The Pronoun
.docxThe Pronoun
The Pronoun is a part of speech which points out things and qualities of things without naming them directly like nouns and adjectives do.
Grammatical categories of Pronouns:
Gender
he — masculine
she — feminine
it — neuter
they — refers to all of them in the plural
Case: only personal pronouns have cases — the Nominative Case and the Objective Case.
1)Nominative Case- именительный падеж : I, he she, they, we, you
2)Objective Case- Объектный падеж : me, him, her, them, it, us, you
Number -in the system of pronouns can be expressed in different ways:
Singular form- this, that, myself, herself
Plural form- these, those, ourselves, themselves
Groups of pronouns:
1. Personal: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they
2. Possessive: me, your, his, her, its, our, your, their mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs
3. Demonstrative: it, this, these, that, those, same, such
4. Interrogative: who (whom), whose, which, what (in questions)
5. Relative: who (whom), whose, which, that (in attributive clauses)
6. Conjunctive: who (whom), whose, which, what (in diff erent subordinate clauses)
7. Self-pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
8. Reciprocal: each other, one another
9. Negative: no, nobody (no one), none, nothing (in negative sentences)
10. Indefinite: some, any, no (and their compounds), all, both, each, every (and its compounds), other, another, one, much, many, (a) little, (a) few
Personal Pronouns
Personal Pronouns have two cases — the Nominative Case and the Objective Case.
When a personal pronoun is a subject, or a predicative of the sentence, it is used in the Nominative Case in official, formal style.
In informal, colloquial style the use of the objective case of the personal pronoun has become standard in Modern English.
The Objective Case of the personal pronoun is used after such prepositions as between, up, but (in the meaning of except), except, without.
If the pronoun follows than or as we can use me, him, etc. (informal style) or I, he, etc. with a verb (more formal). Also in short answers.
Possessive Pronouns
The Possessive Pronouns have two forms — the Conjoint Form and the Absolute Form
the Conjoint Form ( pronoun+noun ): my, your, his, her, its, our , their
the Absolute Form (pronoun — no noun): mine ,yours, his ,hers, — ,ours , theirs
The conjoint form of the pronoun is always followed by a noun.
The absolute form is used absolutely, without any noun and may have different functions in the sentence.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns have number — the singular and the plural. (this — these, that — those)
The general demonstrative meaning of these pronouns is near and distant reference in time and space.
This/these identify something near to the speaker, they are associated with “here”.
That/those identify something farther from the speaker; they are associated with “there”. (this room — that house; this year — that day)
Indefinite Pronouns
-some&any
Are used both with countable and uncountable nouns “indefinite number, amount or quality”- несколько
Some is used mainly in + sentences. It’s used in ? sent. With polite offers or suggestions( Would you like some tea?)
It’s used in “–“ “sentences when the negation doesn’t involve the noun with some (some of your answer are correct, but some aren’t)
Any is used mainly in “?” and “-“ sent. In the meaning of любой, всякий (Any day is fine for me. Any child knows it)
-One
1. Stands for people when we talk in general( One should always listen to the teacher)
2. Vague time ( one day= однажды)
3. To avoid repetition ( My house is the first one on the left)
4. “only”, “single”( He’s the one man to help me)
-Much, many ,a lot of
Much with uncountable
Many with countable
A lot of with both
-A few/a little (несколько, немного)
Few-fewer-fewest
Little-less-least
-Each/Every + sing count nouns
Every child got a present. Each got what he had wanted .
Every- for the individual as a member of some groups
Each- the separate individual
-Either/Neither
Alternative between 2 thigs or person
It’s either you or me. Neither you her me is interested
-All/both/half/(a/the) whole
All of you are my students-все
Both of us are interested in this matter- Оба
Half the cake is already eaten -Половина
I read the whole book in one evening -Весь, целый
The whole is more emphatic than all.
Other-the other
We’ve got other plans for the weekend (in general)- другой
She’s got strange eyes: one is blue, the other is green – другой ( but out of two)
Others-the Others
Some people like cats, others prefer dogs –другие (in general)
Only 6 students are present today. Where are the others? - Остальные, другие
Self-Pronouns (Reflexives)
Personal – I, you we, they, he, she, it
Self-pronouns-myself, yourself, ourselves, themselves, himself, herself, itself
A reflexive pronoun can be used in the sentence as an object, attribute, predicative, an adverbial modifier
The Russian reflexive meaning (ся) can be expressed in English by:
the construction “verb + oneself”. The audience laughed itself stupid
the verb in the active voice. They met, but soon parted
the verb in the passive voice. The house is being built in the country.
phrasal verbs and phraseological units like: to ask for something, to take the trouble of doing something, to back down, to be back, can’t help doing, it goes without saying, etc. You are asking for trouble, my boy
An emphatic self-pronoun should be placed after the word it emphasizes or at the end of the sentence. He himself told me about it.
Interrogative (Question) Pronouns
Interrogative pronouns who? what? which? whose? are used, unsurprisingly, to ask questions.
The pronoun who can be subject or object: Who teaches you? Who does she teach?
The objective form of the interrogative pronoun whom? is now rarely used except in formal style, especially in the pattern preposition + whom. Compare: To whom should I apply? Who should I apply to?
Although the interrogative who is much more common than the objective form whom, still whom should be used in the cases like: There was a man whom nobody knew.
Relative and Conjunctive Pronouns
Pronouns who(m), which, whose, that are used to join ideas, usually on the following pattern:
NOUN + INFORMATION ABOUT THE NOUN
When the pronoun is the object of the verb, as in the last sentence, the pronoun is usually omitted. : Physics is a subject I find difficult
That or who are used for people; that or which for things; whose for both things and people.
Reciprocal Pronouns
Each other and one another express a mutual relation ship between the entities.
Each other is used for 2 people
One another is used for more than 2 people