Pronouns English

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Pronouns183 SummaryPersonal pronouns 184We use personal pronouns for the speaker (I) and the person spoken to (you). Weuse he, she, it and they to refer to other people and things when it is clear from thecontext what we mean.

Judy isn't coming with us. She isn't very well.Personal pronouns ha e !oth a su!"ect and an o!"ect form.

I'm coming. Wait for me.Special uses of you, one, we and they 18#We can use you$one, we and they to refer to people in general.You can't buy much for a pound.They're putting up the prices.Reflexive pronouns, emphatic pronouns and each other 18%&eflexi e pronouns refer to the su!"ect of the sentence.

Helen looked at herself in the mirror.'mphatic pronouns la emphasis on a noun phrase.

Helen did the wallpapering herself.

We useeach other

when the action goes in !oth directions. elen and Tim write each other long, passionate letters.OVERVIE ! personal pronouns, Possessives and reflexives 18"Pronouns are related to possessi e forms I!me * my * mine * myself.One and ones 188We can use one(s) to replace a noun.

I'll have a cola. " large one.We can use one to replace a noun phrase with a!an.# need a pound coin. ave you got one?

Everyone, something etc 18+,here are the compound pronouns everyone, something etc.

Everyone came to the party. - ,'

/or 0uestion words ( who, what etc) used as pronouns$ 2./or possessi e pronouns (mine, yours etc), 124./or demonstrati e pronouns (this, that, these, those), 12#./or 0uantifiers used as pronouns (some, ma n y$a few etc), 181./or relati e pronouns (who, whom, which, that), 21.

P& - 3- P56' 74

18# Personal pronounsIn this real con ersation$ 5 ril$ uc and arah are talking a!out uc 9s !rother.W:5, ; '

5 ril If we said to you now, 'What does $atthew look like%' you probablywouldn't be able to give as good a description as we could.

uc &h yes, I could.5 ril "ll right then. What does he look like%

uc o, you describe him to me and I 'll tell you if you 're right.

5 ril Well, he's uite tall, over si foot. "nd he's thin.uc Well, yes, I suppose so.

5 ril Well, in proportion with his height, and he's got fairly short black hair,...uc ot very short.

5 ril Well, perhaps it 's grown since I saw him.uc It's short as opposed to long.

5 ril I couldn't tell you what colour his eyes were.(from


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,hird person he him they them she her it it

- ,'a ,he pronoun I is alwa s a capital letter$

! *ou is the onl second*person form.You 're uite right, "vril. You 're late, all of you.c /or weak forms of pronouns$ ##(1!).

We use the su!"ect form when the pronoun is the su!"ect. I couldn't tell you. Well, he's uite tall.We use the o!"ect form when the pronoun is not the su!"ect.*ou describe him to me .We also use the o!"ect form when the pronoun is on its own. ?ompareWho invited $atthew% + I did. Who invited $atthew% + e .

- ,'We sometimes use a su!"ect pronoun as complement.The young man looked rather like $atthew, but it wasn't him! he .Who's that% + It's me.!It is I .

arah knows all about it. It was her! she who told me.,he su!"ect pronoun in this position is old*fashioned and often formal. ,he o!"ect pronounis normal$ especiall in informal speech. /or pronouns after as and than, 1(#).c We can use and or or with a pronoun$ especiall with I and you.

atthew and I are good friends.Would you and your sisters like to come with us%

arah didn't know whether to ring you or me.We normall put I!me last$ - , I and $atthew are good friends.

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In a phrase with and or or, an o!"ect pronoun is sometimes used in su!"ect position. atthew and me are good friends. You or him can have a turn now.,his happens onl in informal 'nglish and is seen ! man people as wrong. ome peopleincorrectl use I e en when the phrase is not the su!"ect.

It's a present from atthew and I.d We cannot normall lea e out a pronoun.Well, he's uite tall, - , Well, is uite tall.*ou describe him to me. - , *ou describe to me.@ut we can lea e out some su!"ect pronouns in informal speech. 4

e We do not normall use a pronoun together with a noun. $atthew is uite tall, - , $atthew he's uite tall. - ,'

a 5 pronoun comes after the noun in this pattern with as for. !s for atthew , he's uite tall.In informal speech$ we can lea e out as for.

atthew, he's uite tall."hose new #eo#le, I saw them yesterday.:ere we mention the topic ($atthew, those new people) and then use a pronoun torefer to it.

