paralleled
by every:
Where they differ is that each is more targeted on the individual among the totality itself.
With the determiner no which corresponds to none, plural and singular reference is used:
The Factory produces luxury cars and all are for export
Police interviewed the two suspects and both were arrested
The converse of all is no(ne), that of both is neither, usually with singular verb concord.
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Neither suspects was arrested.
b) Partitive indefinites
In dealing with the partitives, we must make a primary distinction between (a) those in
assertive use, i.e., those that occur in positive declarative sentences, and (b) those in
nonassertive use, i.e., those that occur in negative and interrogative sentences.
When some and any are used as pronouns, they suaully have clear contextual reference
to a noun phrase:
Both some and any occur more freely as determiners. The following examples illustrate
the use of these items with personal , nonpersonal count and noncount reference:
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Corresponding to the negative neither, there is the nonassertive either:
Compare:
Assertive forms can be used in nonassertive territory when the presupposition is positive:
Can you see someone in the garden? (= there is someone in the garden; can you
see him/ her?
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