- •§ 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
§ 4. The personal pronouns change for case. There are two cases for personal pronouns — the nominative case and the objective case.
The Nominative Case |
The Objective Case |
I you he she it we you they |
me you him her it us you them |
The forms of the nominative case function in the sentence as subjects.
e.g. I expect they will laugh at me.
Why, don't you know what he's up to?
The forms of the objective case function in the sentence as objects.
e.g. I met him in the street, (direct object)
He gave me some advice, (indirect object)
Please, don't tell anyone about us. (prepositional object)
When personal pronouns are used as predicatives or after than-' as and but, the nominative case is considered to be very formal; the use of the objective case is preferred in spoken English.
e.g. "Who is it?" "It's me (I)."
"Do you need anything?" "A secretary that I'll dictate my
piece to." "I'll be her." You're better off than them (they). She is as tall as him (he). No one can do it but him (he).
But only a nominative case personal pronoun can be used in the following sentence pattern where the pronoun is followed by a clause.
e.g. It was I who did it.
The Use of it
§ 5. As has been said, the pronoun it is generally used for con- crete things, abstract notions and animals.
e.g. I tried the door. It was locked.
He promised his help if ever I needed it.
He got down the horse and tied it to the rail.
Yet the pronoun it may be used to identify an unknown person. Then, once it has been done, he or she must be used.
e.g. There was a knock at the door. I thought it was the postman.
He usually came at that time.
When the waiter came up to his table he did not at once real- ize it was Paul. He was as handsome as ever.
It may also refer to an idea expressed in a preceding word- group (a), clause (b), sentence (c) or even context (d).
e.g. a) He tried to break the lock. It was not easy either.
There was some mutual hesitation about shaking hands, with both deciding against it.
b) He knew that his father was dying but he did not want to
speak with anyone about it.
The music had stopped. He didn't notice it.
He studied her, then shook his head. He waited a moment
and then decided not to say what he might have been go- ing to say. He swallowed half his whiskey before going on, and when he did, he returned to the conventional
questions. She had watched him do it all without any in- terest.
It is very often used as a formal subject in impersonal state- ments about weather conditions, time, distance and all kinds of measurements.
e.g. It is raining heavily.
It was very cold in the room. It is half past three now.
It is six miles to the nearest hospital from here. It is three feet deep here.
It as the formal subject is also found in sentences in which the predicate is modified by an infinitive phrase (a), or an ing-iorm phrase (b), or a clause (c). We usually find nominal predicates in this kind of sentences:
e.g. a) It is stupid to fall asleep like that. It is a pleasure to see you again.
b) It won't be easy finding our way home.
It's no use hoping he'll ever change his mind.
c) It was clear that he was going to give in.
It was a surprise that he had come back so soon. The formal it may be used not only as the subject of the sen- tence but also as an object followed by an adjective or a noun which is modified by an infinitive phrase, an ing-iorm phrase or a clause.
e.g. I found it difficult to explain to him what had happened. He thought it no use going over the subject again. He thought it odd that they had left him no message. The pronoun it is also used in the so-called emphatic con- struction, i.e. a special sentence pattern that serves to emphasize some word or phrase in the sentence, e.g. It was my question that made him angry.
It was on the terrace that he wanted them to lay the table.
Finally, the pronoun it is rather often used in various idi- omatic expressions where it seems to have very little lexical meaning of its own, if any at all. Most of these expressions are colloquial or even slangy.
e.g. Hang it all, we can't wait all day for him. Hop it, old thing, you are in the way here. When I see him, I'll have it out with him. If you are found out, you'll catch it.
Possessive Pronouns