Pronouns

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PRONOUNS

Pronouns replace nouns for various purposes in English and as in French, there are several types of pronouns: personal, reflexive, demonstrative, possessive..

e.g. Derek himself took it to Marcel and showed him the details.

These books are mine and Mary bought them for me in London.

1. Usage: Personal Pronouns:

Different groups of Personal Pronouns have different roles in sentences:

A: The Subject:

I, you, he/she/it can replace singular nouns and we, you, they can replace plural nouns as the subject in a sentence:

e.g. Brian went to the cinema = He went to the cinema.

Joan and Mary visited Italy last July = They visited Italy last July.

B: The Direct Object:

me, you, him/her/it can replace singular nouns and us, you, them can replace plural nouns as the direct object in a sentence:

S V DO S V DO

e.g. Bill left Jane at the school gate = Bill left her at the school gate.

Joan met Tom and Mary in the park = Joan met them in the park.

C: The Indirect Object:

me, you, him/her/it can replace singular nouns and us, you. them can replace plural nouns as the indirect object in a sentence:

S V IO S V IO

e.g. John Smith gave the cat some food = John Smith gave it some food.

My parents gave Jill and I a car = My parents gave us a car.

2. Structure: Personal Pronouns:

Personal Pronouns are usually found in the same position in a sentence as the noun/nouns they are replacing:

S V IO DO

e.g. Henry wrote Ann a long letter.

He wrote her a long letter.

3. Structure: Exceptions:

A: With certain verbs, to can be put before the Indirect Object and the Indirect Object is placed after the Direct Object:

S V IO DO

e.g. The manager passed Jennifer a glass of wine.

S V DO IO

The manager passed a glass of wine to her.

Here are some more verbs of this type: to bring, describe, explain, pass, pay, owe, pass, pay, promise, read, sell, send, show, suggest, take.

B: With certain verbs, for can be put before the Indirect Object and the Indirect Object is placed after the Direct Object.

S V IO DO

e.g. My mother cooked the children some eggs.

S V DO IO

My mother cooked some eggs for them.

Here are some more verbs of this type: to bring, buy, cook, fetch, find, get, leave, open, order, reserve, save.

4. Usage: Reflexive Pronouns:

The reflexive pronouns myself, yourself, himself/herself/itself in the singular and ourselves, yourselves, themselves in the plural can be used in two ways:

e.g. I drove myself to Marseille.

Bill himself found the lost watch.

5. Structure:

A: to mention again the identity of the subject of the sentence with the meaning for ...... the reflexive Pronoun is placed immediately after the verb:

e.g. John found a nice house to buy.

John found himself a nice house to buy.

B: to emphasise identity, the reflexive pronoun is placed immediately after the noun:

e.g. The brothers do not know the answer.

The brothers themselves do not know the answer.

6. Usage: Possessive Pronouns:

The possessive pronouns mine, yours, his/hers/its in the singular and ours, yours, theirs in the plural show that an object/person/thing belongs to someone who is not named.

e.g. Mary and Bill are buying a house and the house is theirs. (the house of Bill and Mary)

Who owns this car? It's mine. (the car of the writer)

7. Structure:

In sentences, possessive pronouns replace the missing name of the owner of the object/person/thing.

8. Final Note:

My, your, his/her/its in the singular and our, your, their in the plural are Possessive Adjectives. They are used to show that a person/place/thing belongs to someone whose identity is known:

e.g. "Mary and Bill are our children," said Ann and John.

The pilot landed his plane safely.

 

Cited from:  http://www.rong-chang.com

 

Web Site Links:                                                  

                                                                                                                                       http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/pronouns.html 

This web site is very interesting. It describes What is a pronoun? and Type of Pronouns-personal pronouns, subjective personal pronouns, objective pronouns, possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns interrogative pronouns, relative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and intensive pronouns.                                           

http://www.oocities.org/pants098/np.html : This web site describes Nouns and Pronouns. Nouns-concrete and abstract nouns, common and proper nouns, compound and collective nouns. Pronouns-demonstrative, interrogative, and relative pronouns, possessive and contracted pronouns, reflexive and intensive pronouns, and personal and indefinite pronouns.

http://www.yindii.com/ref/grammar/pronouns.htm : This web site describes personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and relative pronouns.

 

      

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