https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-4JJ6YPH98V ENGLISH PRONOUNS In 2023

ENGLISH PRONOUNS In 2023


PRONOUNS
Pronouns

PRONOUNS

PRONOUNS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS


A Pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. We use a pronoun when we do not want to repeat a noun in a sentence or in a longer piece of writing.

George told me George was going to Bombay.
George told me he was going to Bombay.

The pronoun he in the second sentence helps us to avoid repetition of the noun George.

George is an intelligent boy.
George studies with me.

George lives in the street next to mine.

George and I often play together.

The repetition of the noun George can be avoided by using a pronoun in its place.

We could say,

1. George is an intelligent boy.

2. He studies with me.

3. He lives in the street next to mine.

4. He and I often play together.

A pronoun can be used in place of a noun phrase, a noun clause and a whole sentence.

He talks in a funny way.
I do not like it. (The pronoun it replaces the noun phrase a funny way)

We don't know where they have gone.

We don't really know it. (The pronoun it replaces the clause where they have gone)

The rains have failed.

It means famine. (The pronoun It here stands for the sentence, The rains have failed)
See the table below

Pronouns

Subject      Object        Possessive  Adj.           Possessive pron.

Singular        plural     Singular     plural       Singular     plural  Singular   plural 

   I                  we              me               us             my        our          mine            ours
 
 You          you             you            you           you     your    your      yours         yours

He                           him                      his            

She     they             her     them        her            their            his

It                             it                           its                                  hers                  theirs







He sold out all the household goods. They were bought by me (noun phrase) .
I tell you that he is a traitor. In fact everyone knows it.
(noun clause).

She has failed again. Her parents are unhappy at it.
(sentence).


KINDS OF PRONOUNS 

Pronouns are of four different kinds:

1. Personal Pronouns.

2. Reflexive Pronouns

3. Demonstrative Pronouns

4. Relative Pronouns 

5. Interrogative Pronouns

Personal Pronouns stand for three persons, i.e. First Person, Second Person, Third Person.

1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS 

USE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS 

AS SUBJECT 

I
We
You
She
He
It
They

AS OBJECT

Me
Us
You
Him
Her
It
Them

AS POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE 
My
Our
Your
His
Her
It's
Their
 
AS POSSESSIVE  PRONOUNS 

Mine
Ours
Yours
Hers


2. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS 

Reflexive pronouns are forms of personal pronouns.

They are: myself, ourselves, yourself. yourselves. himself
herself, itself, themselves, oneself.

These pronouns are used in two ways:

(a) for emphasis.
1. I saw himself .

2. I myself saw him.

The second sentence is more emphatic.

It is the use of myself which makes it emphatic.

 Other examples:

1. Mary herself cleaned the room.

2. George himself came to see me.

3. We ourselves made this machine.

4. They themselves are to blame for the accident.

5. The machine itself stopped.

The emphatic pronoun can be placed in another position also

Examples:

1. Mary cleaned the room herself.

2. We made this machine ourselves.

Note the different use of itself.
The machine stopped by itself.
The hall is large enough in itself.

(b) as object of the verb.
This use shows what a person of thing does to himself or itself.

Examples:

1. The child hid    himself  under the sofa.

2. The girl dressed   herself  before the mirror.

3. I satisfied myself  about the prices.

4. He cut himself .

5. They hurt themselves.

6. George availed himself of the offer.

7. We absented ourselves from the class yesterday.

8. She prided herself on her victory.




3. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS 

Demonstrative Pronouns are used to refer to objects mentioned earlier or which are already present in the speaker's mind.
These are: this, that, these, those, such, one.