! In informal speech we can use this pattern. e's uite tall, $atthew. It was late, the five o'cloc$ train. I saw them yesterday, those new #eo#le.c We sometimes use a noun phrase after a pronoun to make clear who or what the pronounrefers to.

$atthew was waiting for -avid. He, atthew , felt worried.! He % atthew& felt worried. " We can sometimes use a phrase after a pronoun to modif it.e left(handed #eo#le should stick together.

You alone must decide. ook at her over there.

We " plural pronoun refers to more than one person or thing. We means the speaker and one or more other people. We can include or exclude the person spoken to.

e 're late. + *es, we'd better hurry. (we / ou and I)e 're late. A *ou'd better hurry then. (we B someone else and I)

7 ,hird*person pronounsa We use a third*person pronoun instead of a full noun phrase when it is clear whatwe mean. In the con ersation at the !eginning of 184$ $atthew is mentioned onlonce. 5fter that the speakers refer to him ! pronouns !ecause the know who

the are talking a!out.What does he look like% *ou describe him. Well, he's uite tall.@ut we cannot use a pronoun when it is not clear who it refers to. ook at the

paragraph on the next page a!out the &oman generals ?aesar and Pompe .


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P56' 7# 18# Personal pronouns$$ PRO%O&%S P56' 7%

There was a great war between 0aesar and the enate1 the armies of the enatewere commanded by another 2oman general, 3ompey, who had once been

friendly with )aesar. *om#ey was beaten in battle, fled to the kingdom of 4gypt,and was murdered. )aesar became master of 2ome and the whole of the 2oman

4mpire in 56 70.(from ,. ?airns The 2omans and their 4mpire)

:ere 0aesar and 3ompey ha e to !e repeated. /or example e was beaten in battlewould not make it clear who was !eaten.

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5 pronoun usuall goes after the full noun phrase$ !ut it can come first.When she got home, 0laire rang to thank us.

! e!him, she!her and it are singular. e means a male person$ she means a female person and it means something not human such as a thing$ an action or an idea. I like teve. He 's great fun. I like elen. She 's great fun. I like that game. It 's great fun.We also use it when talking a!out someone9s identit . It means 9the unknown

person9.There's someone at the door. It 's probably the milkman.?ompare these sentences.

-on't you remember 0elia% She was a great friend of mine. -on't you remember who gave you that vase% It was 0elia. - ,'

a We can use he or she for an animal if we know the animal9s sex and we feel s mpath or interest. ?ompare these sentences.

He 's a lovely little dog. It's a really vicious dog. ! We can use she!her for a countr when we see it as ha ing human 0ualities.The country's oil has given it!her economic independence.c We sometimes use it for a human !a! of unknown sex.

ook at that baby. It's been sick.d We do not normall stress it, !ut we can stress this!that.8ood heavens9 alf past ten9 Is that the right time%c They!them is plural and can refer to !oth people and things.

I like your cousins. They're great fun. I like these pictures. They're super.

4 er iew uses of it 3se 'xample,o refer to something I've lost my wallet. I can't find it anywhere.non*human$ e.g. a thing$ ook at this water. It's a funny colour a su!stance$ an action$ 8oing on all those long walks was hard work. +a feeling$ an idea or It was e hausting.a statement ove is a funny thing, isn't it %

4veryone knows we cheated. It was obvious.Identif ing a person Who's this photo of% Is it your sister%5s empt su!"ect #C(#) It's raining.

It 's strange that your dream came true.,o gi e emphasis #1 (7) It was $atthew who told me.18' Special uses of you, one, we and they

# They for someone of unknown sex,here is a pro!lem in 'nglish when we want to talk a!out a single person whosesex is not known. :ere are three possi!le wa s.1 When the millionth visitor arrives, he will be given a free ticket. His photo will betaken by a press photographer.: When the millionth visitor arrives, he or she will be given a free ticket. His or her

photo will be taken by a press photographer.7 When the millionth visitor arrives, they will be given a free ticket. "heir photowill be taken by a press photographer.,he use of he in sentence (1) is seen ! man people as sexist and is less commonthan it used to !e. @ut ( ) is awkward and we often a oid it$ especiall in speech.In (7) they is used with a singular meaning. ome people see this as incorrect$

!ut it is neater than ( )$ and it is 0uite common$ especiall in informal 'nglish. - ,'

a ,he pro!lem disappears if we can use a plural noun. ?ompare these two sentences. ! student is e pected to arrange his or her own accommodation. Students are e pected to arrange their own accommodation. ! ometimes we write he!she instead of he or she.


