Pronouns Flashcards
Different types of pronouns
Pronoun
A word used in place of a noun or more than one noun. The word to which a pronoun refers is called the antecedent of the pronoun. Pronouns are classified as personal, reflexive, intensive, relative, interrogative, demonstrative, and indefinite.
Personal Pronouns
Reflect person and number and can function as the subject of a verb (nominative form), as the object of a verb or preposition (objective), or to show possession (possessive).
Nominative forms: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
Objective forms: me, him, her, us, them
Possessive forms: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs
Reflexive Pronouns
Personal pronouns combined with - self or - selves that reflect action expressed by the verb back to the subject.
Examples: The patient injured himself while mowing the lawn.
She insisted on feeding herself.
Intensive Pronouns
Used to emphasize a noun or pronoun already expressed.
Examples: Robert himself was not hurt.
Do not use reflexive or intensive pronouns unless the noun or pronoun to which it refers is being expressed in the same sentence.
Examples: The discharge instructions were given to the patient and her daughter.
Relative Pronouns
Used to introduce independent/subordinate clauses and reflect back to previous nouns or pronouns. The most common relative pronouns are: that, who, whom, what, which, and whose. Other variations include: whomever, whosoever, whatsoever, and whichever.
Examples: Dr. Smith is a physician whom we can trust.
The medication was one that she had not heard of before.
Interrogative Pronouns
Relative pronouns used to introduce a question.
Examples: who brought the patient to the emergency room?
What is the name of your primary care physician?
Demonstrative Pronouns
Used to point out persons or things. The common demonstrative pronouns are: this, that, these, and those.
Examples: That is an excellent question.
This seems to be my lucky day.
Indefinite Pronouns
Do not fall into any of the classifications. Most of them express the idea of quantity. The most commonly used indefinite pronouns are: all, another, any, anybody, anyone, both, each, either, everybody, few, many, most, neither, nobody, none, no one, one, other, several, some, somebody, someone, and such.
Examples: All of us are here.
Few of the cars were new.
Do not confuse those compound indefinite pronouns that function differently when separated.
Examples: Anyone can succeed with passion and determination.
Any one mistake can lead to disaster.
No one knows how hard her recovery has been.
No one person can possibly do that much work.
