9.

Pronouns

Definition

Generally (but not always) pronouns stand for (pro + noun) or refer to a noun, an individual or individuals or thing or things (the
pronoun's antecedent) whose identity is made clear earlier in the text. For instance, we are bewildered by writers who claim something
like

 They say that eating beef is bad for you.

They is a pronoun referring to someone, but who are they? Cows? whom do they represent? Sloppy use of pronouns is unfair.

Not all pronouns will refer to an antecedent, however.

 Everyone here earns over a thousand dollars a day.

The word "everyone" has no antecedent.

The problem of agreement between a pronoun and its antecedent and between a pronoun and its verb is treated in another section
on Pronoun-Antecedent Consistency. The quizzes on pronoun usage are also listed at the end of that section.

This section will list and briefly describe the several kinds of pronouns.

KINDS OF PRONOUNS: Personal || Demonstrative || Indefinite || Relative || 
Reflexive || Intensive || Interrogative || Reciprocal

Personal Pronouns

Unlike English nouns, which usually do not change form except for the addition of an -s ending to create the plural or the
apostrophe + s to create the possessive, personal pronouns (which stand for persons or things) change form according to their various uses
within a sentence. Thus I is used as the subject of a sentence (I am happy.), me is used as an object in various ways (He hit me. He gave
me a book. Do this for me.), and my is used as the possessive form (That's my car.) The same is true of the other personal pronouns: the
singular you and he/she/it and the plural we, you, and they. These forms are called cases. An easily printable chart is available that shows
the various Cases of the Personal Pronouns.

Personal pronouns can also be characterized or distinguished by person. First person refers to the speaker(s) or writer(s) ("I" for
singular, "we" for plural). Second person refers to the person or people being spoken or written to ("you" for both singular and
plural). Third person refers to the person or people being spoken or written about ("he," "she," and "it" for singular, "they" for plural). The
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person of a pronoun is also demonstrated in the chart Cases of the Personal Pronouns. As you will see there, each person can change
form, reflecting its use within a sentence. Thus, "I" becomes "me" when used as an object ("She left me") and "my" when used in its
possessive role (That's my car"); "they" becomes "them" in object form ("I like them") and "their" in possessive ("That's just their way").

When a personal pronoun is connected by a conjunction to another noun or pronoun, its case does not change. We would write
"I am taking a course in Asian history"; if Talitha is also taking that course, we would write "Talitha and I are taking a course in Asian
history." (Notice that Talitha gets listed before "I" does. This is one of the few ways in which English is a "polite" language.) The same is
true when the object form is called for: "Professor Vendetti gave all her books to me"; if Talitha also received some books, we'd write
"Professor Vendetti gave all her books to Talitha and me." For more on this, see cases of pronouns.

When a pronoun and a noun are combined (which will happen with the plural first- and second-person pronouns), choose the case of
the pronoun that would be appropriate if the noun were not there.

 We students are demanding that the administration give us two hours for lunch.
 The administration has managed to put us students in a bad situation.

With the second person, we don't really have a problem because the subject form is the same as the object form, "you":

 "You students are demanding too much."

 "We expect you students to behave like adults."

Among the possessive pronoun forms, there is also what is called the nominative possessive: mine, yours, ours, theirs.

 Look at those cars. Theirs is really ugly; ours is beautiful.

 This new car is mine.
 Mine is newer than yours.

Demonstrative Pronouns

The family of demonstratives (this/that/these/those/such) can behave either as pronouns or as determiners.

As pronouns, they identify or point to nouns.

 That is incredible! (referring to something you just saw)

 I will never forget this. (referring to a recent experience)
 Such is my belief. (referring to an explanation just made)

As determiners, the demonstratives adjectivally modify a noun that follows. A sense of relative distance (in time and space) can be
conveyed through the choice of these pronouns/determiners:

 These [pancakes sitting here now on my plate] are delicious.

 Those [pancakes that I had yesterday morning] were even better.
 This [book in my hand] is well written;
 that [book that I'm pointing to, over there, on the table] is trash.

A sense of emotional distance or even disdain can be conveyed with the demonstrative pronouns:

 You're going to wear these?

 This is the best you can do?

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Pronouns used in this way would receive special stress in a spoken sentence.

When used as subjects, the demonstratives, in either singular or plural form, can be used to refer to objects as well as persons.

 This is my father.
 That is my book.