Examples:

1. Is this your book? (This stands for this book)

2. That was my father. (That stands for my father)

3. These are lovely flowers. (These stands for these lovely
flowers)

4. Those are our dogs. (Those stands for our dogs)

5. I have failed again, such is my luck. (Such stands for I have failed again)

6. He wanted to catch that train.

7. That is why he took a taxi. (That stands for He wanted to catch the train)

8. Which tie do you want, I want the blank one . (one here stands for the black tie).

 The difference between demonstrative pronouns and demons- trative adjectives:

1. This is my pen.

2. That pen is mine.

3. This in the first sentence stands for this pen and is therefore a demonstrative pronoun.

 In the second sentence, This qualifies, the noun pen and is therefore, a demonstrative adjective.

Demonstrative Adjective                Demonstrative Pronouns

1. These are your  trousers.           These trousers are yours.

2. Those are their fields.                 Those fields are theirs.        

3. That  is my dog.                              That dog is mine.

Note:
1. This and these refer to persons or things near the speaker, that and those refer to persons and things away from the speaker.
Demonstrative Adjectives are sometimes also called
determiners.



4. DISTRIBUTIVE  PRONOUNS 

Distributive pronouns stand for person or things individually.

These are: each, everyone, everybody, either, neither.

Examples:

1. Each of them got a prize.

2. They got a prize each.

3. They each got a prize.

(Here each means each individual person)

4.  Everyone loves his country.

5. Everyone of them supported the proposal.

6. Either of you has to come to the meeting.

7. Neither of them was present at the meeting.
(Note that either and neither are always singular in form and take a singular verb.)

Reciprocal pronouns.
Reciprocal pronouns express mutual relationships.

Examples:

The two friends helped  each other.

The villagers helped one another during the floods.

(Each other shows relationship between two persons, one another between more than two.)


5. RELATIVE PRONOUNS 

Look at these sentences:

This is the house.
I lived in this house two years ago.
We can combine these two sentences and say,
This is the house in which I lived two years ago.

The word which refers to the house and it joins the two sentences given above.
Which is a Relative Pronoun here. A Relative Pronoun therefore is a joining pronoun.
The relative pronouns are: who, which, whom, whose, that.

Examples:

1. I know the boy who broke the window-pane.

2. The book which I bought yesterday cost me $4.5.

3. That is the boy whom we met at our uncle's place.

4. The girl, whose pen you borrowed, has come to ask for it.

The Magazine which  you lent me yesterday is very dull.

Use of who, whose, whom:

Who is generally used for human beings but sometimes for pet animals also.

We had to take Tom, who had been barking all night, inside. Whose is used for human beings but sometimes for things without life also.

Whose must be followed by a noun.

Examples 

1. It is a problem whose solution I don't know.

2. It is a problem of  which I don't know the solution.

Whom also is used for human beings and sometimes for pet animals.

USE OF WHICH

Which is used for animals and for inanimate things.

The time   
which is lost is lost for ever.

The dog 
which I bought yesterday is an Alsatian.

 
which can also refer to a clause.

He ran ten miles in an hour, which is creditable.

(which refers to the entire clause, He ran ten miles in an

hour.)

USE OF THAT:

(a) That can be used for persons and things both.

It is often used instead of who, whom, which but never in place of whose

Examples:

1. 
He is the man that  (= who) has won the race.

2. The thief that (= whom) the police were looking for has been caught.

3. The pen that (=which) 1 bought yesterday is not working properly.

(b) that is used after the adjectives in the superlative degree. 

4. George is the finest man   that I have ever met.
This is the least  that you can do for him.

(c) That is used after the words all, same, none, only.

1. All  that glitters is not gold.

2. He is not the same friend  that he was.

3. There is none among us  that can compare with him.

4. There is nothing  that George will not do for his girl friend.

5. Man is the only animal  that can think.

 Dropping the relative pronoun:

Look at these sentences

1. This is the purse  
that I found on the road.

 Here the purse is complement to the verb is.  We can drop that  here.

E.g
1.  This is the purse I found on the road.

2. George liked the present which I gave him.

Here the present is object to the verb liked.

Here, too, we can drop the relative pronoun which.

E.g. 
George liked the present I gave him.

But a relative pronoun cannot be dropped when it follows a preposition.

