- •§ 1. Pronouns include a miscellaneous group of words which function in the sentence as noun pronouns or as adjective pronouns.
- •§ 2. We find the following personal pronouns in English:
- •§ 3. In addition to the above structural meanings of the per- sonal pronouns, they have a few other special applications.
- •§ 4. The personal pronouns change for case. There are two cases for personal pronouns — the nominative case and the objective case.
- •§ 5. As has been said, the pronoun it is generally used for con- crete things, abstract notions and animals.
- •§ 6. There are the following possessive pronouns in English:
- •§ 7. The possessive pronouns may also perform noun func- tions. Then they are used in their so-called absolute forms: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs.
- •§ 9. Reflexive pronouns may also be used in a different way: together with the verb they may form set phrases characterized by idiomatic meaning. The reflexive meaning of the self-pronoun
- •Emphatic Pronouns
- •Demonstrative Pronouns
- •§ 12. The pronoun this (these) refers to what is near in space, time or conception (a), that (those) to what is farther off (b).
- •§ 13. That, this are often found as part of set phrases. Here are some of them:
- •§ 14. The demonstrative pronoun such may mean of this or that kind (a) or indicate degree (b). Such is followed by the indefi- nite article before singular countable nouns.
- •Indefinite Pronouns
- •§ 20. The pronoun any is also used as an adjective pronoun and as a noun pronoun. In affirmative sentences any means 'it does not matter who, what or which'.
- •§ 21. The pronoun no is negative in meaning and used only as an adjective pronoun. It may mean 'not any' or 'not a'.
- •§ 22. There are the following compound pronouns formed with some-, any- and no-:
- •§ 23. The pronoun one in all of its uses refers exclusively to persons or things that are countable.
- •§ 25. The pronoun all can be used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun.
- •§ 26. The pronoun every is used only as an adjective pronoun. It modifies singular countable nouns when there are more than two objects of the same description.
- •§ 27. There are the following compound pronouns formed with every; everyone — everybody — everything.
- •§ 29. The pronoun other can be used as an adjective pronoun and as a noun pronoun.
- •§ 31. The pronoun both is used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun. It is plural in meaning and applied only to two persons or things.
- •§ 32. The pronouns much and many are used as noun pro- nouns and as adjective pronouns.
- •§ 33, The pronouns little and few are used as noun pronouns and as adjective pronouns.
- •Interrogative Pronouns
- •§ 35. The interrogative pronouns are: who (whom), whose, what, which, how much and how many. They are all used in form- ing questions.
- •§ 37. The pronoun whose is a possessive interrogative pro- noun. It is used as an adjective pronoun, mostly in the function of an attribute, though occasionally it occurs as a predicative too.
- •§ 40. The pronouns how much and how many are used as noun pronouns and as adjective pronouns.
- •§ 43. It is noteworthy that not all the conjunctive pronouns can be used with all kinds of clauses mentioned above. Thus, subject, predicative and object clauses can be introduced by the conjunctive
§ 37. The pronoun whose is a possessive interrogative pro- noun. It is used as an adjective pronoun, mostly in the function of an attribute, though occasionally it occurs as a predicative too.
e.g. Whose room is it going to be? Whose is the room going to be?
In whose car do you prefer to go? (Whose car do you prefer
to go in?) § 38. The pronoun what may be used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun.
When it serves as a noun, it asks after things. It may be sin- gular or plural in meaning. It may be used as the subject, a pred- icative or an object in the sentence. It has no case forms.
e.g. What's this? What are those strange objects in the distance? What is his telephone number?
What is your name? What do you mean? About what are you going to ask him?
It should be noted that in the case of a prepositional object it is more usual to place the preposition at the end of the sentence in present-day English.
e.g. What are you going to ask him about? What are you laughing at?
Special attention should be paid to the use of what asking about a person's profession, e.g. "What is the man your father is talking to?" "He is a lawyer."
Compare it with a whо-question asking about the identity of a person.
e.g. "Who is the man your father is talking to?" "He is Mr Clap- perton, our new neighbour."
What can also be used in asking about actions, e.g. "What are you doing?" "I'm cleaning the car."
Note the idiomatic uses of what in the following sentences: e.g. "What is he like?" "He is tall, dark and handsome." ('Как он
ВЫГЛЯДИТ?')
"What is he like as a pianist?" "Oh, he is not very good. ('Что он собой представляет как...?')
Ben suddenly looked at his watch. "What about your den- tist?" he asked, ('А как же твой врач?')
What about a cigarette? ('Хочешь сигарету?')
What about something to eat? ('Может поедим чего-ни- будь?')
What of it? ('Ну и что из этого?')
So what? ('Ну и что?')
He's a clever fellow, he knows what's what, ('что хорошо, что плохо'; 'что к чему')
When what is used as an adjective pronoun it is also in- variable and serves as an attribute to nouns denoting both persons and things.
e.g. What languages do you know? What play did you see last? What man would have done more? What feelings do such stories excite? What artists are going to be exhibited this autumn?
To ask after the kind or sort to which a person or thing be- longs, synonymous set phrases what kind of and what sort of are used instead of what.
e.g. What kind of man is he? ('Что он за человек?' 'Какой он
человек?') What sort of chocolate do you like best? ('какой, какого
сорта')
What kind of house have they bought? ('какой') What sort of proposition do you want to discuss with me?
('какое предложение'; 'что за предложение')
What preceding a noun may also be used at the head of an ex- clamatory sentence. (This what is sometimes called the exclama- tory what.)
e.g. What a stupid thing he has said!
What splendid pictures they have in their collection! What marvellous news he brought! What fun we had yesterday!
§ 39. The pronoun which is used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun. It is used of persons and things and is invari- able in form. It can have the function of the subject, an object and an attribute in the sentence.
The use of which is more restricted than that of what because which is selective — it selects one or more out of a definite num- ber of persons or things.
e.g. Which will you have, tea or coffee? Which way shall we go? Which pen does the cap belong to? Which author are you more interested in? Which students have answered all the questions correctly?
As a result of its selective meaning, which is often followed bу an of-phrase.
e.g. Which of your friends will you invite to the party? Which of them said that? Which of his books are you reading now?
Compare the use of what and which in the following sentences: e.g. What TV programmes do you usually watch? Which of them
is your favorite one? What examinations are you going to take this term? Which
of them do you find most difficult? What car have you? Which car is yours?