In other roles, however, the reference of demonstratives is non-personal. In other words, when referring to students, say, we could
write "Those were loitering near the entrance during the fire drill" (as long as it is perfectly clear in context what "those" refers to). But we
would not write "The principal suspended those for two days"; instead, we would have to use "those" as a determiner and write "The
principal suspended those students for two days."

Relative Pronouns

The relative pronouns (who/whoever/which/that) relate groups of words to nouns or other pronouns (The student who studies
hardest usually does the best.). The word who connects or relates the subject, student, to the verb within the dependent clause (studies).
Choosing correctly between which and that and between who and whom leads to what are probably the most Frequently Asked Questions
about English grammar. For help with which/that, refer to the Notorious Confusables article on those words (including the hyperlink to
Michael Quinion's article on this usage and the links to relevant quizzes). Generally, we use "which" to introduce clauses that are
parenthetical in nature (i.e., that can be removed from the sentence without changing the essential meaning of the sentence). For that
reason, a "which clause" is often set off with a comma or a pair of commas. "That clauses," on the other hand, are usually deemed
indispensable for the meaning of a sentence and are not set off with commas. The pronoun which refers to things; who (and its forms)
refers to people; that usually refers to things, but it can also refer to people in a general kind of way. For help with who/whom refer to the
section onConsistency. We also recommend that you take the quizzes on the use of who and whom at the end of that section.

The expanded form of the relative pronouns — whoever, whomever, whatever — are known as indefinite relative pronouns. A
couple of sample sentences should suffice to demonstrate why they are called "indefinite":

 The coach will select whomever he pleases.

 He seemed to say whatever came to mind.
 Whoever crosses this line first will win the race.

What is often an indefinite relative pronoun:

 She will tell you what you need to know.

Indefinite Pronouns

The indefinite pronouns (everybody/anybody/somebody/all/each/every/some/none/one) do not substitute for specific nouns but
function themselves as nouns (Everyone is wondering if any is left.)

One of the chief difficulties we have with the indefinite pronouns lies in the fact that "everybody" feels as though it refers to more
than one person, but it takes a singular verb. (Everybody is accounted for.) If you think of this word as meaning "every single body," the
confusion usually disappears. The indefinite pronoun none can be either singular or plural, depending on its context. None is nearly
always plural (meaning "not any") except when something else in the sentence makes us regard it as a singular (meaning "not one"), as in
"None of the food is fresh." Some can be singular or plural depending on whether it refers to something countable or noncountable. Refer
to the section on Pronoun Consistency for help on determining the number of the indefinite pronouns (and the number [singular/plural]
of the verbs that accompany them). There is a separate section on the uses of the pronoun one.

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 There are other indefinite pronouns, words that double as Determiners:

enough, few, fewer, less, little, many, much, several, more, most, all, both, every, each, any, either, neither, none, some
 Few will be chosen; fewer will finish.
 Little is expected.

See the section on Pronoun Consistency for help in determining the number (singular/plural) characteristics of these pronouns.

Intensive Pronouns

The intensive pronouns (such as myself, yourself, herself, ourselves, themselves) consist of a personal pronoun
plus self or selves and emphasize a noun. (I myself don't know the answer.) It is possible (but rather unusual) for an intensive pronoun to
precede the noun it refers to. (Myself, I don't believe a word he says.)

Reflexive Pronouns

The reflexive pronouns (which have the same forms as the intensive pronouns) indicate that the sentence subject also receives the
action of the verb. (Students who cheat on this quiz are only hurtingthemselves. You paid yourself a million dollars? She
encouraged herself to do well.) What this means is that whenever there is a reflexive pronoun in a sentence there must be a person to
whom that pronoun can "reflect." In other words, the sentence "Please hand that book to myself" would be incorrect because there is no
"I" in that sentence for the "myself" to reflect to (and we would use "me" instead of "myself"). A sentence such as "I gave that book to
myself for Christmas" might be silly, but it would be correct.

Be alert to a tendency to use reflexive pronoun forms (ending in -self) where they are neither appropriate nor necessary. The
inappropriate reflexive form has a wonderful name: the untriggered reflexive. "Myself" tends to sound weightier, more formal,
than little ol' me or I, so it has a way of sneaking into sentences where it doesn't belong.

 Bob and myself I are responsible for this decision.

 These decisions will be made by myself me.
 If you have any questions, please contact myself me or Bob Jones.

When pronouns are combined, the reflexive will take either the first person

 Juanita, Carlos, and I have deceived ourselves into believing in my uncle.

or, when there is no first person, the second person:

 You and Carlos have deceived yourselves.

