PRONOUNS
27 July 2006
Pronoun
- is a word used instead of a noun. There are seven classes of pronoun:
1. Personal
2. Impersonal
3. Definite
4. Indefinite
5. Relative
6. Reciprocal
7. Interrogative
Personal. Denotes a class of pronouns classified as referring to the speaker, the one addressed and anyone or anything else.
Personal pronouns have the following:
a) Person
b) Number
c) Gender
d) Case
Person – consist of the first, the second and the third.
The First Person – (I or we) is used when the subject is the speaker.
The Second Person – (you) is used when the subject is spoken to.
The Third Person – (he, she, they, it) is used when the subject is spoken of.
Number can be either plural or singular. The singular personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, it. The plural personal pronouns are we, you, they.
Gender can be masculine, feminine, common or neuter.
Masculine: he
Feminine: she
Common: I, you, we, they
Neuter: it
The three Cases are nominative, possessive, and objective.
Nominative: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
Possessive: my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, its, our(s), their(s).
Objective: me, you, him, her, it, us, them.
Impersonal. When the pronoun it stands for is nothing or not definite, it is classified as impersonal pronoun.
It grew dark suddenly. (impersonal pronoun)
Give it (the book) to me. (This is not impersonal pronoun because it here stands for a definite object, it is personal pronoun.)
Definite. Denotes the pronoun that specifies or demonstrates. It is also called as demonstrative pronouns – this, these, that, those.
Indefinite. Pronouns that express their subjects or objects in a general or indeterminate way are called indefinite. Somebody, everybody, nobody are some of the examples of indefinite pronoun.
Relative. Denotes a pronoun that refers to an antecedent and serves to introduce a dependent clause. An antecedent (meaning going before) is the noun to which a relative pronoun refers. The relativepronouns are who, which and that.
who - refers only to rational creatures.
which – applies to irrational creatures and inanimate objects.
that – applies to either rational 0r irrational creatures as well as to inanimate objects.
a) I spoke to the lady who lives next door.
b) This is the carabao which he rides.
c) Spare the tree that grows in the garden.
Who – nominative
Whose – possessive
Whom – objective
Note: The compound forms of the relative pronouns who and which are formed by adding ever or soever - whoever, whomever, whosoever, whichever, whichsoever.
Reciprocal. Pronouns that express a mutual relationship between or among individuals of a plural antecedent. The reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another.
Each other – is used when the antecedent refers to two persons or things.
One another – is used when the antecedent refers to more than two persons or things.
John and Jenny respect each other.
Some husbands and wives bore one another.
Interrogative. An interrogative pronoun is used to ask question. They are who, whose, whom, which and what.
Who is your best friend?
Whose book is that?
Whom should I report?
Which bicycle is yours?
PRONOUN RULES
- A pronoun used as the subject of a verb is in the nominative case.
She loves John.
Walter and I went to the park.
- A pronoun used as the object of a verb is in the objective case.
I admired them very much.
She called me long before he called her.
Whom did you call? (If this interrogative sentence is changed to declarative – You did call whom – you is seen to the subject of the verb did call, whom, the object of the verb didcall.)
- A pronoun used as object of the preposition is in the objective case.
This notebook is for her.
The teacher spoke to Walter and Jenny.
To whom did you give the pencil?
- A pronoun must agree to its antecedent in number, person, and gender.
John came when he was called.
They boys had their baseball bat.
- The indefinite pronouns each, anyone, anybody, everybody, everyone, and none are referred to as singular pronouns.
Everybody had read the book.
- The personal pronoun in the possessive case that end in is – its, ours, theirs – are spelled without the apostrophe
It’s (contraction of it is) shedding its feathers.
They have theirs, and we have ours.
- A pronoun used as a predicate nominative is in the nominative case. (A predicate nominative is the word or words used after a copulative verb – some form of the verb to be such as am, is, are, was, were – to complete the meaning of the verb and to identify or describe the subject.)
This is he.
Who does he think he is?
- The case of pronoun following the conjunction as or the conjunction than in an elliptical clause depends upon its use in the compound clause. (An elliptical clause is one in which words that are understood have been omitted.)
Jenny is as bright as I.
They spend more money than we.
My friend recommends her more than him.
- A pronoun used in apposition is in the same case as the word with which it is in apposition. (Apposition means the use of a word orwords for additional explanation or modification.)
We, John and I will go to the party.
Give the drinks to us – Walter and me. (Me is in apposition with us.)
- Do not use a compound personal pronoun as a substitute for a simple personal pronoun.
Faulty: Is this gift for John and myself?
Preferred: Is this gift for John and me?
- The relative pronoun who should refer to rational creatures; which, to irrational creatures.
Faulty: The dogs who escaped were soon caught.
Preferred: The dogs which escaped were soon caught.
- The reciprocal pronoun each other is used only when the antecedent refers to two persons or things; one another, refers to more than two persons.
Faulty: The boxers sparred with one another.
Preferred: The boxers sparred with each other.
- A relative pronoun is in the nominative case if it is the subject of the verb.
- A relative pronoun is in the objective case if it the object of the verb.
(These rules will be discussed in the next blog.)
- The placing of an expression containing a verb like think, suppose or say between who and its verb does not affect the case of the pronoun. Such expressions are called “interrupter” since they interrupt the subject and its verb.
The inspector who I thought was coming did not come.
The expression “I thought” interrupts the subject who and its verb was coming.
- The interrogative pronoun whose should not be confused with the contraction who’s (who is).
Whose book did you find?
Who’s to blame?
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