Here is the man with whom I am very friendly. 

This is the school in which I study.

The preposition before the relative pronoun can be moved next to the verb and the relative pronoun dropped.

1. Here is the man I am very friendly with.

2. This is the school I study in.

USE OF WHAT AS RELATIVE PRONOUN:

As a relative pronoun what means that which
This is what (=that which) I say.

What (=that which) you have said is not clear.

Use of as as a relative pronoun: This is done in a phrase like such as.

Boys such as these will never pass.

This is a sight such as I have never seen before.

RELATIVE CLAUSE:

Defining and Non-Defining.
A defining relative clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Example:

The girl whom you wanted to marry has married someone else. If you leave out the defining clause.
that is whom you wanted to marry, the meaning is not clear. The girl-which girl?
The relative clause answers this question.
Defining relative clauses are never preceded by a comma. This sentence is preferably written with the relative pronoun left out.

The girl you wanted to marry has married someone else. Here the relative clause you wanted to marry is in immediate contact with the preceding noun or the clause and is, therefore, called a Contact Clause.

This is the essay I wrote yesterday.

We lost all the money we had invested.

The picture we saw last week is still running.

The contact clause is usually preferred when a preposition is used with a relative pronoun.

Is he the man you were looking for?

This is the ship we travelled in.

He is the man I was talking about.

Here comes the girl I was hiding from.

Was this the passage you were referring to?

The river you are swimming in is very deep.

Non-defining relative clause.

The non-defining relative clause provides additional information and if left out does not affect the essential meaning of the sentence.

Compare the two sentences below.

The girl you met yesterday wants to speak to you.

My sister Alice, whom you met yesterday, wants to speak to you.
In the first sentence the relative clause you met yesterday tells who the girl is.
The sentence would be incomplete in meaning without this clause.

But in the second sentence, we know the girl's identity and the clause, whom you met yesterday,  provides us only additional information.
It is, therefore, a non-defining relative clause.

A non-defining relative clause is always marked off from the rest of the sentence by commas before and after it. Examples: Her father, who went to London, has just come back.
My friend, who is a doctor, does not believe in black magic.

Love, which is a wonderful experience, comes to every one at
least once in life.

Gambling, which is a bad habit, is popular with some people. Shakespeare, who had a bald head, was a great poet and dramatist.

The relative pronoun used in a non-defining clause cannot be dropped.
Also, we cannot use that as a relative pronoun in a non- defining clause.



INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS 

Interrogative pronouns are used for persons or things about which questions are asked.

They are: what, who, whom, which, whose
Use of 'what' as subject:
What happened at the meeting?
What is floating in the river?
Here, what can be replaced by a subject,

Nothing happened at the meeting.
A bright object is floating in the river.

As object

What did she say?

What do you want?

Here, what can be replaced by an object.
She said a few words.

I want my money.

Use of whom:

As object

Who told you that?

who can be replaced by a subject.

George told me that.
More examples:

Who sang first?

Who brought this good news?
Who has broken this window pane?

Use of whom:

As object

Whom do you want to see?

Whom did you give your umbrella to?
Whom in these sentences can be replaced by an object.

Examples:

I want to see the Manager.

Note: Modern English prefers the use of who in place of whom.

Example:

Who do you want to see?

Use of which:

As subject

Which is your house?
Which is the largest city in Ethiopia?

As object

Which do you like more, tea or coffee?
Which of these is your bag?

USE OF WHICH:
Whose is used to refer to a possessive.

Whose is that pen?

Whose can this umbrella be?
Interrogative pronouns can also be used to ask indirect questions.

He asked me what I wanted.
My father asked me who had come in his absence.

She asked me which of these songs I liked.
My mother wanted to know whom I was inviting for dinner.

The railway guard asked me where I wanted to go.  Interrogative Pronouns are often used to combine two questions.

Do you know where the library is?

Can you tell me where I can find the Principal?
Do you know how he escaped punishment?
Can you tell me whom I should approach for help?
Does anyone know whose photograph it is?

