Functional and

Conversant English

I n d e f i n i t e
P r o n o u n s
Presented by Christine Jelynn C. Munoz
Today's Discussion
THINGS TO COVER

Indefinite Pronouns
The Meaning of Demonstratives
Use of Demonstratives in Discourse
Interaction of Demonstratives, Personal Pronouns, and Articles
The Meaning and Use of Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns
The Meaning and Use of Possessive Forms
The Use of Inflected Versus Periphrastic Possessives
 a t i s I n d e f i n i t e
W h
P r o n o u n s ?
 An indefinite
pronoun does not
refer to any
specific person,
thing or amount.
It is vague and
"not definite"
 EXAMPLE
-body . somebody . anybody . nobody . everybody
-one . someone . anyone . no one . everyone
-thing . something . anything . nothing . everything
EXAMPLE:

-Anyone could have gotten in

free.

-Any one of us could have

gotten in free; the other two
would have had to pay.
 The Use of Plural
Pronouns to Refer to
Singular Nouns
 EXAMPLE: 1.1

-Everyone has his own way of doing things

-Everybody has their own way of doing things
1.2
-Somebody is driving without their lights.
-Has anybody brought a watch with them?
-Nobody had a good time, did they?
1.3
-Someone left their sweatshirt here.
-No one sends their children to public school anymore.
-Has anyone lost their pen?
-Who ever gets to imagine that they might become an artist?
-Every (parent/mother/father) thinks their baby is cute.
 P r o n o u n s a n d
Inde f i n i t e i c
i t e a n d G e n e r
Othe r I n d e f i n
Nou n P h r a s e
 EXAMPLE:

-This present is for {someone, somebody} very dear to me.

-"Who should introduce the speaker?" I asked. "Oh {anybody,
anyone}", he replied disinterestedly.
----
-Years ago when I worked in Hollywood, someone said, "You
don't understand. This town is run on fear".
 The
Meaning
of
Demonstratives
 SPATIAL: TEMPORAL:
I like this car better than I like this movie better than
that one over there that concert last night.

PSYCHOLOGICAL:
SEQUENTIAL:
I like this candidate, which is
This dress is less attractice
why I didn't vote for that
than that one.
one.
 o n s t r a t i v e s i n
U s e o f D e m
Dis c o u r s e
DATA REFERENT
FORM(S) FREQUENCY MEANING HEARER
important
this/these 15 % high focus new information

that/those 30% med. focus

(not shared) ↨
↨
it 55% low focus old information unimportant
(shared)
 INTERACTION of
DEMONSTRATIVES PERSONAL PRONOUNS AND ARTICLES
 I heard a speaker on campus this a ternoon . . .
(1) The speaker was talking about the dangers of
nuclear power.
Oh, I've heard {that (2) This speaker was the best I've heard regarding the
joke, the joke, it} nuclear power issue.
before.
I'm not sure if I'll type my paper myself . . .
(3) If I do, it will probably take all day.
(4) I have more important things to do than that!

Moya told us { the (5) I asked my instructor if I needed to submit a

jokes, those jokes, bibliography with my draft. She told me {that, the
them}. bibliography} would be unnecessary.
(6) This paper is the best I've written. I'm sure my
classmates will enjoy {it, the paper}
 d U s e o f
e a n i n g a n
T h e M e c i p r o c a l
i v e a n d R
Re f l e x s
Pr o n o u n
 EXAMPLES:
-The children hit themselves.

-The children hit each other.

*After ten years, she and Ted were

happy to see themselves again.
Asystematic Uses of
Reflexive Pronouns
 What about yourself? How we portray ourself
(=you) influences the way we behave.

We expected yourself to take the lead.

(=you)
I'm sure many of you have
played this head game with
The text was first copyedited by my yourself.
mother and myself.
(=me) We encourage people to give
themself credit for the labor in
Mr. Dennison, Mr. Pappas, and myself
have spent hundreds of hours. . . (=I) remodeling.

On behalf of myself and Delta Airlines, . . .

(=me)
The Use of Reciprocal
Pronouns
Examples
- Bob and George dislike each other.
- The three sisters are devoted to one another.

- The waiters followed one another into the room.

- These sentences have nothing to do with each other.

- "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you
have love for one another." -- John 13.34-35
 The
Meaning
and Use of
Possessive
Forms
- POSSESSION: John's car her book
- AGENCY/SOURCE: Shakespeare's sonnets his ideas
- HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS:
a. kinship: Bob's cousin my father
b. professional: Joe's teacher their doctor
c. other social: Anne's neighbour your girlfriend
.
- TRAITS (PHYSICAL or
OTHER): Sue's eyes her ego
- REPRESENTATION: John's portrait his statue
(= a portarit of John) (=a statue of him)
- EVALUATION: the project's importance its value
- NAMED AFTER: St. Paul's Cathedral
- MEASUREMENT: an hour's time
- SUBJECT + the earth's rotation his actions
NOMINALIZED VERB: (= the earth rotates) . (=he acts)
The Use of Possessive
Forms
 EXAMPLES:
Paul lost his book. my cousin's father
Paula lost her book. some people's opinions

Paul/Paule a perdu son livre.

Paul/Paule (has) (lost) (his/her) (book)

Compare: Spanish
several women's universities
(literal translation: I have broken the leg.
English: I have broken my leg. a ship's doctor

Philip is one of our friends.

Philip is a friend of ours.
 s o f M o d i f y i n g
Three T y p e
Head N o u n s
PERSONAL PERSONAL COLLECTIVE OR
NAMES ROLES INSTITUTIONAL
(71%) (19%) NOUNS
(10%)
e.g., Bob, Mr. Smith e.g., teacher, child e.g., team, the
example: Bob's house example: the teacher's company
report example: the
comapany's report
 FIVE TYPES OF OTHER
NOUNS OF INTERNAL
POSSESSIVE includes partitive nouns,
POSSESSION
DETERMINERS animals, and
e.g., information,
problem, opinion IN HAN'S institutional and
collective nouns
example: Bob's problem CORPUS example: Billy's dog

PERSONAL ROLES LOCATIVE NOUNS

PHYSICAL OBJECTS
e.g., doctor, secretary, e.g., lawn, office,
e.g., desk, box, book
wife garage
example: the professor's
example: Mr. Smith's example: the teacher's
book
doctor office
 f l e c t e d V e r s u s
The U s e o f I n
i c P o s s e s s i v e s
Perip h r a s t
 EXAMPLES
The train's arrival was delayed. What can I do for the husband of Dr.
was preferred over
The arrival of the train was Smith's daughter?
delayed. was preferred over
What can I do for Dr. Smith's
double possessives: Hank's brother's car
daughter's husband?
nouns of special interest to human activity:
the game's history
London's water supply Shakespeare's sonnets (informal)
natural phenomena: the earth's rotation the sonnets of Shakespeare
(formal)
He stood at the foot of the bed.
*He stood at the bed's foot.
*The car of my friend is new
He's the son of the well-known politician
*My friend car is new
was preferred over
He's the well-known politician's son
 H A N K Y O U !
T