PRONOUNS

Gramática Inglesa I – I.C.A.L.V.

Definition
A pronoun is a word that can be used in place of a noun or a
noun phrase.
We use a pronoun when we already know who or what is
referred to.
They serve the purposes of avoiding repetition and sounding
redundant.
There are 8 classes of pronouns: personal, possessive,
demonstrative, reflexive, reciprocal, relative, interrogative and
indefinite.
Determiners and pronouns
How are they different?
Some words such as some and this will have a dual
function: determiner function or pronominal function.
Determiners are always followed by a noun.
When they stand on their own they function as
pronouns.
I need some flowers. I need this bag.
I need some. I need this.
Personal pronouns
Subject: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they

Object: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them

Personal pronouns in their subjective form will replace a

noun or NP when it is the subject in a clause.
Personal pronouns in their objective form will do so when
the NP they replace is the Od in a clause.
Contrasts in personal pronouns
Personal pronouns display the following contrasts: person,
gender, number, case.
PERSON
•Person distinguishes the speaker or writer (1st person I, we)
from the adressee (2nd person you) and from those persons or
things which are neither (3rd person he, she, it, they)
•If pronouns are coordinated, the 1st person comes last and the
2nd person comes first.
•3rd person coordinates usually have the masculine before the
feminine and the pronoun before the NP.
GENDER
• In the 3rd person (he, she, it) there is a three-way gender
contrast: masculine, feminine and nonpersonal.

 NUMBER
• Personal pronouns agree with the nouns they replace in
number, showing whether they are singular or plural.

 CASE
• Case involves a distinction marking broadly the
grammatical roles of subject and object. Sometimes it
relates more to subject “territory” and object “territory”.
Some exceptions
• Object pronouns are normally used in preference to subject
pronouns after be in everyday speech.
Who is it? It’s me.
• Subject pronouns are not normally used by themselves or in
short answers with not. Object pronouns are used instead.
Who wants some more ice-cream? me/not me!
• Object pronouns are commonly used after as and than.
She is as tall as him. You’re shorter than me.
• However, subject pronouns are used if as or than are
followed by subject + verb (a clause)
He’s as old as I am/he is.

• Object pronouns often occur in exclamations like the

following:
He can’t eat any sweets. Poor him!
She’s hit the jackpot. Lucky her!
The pronoun “it”
Any singular noun phrase that does not determine reference
by he or she, is referred to by it, for example collectives and
noncount concretes.
The committee met as soon as it was appointed.
He ordered chicken because he loved it.

It can also refer to the content of clauses or whole sentences.

I fainted the other day because I hadn’t taken any breakfast. It
taught me a lesson.
We often use it in sentences referring to:
•Time: It’s 3 o’clock.
•Weather: It’s sunny.
•Temperature: It’s 30° centigrade.
•Distance: It’s 10 miles to London.
•Environment: It’s noisy in here.
•With since: It’s two months since I’ve been here.
•With says: It says here that there was a big fire in the Factory.

Used in this way it is sometimes called an empty subject because it

carries no real information. It’s there to stand in place of a subject.
Ex.1 State whether the words in italics have pronominal or
determiner function.
1. This museum is amazing! Look! That’s the Mona Lisa over there.
2. Those people we met on holiday were really nice.
3. Let me introduce my boss. Alex, this is Hilary.
4. The game was fantastic. Let’s play another!
5. Cathy doesn’t have any close friend in her class.
6. I don’t have much money left but John still has some.
7. Which boots do you prefer?
8. What’s your phone number?
9. The teacher went around his class speaking to each student individually.
10. I wanted to read these two books so I bought both.
Possessive pronouns
Determiner function: my, your, our, his, her, its, their
Pronominal function: mine, yours, ours, his, hers, - , theirs
Possessives show that someone or something belongs to somebody.
They answer the question whose?

This is her room. This room is hers.

Extra emphasis can be given to the idea of possession by the

addition of own to all possessives with a determiner function.

I want to have my own flat.

Demonstrative pronouns
Singular: this, that
Plural: these, those

The domonstratives can function as determiners and as

pronouns. This/these suggest relative proximity to the speaker,
that/those relative remoteness.

Demonstratives can also refer to distance in time and be used

to refer to the speaker’s approval (this/these) or disapproval
(that/those).
How can this intelligent girl marry that awful brute?
Reflexive pronouns
Singular: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself
Plural: ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Reflexives are always coreferential with a noun or another

pronoun, agreeing with it in number, gender and person.

She herself saw the incident.

He and his wife poured themselves a drink.
He and his wife poured them a drink. (by contrast)
There are some verbs in English that must always be followed by a
reflexive pronoun: absent, avail, pride, ingratiate.

They pride themselves on their successful children.

Other verbs are commonly followed by reflexives: amuse, blame,

cut, enjoy, hurt, introduce. They can also be followed by ordinary
objects.

We really enjoyed ourselves at the party.

We enjoyed the party.
Reciprocal pronouns
each other - one another

They are used to indicate that two people do the same thing,
feel the same way o have the same relationship.
They are not used as the subject of a clause but as the object
or indirect object of a verb.
There is very little difference in meaning between each other
and one another. However, some prefer each other for two
items and one another for more than two.
Relative pronouns
who, whom, which, whose, that, zero

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. They refer back

to a previously mentioned NP that is called “antecedent”.
None of the relative pronouns distinguish person or number.
But for who, whom, whose and which there are some distinctios
of gender and case.
Who and whom have personal gender, while which has
nonpersonal gender. Whose, on the other hand, can have both
personal or nonpersonal gender.
Who and whom display case distinctions, which explains their difference in form.
While who has subjective case (used as S in a clause), whom has objective case (used
as the Od in a clause). Whom is obligatory after a preposition.
The man who greeted me is my boss.
…whom I greeted…
…to whom I spoke…
That can be used without reference to the gender of the antecedent or its function
(subjective or objective) within the relative clause.
The actor that pleases me…
… that I admire…
… that I’m attracted to…
The zero relative pronoun is similar to that except that it cannot be used in S
position.
The actor Ø I admire…
Ø I am attracted to…
Interrogative pronouns
who, whom, whose, what, which,

 Unlike relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns do not relate to a

preceding noun or pronoun. Their antecedent is not within the
sentence.
Whom, whose and who 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).
Who owns this house?
Who(m) does this house belong to?
To whom does this house belong?
Whose is this house?
With which reference can be personal or nonpersonal,
whereas what is used with nonpersonal reference. They differ in
the posible number of choices found in an answer.
What color do you like?
Which color do you prefer?
What, which and whose can have determiner function.
What plan do you have?
Which option is best?
Whose bag is this?
Indefinite pronouns
They are characterized by having a general and nonspecific
type of reference. They are called indefinite because we do not
always know who or what we are referring to.
They are also involved in expressing quantity, from totality
(all) to its converse (nothing).
Reference sometimes involves gender. Items ending in -body
are personal, ítems ending in -thing are nonpersonal. Several of
the indefinites can function both as determiners and as
pronouons.
Indefinite pronouns can be divided into Universal Indefinites
and Partitive Indefinites:

Universal indefinites:
Positive: everyone, everything, everybody, each, every, all, both
Negative: nobody, no one, nothing, no, none, neither

Partitive indefinites:
Assertive: someone, somebody, something, some
Non-assertive: anyone, anybody, anything, either, any