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He+she will be presented with a video camera.

18# pecial uses of you, one, we and they1 *ou,his real con ersation contains two examples of the pronoun you meaning 9peoplein general9.;&' I-6 / & ;I--'&


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&eflexi e pronounsa We use a reflexi e pronoun as o!"ect or complement when it refers to the samething as the su!"ect.

I fell over and hurt myself.=an 8ogh painted himself lots of times.We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a hostile crowd.The company's directors have given themselves a big pay rise.

$arion didn't look herself!her usual self.We use me, him etc onl if it means something different from the su!"ect.=an 8ogh painted himself. (a picture of Ean 6ogh)=an 8ogh painted him. (a picture of someone else)

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a e can also use a reflexi e pronoun in a su! clause.We saw the woman fall and hurt herself.8iving themselves a pay rise wasn't very diplomatic of the directors.

! $yself is sometimes an alternati e to me.*ou should get in touch either with 3eter or myself.

! 5fter a preposition we sometimes use me, you etc and sometimes myself, yourself etc. We use me, you etc after a preposition of place when it is clear that the

pronoun must refer to the su!"ect. I didn't have my driving licence with me.

$y mother likes all the family around her.ometimes we use a reflexi e to make the meaning clear. I bought these chocolates for myself. (not for someone else)=incent has a very high opinion of himself. (not of someone else)We also use myself etc rather than me etc after a prepositional er!$ e.g. believe in.

If you're going to succeed in life, you must believe in yourself.We're old enough to look after ourselves.

- ,' 7y yourse!f means 9alone9. 124(%c)c ,here are some idiomatic uses of a er! ) reflexi e pronoun.

I hope you en-oy yourself. (B ha e a good time) -id the children ehave themselves? (B !eha e well)0an we ;ust hel# ourselves? (B take e.g. food)d ome er!s taking a reflexi e pronoun in other languages do not do so in 'nglish.

We'll have to get u# early. Won't you sit down? I feel so helpless. e can't remem er what happened.uch er!s are afford, approach, complain, concentrate, feel > ad"ecti e$ get up,

hurry (up), lie down, rela , remember, rest, sit down, stand up, wake up, wonder,worry.e ,hese er!s do not usuall take a reflexi e pronoun wash, bath $ shave, (un)dressand change ( our clothes).Tom dressed uickly and went down to breakfast.

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a e can use a reflexi e pronoun when the action is difficult.The old man was unable to dress himself.

$y back was very painful, but I managed to get myself dressed.

P56' 7+ 18( Reflexive pronouns etc$$ PRO%O&%S P56' 4C

! -ry in this context takes a reflexi e.Tom dried himself on a large yellow bath towel.c We often use get washed, get shaved, get (un)dressed and get changed.Tom got dressed uickly and went down to breakfast.d /or have a wash!bath!shave, 82.

7 'mphatic pronounsa We use an emphatic pronoun to emphasiFe a noun phrase. elf!selves is stressed.Walt -isney himself was the voice of $ickey $ouse.(B Walt ;isne $ not someone else)The town itself is very ordinary, but it is set in lovely countryside.(B the town$ not its surroundings)

! ,he pronoun can also mean 9without help9. In this meaning$ it usuall comes inend position.We built the garage ourselves.

-id you do all this electrical wiring yourself? - ,'

$yself sometimes means 9as for me9$ 9as far as I am concerned9. I don't agree with it, myself.


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4 4ach other!one another a ,hese are sometimes called 9reciprocal pronouns.9 ,he refer to an action going inone direction and also !ack in the opposite direction.The students help each other+one another with their homework.The two drivers blamed each other+one another for the accident.

4ngland and 3ortugal have never been at war with each other+one another.,here is a possessi e form.Tracy and arah are the same si?e. They often wear each other's+one another'sclothes.

! ?ompare the reflexi e pronoun and each other.They've hurt themselves. They've hurt each other.c ,here is also a pattern each ... the other.

Each driver blamed the other. Each girl wears the other's clothes. - ,'

?ompare one ...the other, which means an action in one direction onl . "n airline once employed two psychiatrists to watch the passengers and arrest anyone whosenervous behaviour suggested they might be a hi


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I can't see anyone in the waiting

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Pronouns English