The indefinite pronoun (see above) one has its own reflexive form ("One must have faith in oneself."), but the other indefinite
pronouns use either himself or themselves as reflexives. (There is an entire page on the pronoun one.) It is probably better to pluralize and
avoid the clumsy himself or herself construction.

 No one here can blame himself or herself.

 The people here cannot blame themselves.

Interrogative Pronouns

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 The interrogative pronouns (who/which/what) introduce questions. (What is that? Who will help me? Which do you
prefer?) Which is generally used with more specific reference than what. If we're taking a quiz and I ask "Which questions give you the
most trouble?", I am referring to specific questions on that quiz. If I ask " What questions give you most trouble"? I could be asking
what kind of questions on that quiz (or what kind of question, generically, in general) gives you trouble. The interrogative pronouns also
act as Determiners: It doesn't matter which beer you buy. He doesn't know whose car he hit. In this determiner role, they are sometimes
called interrogative adjectives.

Like the relative pronouns, the interrogative pronouns introduce noun clauses, and like the relative pronouns, the interrogative
pronouns play a subject role in the clauses they introduce:

 We know who is guilty of this crime.

 I already told the detective what I know about it.

Reciprocal Pronouns

The reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. They are convenient forms for combining ideas. If Bob gave Alicia a book
for Christmas and Alicia gave Bob a book for Christmas, we can say that they gave  each other books (or that they gave books to each
other).

 My mother and I give each other a hard time.

If more than two people are involved (let's say a whole book club), we would say that they gave one another books. This rule (if it is
one) should be applied circumspectly. It's quite possible for the exchange of books within this book club, for example, to be between
individuals, making "each other" just as appropriate as "one another."

Reciprocal pronouns can also take possessive forms:

 They borrowed each other's ideas.

 The scientists in this lab often use one another's equipment.

SENTENCE SUBJECTS

The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something. You can find the subject of a sentence
if you can find the verb. Ask the question, "Who or what 'verbs' or 'verbed'?" and the answer to that question is the subject. For instance,
in the sentence "The computers in the Learning Center must be replaced," the verb is "must be replaced." What must be replaced?
Thecomputers. So the subject is "computers." A simple subject is the subject of a sentence stripped of modifiers. The simple subject of
the following sentence is issue:

The really important issue of the conference, stripped of all other considerations, is the morality of the nation.

Sometimes, though, a simple subject can be more than one word, even an entire clause. In the following sentence —

What he had already forgotten about computer repair could fill whole volumes,

—the simple subject is not "computer repair," nor is it "what he had forgotten," nor is it "he." Ask what it is that "could fill whole
volumes." Your answer should be that the entire underlined clause is the simple subject.

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 In English, the subject of a command, order, or suggestion — you, the person being directed — is usually left out of the sentence
and is said to be the understood subject:

 [You] Step lively there or I'll leave you behind!

 Before assembling the swingset, [you] read these instructions carefully.

For purposes of sentence analysis, the do-er or the initiator of action in a sentence is referred to as the agent of the sentence. In an
active sentence, the subject is the agent:

 The Johnsons added a double garage to their house.

 The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter.

In a passive sentence, the agent is not the subject. In fact, sometimes a passive sentence will not contain an agent.
 The dean's report was reviewed by the faculty senate.
 Three cities in the country's interior were bombed.

Subject-Verb Inversion

The normal English order of subject-verb-completer is disturbed only occasionally but under several circumstances. Burchfield*
lists about ten situations in which the subject will come after the verb. The most important of these are as follows (subjects in blue):

1. In questions (routinely): "Have you eaten breakfast yet?" "Are you ready?"

2. In expletive constructions: "There were four basic causes of the Civil War." "Here is the book."
3. In attributing speech (occasionally, but optionally): "'Help me!' cried Farmer Brown."
4. To give prominence or focus to a particular word or phrase by putting the predicate in the initial position: "Even more
important is the chapter dealing with ordnance."
5. When a sentence begins with an adverb or an adverbial phrase or clause: "Seldom has so much been owed by so many to
so few."
6. In negative constructions: "I don't believe a word she says, nor does my brother. Come to think of it,
neither does her father."
7. After so: "I believe her; so does my brother."
8. For emphasis and literary effect: "Into the jaws of Death, / Into the mouth of Hell / Rode the six hundred."**

There are other uses of inversion, but most of those result in a strained or literary effect.