How can we know where he has gone?


USES OF THE PRONOUNS OF IT AND ONE

It is a third person singular pronoun and is used for lifeless things, animals, and for a baby or a small child when its sex is unknown or unimportant.
The possessive form of it is its and is not to be confused with it's which is a contraction of it is.

Example:


Pronouns

It is my bag.
This can also be written as:
It's my bag.
As a rule pronouns do not form possessives by adding 's.
This bag is yours. (not *your's).
This purse is hers. (not *her's).


Other uses of it:

(a) used for expressing time, distance, weather, temperature etc.
What time is it?
It is 5 o'clock now.
What is the day today? It is Tuesday.
What is the date today?
It is the 3rd of March 1981.
How far is it to Addis Ababa?
It is 20 kilometres.
It is rather cloudy today.
It is cold/hot/ sultry today.
It is a fine day.
It is raining now.
It was snowing yesterday.
It is spring now.
It was not so windy yesterday.

(b) used to introduce an infinitive phrase.
It is easy to please him.
It is necessary to go there. It is impossible to finish the job in time.
It is time for us to take tea.
It is good for children to get up early.
It is difficult to live on such a small salary.

(c) used to introduce-ing form.
It is no use crying over spilt milk.
It is no use reading this book now.
It is a waste of time watching the television.
It is no use asking him for help.
It is great fun watching the stars at night. 
It is a pleasure talking to him.

(d) used to introduce a clause.

It is strange that he has failed again.

It is good that he has come back.
It is hoped that George will become a doctor.

It is not known why he suddenly left his job.
It is believed that women live longer than men.

It is supposed that the strike will be over soon.

It is reported that an enemy airplane has crashed in the hills.

It is said that there is life on Mars.
It is rumoured that the army has crossed the frontier.

It is well-known that there is a lot of corruption in the department.

(e) It is a meaningless subject for impersonal verbs.

(a) It seems he is mad.

(b) It appears that Goerge has missed his train.

(c) It happened that we stayed at the same hotel.

(f) It is used to emphasize part of a sentence.

You spoiled the show.
It was you who spoiled the show. In the second sentence It puts emphasis on you.

Other examples:

It is fish he likes most.

It was here that I met her.

It is money that I want and not empty promises.

Use of one, oneself.

(a) One is used in such expressions as the Holy One(=God)
TheEvil One (Satan).
Look at another usage of one.
Here are my little ones. (=my children)
Come here, little one.
He is not the one (the person) to run away from difficulties.

(b) One is also used as an indefinite pronoun. Its possessive form is one's.

Examples:

One must listen carefully before speaking.
One can't get everything that one wants.
One must save money for difficult times.
One must respect one's parents.

These are quite accepted sentences but usually one is replaced by (the impersonal) you.
In such cases, you does not refer to any particular person.

You must listen carefully before speaking.
You can't get everything that you want.
You must save money for difficult times.
You must respect your parents.
Now look at the following sentences:
One must speak to others as one expects others to speak to one.
One can't expect one's friends to help one all the time.

The repetitive use of one in these sentences looks odd and is best avoided by the use of you.

You must speak to others as you expect others to speak to you.
You can't expect your friends to help you all the time.

One's. The possessive adjective one's is more commonly used.
It is difficult to know one's way in a big city.
It is one's duty to live as long as possible.
It is foolish to spend all one's savings.
It is good to hear one's efforts praised.

(c) Use of one, ones for countable noun/nouns.

George collects coins; he has same rare ones.
Show me a better pen than this one.

One of my friends has given me this Japanese watch.
Alice is one of our best students.
They treat me as one of the family. (as a member of the family)

(d) Oneself:
Look at the following sentences:
One must do one's hometask oneself.
No one learns anything from the experience of others.

One must suffer oneself and learn the hard way.
Like other reflexive pronouns, myself, himself, herself etc., oneself is also used for emphasis.












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