Pronouns Flashcards
Pronouns
Proforms -> they replace nouns, or full NPs
Closed class ( nouns are open class)
Case-contrast for subjective/objective case
Person-distinction 1st,2nd,3rd
Gender-contrast masculine/feminine/neuter
Morphologically unrelated number forms I,we/he,they
Case
2 cases -> common case (children, somebody) and genitive case (children’s, somebody’s)
6 pronouns have an objective case
Subjective case
I,you,he,she,it,we,you,they
Objective case
Me,you,him,her,it,us,you,them
Genitive case (possessive case)
My,your,his,her,its,our,your,their
Mine,yours,his,hers,its,ours,yours, theirs
Reflexive
Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Person
Personal,possessive and reflexive-> 1st person (designate the speaker -> I,we)
2nd person (the person addressed-> you)
3rd person (the rest, people or things mentioned-> he,she,it, they)
No difference between you( except for reflexive pronouns)
You is used in sense of one, they in sense of people in general
Gender
3rd person Sg personal, reflexive and possessive-> distinguished in gender ( masculine he, feminine she, neuter it)
Relative and interrogative -> personal (who,whom,whose) and non-personal (which)
Number person
Sg and pl
We means I+ one or more other people
Demonstrative this and that -> these and those
Only sg(each, every,somebody, something)
Only pl (many,few,both,several)
One form for sg,pl (all, any, some, who)
Specific pronouns
Central (personal,reflexive, reciprocal,possessive)
Relative,interrogative, demonstrative
Personal Ps(subjective, objective)
Archaic(poetic) thou/thee, thine possessive, thyself reflecting
We, Elisabeth II. -> royal we
Let’s have a look (us,me)
Reflexive
Non-emphatic -> showing how verbal action passes from S back to S, nowhere else S and O refer to the same person (I’m teaching myself Latin)
Different roles within a clause, Od,Oi,Cs (he shaves himself)
Emphatic -> often in opposition, stressed, mobile (I wouldn’t kiss her myself)
Reciprocal
Each other, one another-> group pronouns, each other ( just two people) one another (more then 2 people)
Can be used in possessive case (the students borrowed each other’s notes)
Possessive
Body parts, items of personal use
Attributive (my, your),determiners, nominal (mine, yours, hers) -> Mary’s/my daughter’s/her book
Its rare
Relative
Unmarked for number/gender, but personal/non-personal,restrictive/non-restrictive
Who,whom,whose,which (persons x things,animals)
With collective nouns denoting persons, which is used if the noun is regarded as sg,whom if it’s regarded as plural ( the London team, which played x the team, who are getting tickets)
Which is used when the antecedent (the grammatical item to which the relative pronoun refers) is a whole sentence (he invited us to dinner, which was kind)
That-> restrictive use (they live in a house that was built)
Only that (who or which wouldn’t be possible) -> his book is the best that has ever been written
What -> antecedent and relative pronoun in one : what = the thing + that (tell me what you want to know
Interrogative
Who -> persons only, subjective, genitive, objective case ( who saw you, whom did you see, to whom did you give that)
What -> things, profession, character ( what was he,a politician)
Which -> things/ persons, which of meaning ( which do you prefer )
Demonstrative
Close/ distant reference, also for time( that was last year, this is today)
Reference to the previously mentioned (compare these maps with those walls)
Refer to entire statement ( I had a severe cold, that was my reason)
Same such ( of this kind) -> I never saw such a beautiful color, it was no longer the same
Universal
All -> refer to persons/things, unity,collective ref. pronoun/adj,pl/sg (all is lost, he spent all last week in London)
All and every -> all+ pl, every + sg ( all boys like doing x every boy likes doing)
All is used adverbially (his face was all covered with blood)
Every and each -> members taken one by one
Each -> 2 or more
Every -> adjective, pronominal forms are everyone, everything
Both-> 2 objects/ persons regarded together, before Pl Ns only (they are both doctors -> Pro, there are houses on both sides of the street-> adj, the book is both useful and amusing -> adv
Partitive
Some,any, no, other, either, neither
Some-> determiner and nominal function, before uncount. Pl Ns ( expresses indefinite quantity-> I’ve spilt some ink, ti suggest contrast-> Some people hate cats, others dislike dogs)
-> in its determiner function, before sg count Ns with a meaning a particular, but unidentified person or thing ( some fool had left ), some and something = approximately ( it happened some twenty years ago)
No -> determiner, often not any/a (there’s no salt), nobody, no one, nothing-> sg concord ( nobody has come yet), none refers to persons/things, with sg/pl verb ( I wanted some coffee but there was none left )
In short answers-> nobody, no one, nothing ( question who or what), none (how many, much)
Other -> as adjective/ pronoun, the other + sg noun = the second of two ( one is black, other is white ), the others or the other + pl noun = the remaining ones ( you go there, the others go there)
Another -> an additional one ( will you have another cup of tea), a different one ( one day he’s nice, on another day not )
Either-> one or the other of two ( bring me a pen or a pencil, either will do), both ( I haven’t seen either of them)
Neither -> not this and not the other ( neither of the two statements is correct)
Quantifying
Many, few -> count.
Much,little -> uncount.
Few,little -> a negative meaning (few books are written clearly)
A few,little -> a positive meaning ( it costs a few crowns)
Less -> with periods of time,sums ( less than a year)
Several, enough-> determiner and nominal function, several with pl count.(john has made several mistakes), enough with non/count. Ns( have you got enough food)
One -> numerical one (a/an) determiner (yesterday, one boy fell),nominal ( yesterday, one of the boys fell), replacive one is used as an anaphoric substitute ( is this the one you mean), indefinite one = people in general ( one should be careful)
