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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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