Friday, March 20, 2020
Pronoun Definition and Examples
Pronoun Definition and Examples In English grammar, a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause. The pronoun is one of the traditionalà parts of speech. A pronoun can function as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence. Unlike nouns, pronouns rarely allow modification. Pronouns are a closed word class in English: new members rarely enter the language. To understand how to recognize and correctly use pronouns, it can be helpful to review the types of pronouns that exist in English. Demonstrative Pronouns Aà demonstrativeà pronoun points to a particularà nounà or to the noun it replaces. These pronouns can indicate items in space or time, and they can be either singular or plural, saysà Ginger Software. When used to represent a thing or things, demonstrative pronouns can be either near or far in distance or time, says the online grammar, punctuation, and spelling checker, offering these examples: Near in time or distance:à this, theseFar in time or distance:à that, those There are three basic rules for using demonstrative pronouns: They always identify nouns, such as: I canââ¬â¢t believe this. The writer does not know what thisà is, but it exists.They often describe animals, places, or things butà they can also describe people, such as:à Thisà sounds like Mary singing.They stand alone, distinguishing them from demonstrative adjectives, which qualify (or modify) nouns. Demonstrative pronouns can be used in place of a noun, so long as the noun being replaced can be understood from the pronounââ¬â¢s context: Thisà was my motherââ¬â¢s ring.Theseà are nice shoes, but they look uncomfortable.Noneà of these answers is correct. Indefinite Pronouns An indefinite pronoun refers to an unspecified or unidentified person or thing. Put another way, an indefinite pronoun doesnt have anà antecedent. Indefinite pronouns includeà quantifiersà (some, any, enough, several, many, or much);à universalsà (all, both, every, orà each); andà partitivesà (any, anyone, anybody, either, neither, no, nobody, some, orà someone). For example: Everyoneà did asà heà pleased.Bothà of us match the donation.Some coffeeà isà left. Many of the indefinite pronouns can function asà determiners. Interrogative Pronouns The termà interrogative pronounà refers to aà pronounà that introduces aà question. These words are also called aà pronominal interrogative. Related terms includeà interrogative,à wh-word, andà question word, although these terms are usually not defined in precisely the same way.à In English,à who, whom, whose, which,à andà whatà commonly function as interrogative pronouns, for example: Even if you do learn to speak correct English,à whomà are you going to speak it to?- Clarence Darrow When immediately followed by aà noun,à whose, which, andà whatà function asà determinersà or interrogative adjectives.à When they start a question, interrogative pronounsà have no antecedent, becauseà what they refer to is precisely what the question is trying to find out. Reflexive Pronouns Aà reflexive pronounà endsà inà -selfà orà -selvesà and isà used as anà objectà to refer to a previously namedà nounà or pronoun in a sentence. It can also simply be called aà reflexive. Reflexive pronouns usually followà verbsà orà prepositions. For example: Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think ofà ourselvesà and how little we think of the other person.-à ââ¬â¹Mark Twain Reflexive pronouns, which have the formsà myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, oneself, andà themselves, are essential to the meaning of a sentence. Intensive Pronouns Anà intensive pronounà ends inà -selfà orà -selvesà and emphasizes itsà antecedent. It is also known as anà intensive reflexive pronoun. Intensive pronouns often appear asà appositivesà afterà nounsà or other pronouns, for example: He wondered, as he had many times wondered before, whether heà himselfà was a lunatic.- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four Intensive pronouns have the same forms asà reflexive pronouns:à myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, oneself, andà themselves. Unlike reflexive pronouns, intensive pronouns are not essential to the basic meaning of a sentence. Personal Pronouns Aà personal pronounà refers to a particular person, group, or thing. Like all pronouns, personal pronouns can take the place ofà nounsà andà noun phrases. These are the personal pronouns in English: First-person singular:à Ià ( subject), me (object)First-person plural:à weà (subject), us (object)Second-person singular and plural:à youà (subjectà andà object)Third-person singular:à he, she, ità (subject),à him, her, ità (object)Third-person plural:à theyà (subject),à themà (object) Note that personal pronounsà inflectà forà caseà to show whether they are serving asà subjectsà of clauses or asà objectsà of verbs or prepositions. All the personal pronouns exceptà youà have distinct forms indicatingà number, eitherà singularà orà plural. Only the third-person singular pronouns have distinct forms indicatingà gender: masculine (he, him), feminine (she, her), and neuter (it). A personal pronoun (such asà they) that can refer to both masculine and feminine entities is called aà generic pronoun. Possessive Pronouns A possessive pronoun can take the place of aà noun phraseà to show ownership, as in, This phone isà mine. Theà weakà possessives (also calledà possessive determiners) function asà determinersà in front ofà nouns, as in, Myà phone is broken. The weak possessives areà my, your, his, her, its, our, andà their. In contrast, theà strongà (orà absolute)à possessive pronounsà stand on their own:à mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours,à andà theirs. The strong possessive is a type ofà independent genitive. A possessive pronoun never takes anà apostrophe. Reciprocal Pronouns A reciprocal pronoun expresses a mutual action or relationship. In English, the reciprocal pronouns areà each otherà andà one another, as in this example: Leadership and learning are indispensable toà each other.- John F. Kennedy, in a speech prepared for delivery on the day of hisà assassination, Nov. 22, 1963 Someà usageà guides insist thatà each otherà should be used to refer to two people or things, andà one anotherà to more than two. Relative Pronouns Aà relative pronounà introduces anà adjective clauseà (also called aà relative clause), as in: Spaghetti at her table,à whichà was offered at least three times a week, was a mysterious red, white, and brown concoction.- Maya Angelou, Mom Me Mom The standard relative pronouns in English areà which, that, who, whom,à andà whose.à Whoà andà whomà refer only to people.à Whichà refers to things, qualities, and ideas- never to people.à Thatà andà whoseà refer to people, things, qualities, and ideas. Source What is a Demonstrative Pronoun? Ginger Software, 2019.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.