Difference between revisions of "Pronoun"

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* Was the car his or '''thine'''?
 
* Was the car his or '''thine'''?
 
* I didn't know '''thou hadst thy''' license.
 
* I didn't know '''thou hadst thy''' license.
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== Devlin ==
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A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun; as, "John gave his pen to James and he lent it to Jane to write her copy with it." Without the pronouns we would have to write this sentence,—"John gave John's pen to James and James lent the pen to Jane to write Jane's copy with the pen."
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There are three kinds of pronouns—Personal, Relative and Adjective Pronouns.
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Personal Pronouns are so called because they are used instead of the names of persons, places and things. The Personal Pronouns are I, Thou, He, She, and It, with their plurals, We, Ye or You and They.
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I is the pronoun of the first person because it represents the person speaking.
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Thou is the pronoun of the second person because it represents the person spoken to.
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He, She, It are the pronouns of the third person because they represent the persons or things of whom we are speaking.
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Like nouns, the Personal Pronouns have number, gender and case. The gender of the first and second person is obvious, as they represent the person or persons speaking and those who are addressed. The personal pronouns are thus declined:
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<pre>
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* First Person.
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  M. or F.
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Sing. Plural.
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N. I We
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P. Mine Ours
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O. Me Us
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* Second Person.
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  M. or F.
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Sing. Plural.
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N. Thou You
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P. Thine Yours
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O. Thee You
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* Third Person.
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  M.
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Sing. Plural.
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N. He They
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P. His Theirs
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O. Him Them
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* Third Person.
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  F.
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Sing. Plural.
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N. She They
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P. Hers Theirs
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O. Her Them
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* Third Person.
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  Neuter.
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Sing. Plural.
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N. It They
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P. Its Theirs
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O. It Them
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</pre>
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N. B.—In colloquial language and ordinary writing Thou, Thine and Thee are seldom used, except by the Society of Friends. The Plural form You is used for both the nominative and objective singular in the second person and Yours is generally used in the possessive in place of Thine.
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The Relative Pronouns are so called because they relate to some word or phrase going before; as, "The boy who told the truth;" "He has done well, which gives me great pleasure."
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Here who and which are not only used in place of other words, but who refers immediately to boy, and which to the circumstance of his having done well.
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The word or clause to which a relative pronoun refers is called the Antecedent.
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The Relative Pronouns are who, which, that and what.
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Who is applied to persons only; as, "The man who was here."
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Which is applied to the lower animals and things without life; as, "The horse which I sold." "The hat which I bought."
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That is applied to both persons and things; as, "The friend that helps." "The bird that sings." "The knife that cuts."
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What is a compound relative, including both the antecedent and the relative and is equivalent to that which; as, "I did what he desired," i. e. "I did that which he desired."
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Relative pronouns have the singular and plural alike.
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Who is either masculine or feminine; which and that are masculine, feminine or neuter; what as a relative pronoun is always neuter.
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That and what are not inflected.
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Who and which are thus declined:
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    Sing. and Plural Sing. and Plural
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N. Who N. Which
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P. Whose P. Whose
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O. Whom O. Which
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Who, which and what when used to ask questions are called Interrogative Pronouns.
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* Adjective Pronouns partake of the nature of adjectives and pronouns and are subdivided as follows:
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;Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns which directly point out the person or object : ''this'', ''that'' with their plurals ''these, those,'' and ''yon, same'' and ''selfsame''.
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;Distributive Adjective Pronouns used distributively : each, every, either, neither.
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;Indefinite Adjective Pronouns used more or less indefinitely : any, all, few, some, several, one, other, another, none.
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;Possessive Adjective Pronouns denoting possession : my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their.
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N. B.—(The possessive adjective pronouns differ from the possessive case of the personal pronouns in that the latter can stand alone while the former cannot. "Who owns that book?" "It is mine." You cannot say "it is my,"—the word book must be repeated.)
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==

Revision as of 06:34, 28 August 2006

In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun phrase. The replaced phrase is the antecedent of the pronoun.


Demonstrative 
deictic words that indicate which entities a speaker refers to, and distinguishes those entities from others.
interrogative 
a function word used for the item questioned in a question.
Personal 
a part of grammar that relate to objects of a sentence, usually (but not always), people or animals.
possessive 
a part of speech that attributes ownership to someone or something.
relative 
a pronoun that marks a relative clause within a larger sentence.

List of Pronouns

Below is a nearly exhaustive list of English pronouns. They are personal, demonstrative, indefinite, intensive, interrogative, and reflexive (not in alphabetical order yet):

  1. all
  2. its
  3. something
  4. another
  5. itself
  6. that
  7. any
  8. many
  9. their
  10. anybody
  11. me
  12. theirs
  13. anyone
  14. mine
  15. them
  16. anything
  17. my
  18. themselves
  19. both
  20. myself
  21. these
  22. each
  23. neither
  24. they
  25. either
  26. nobody
  27. this
  28. everbody
  29. none
  30. this
  31. everyone
  32. no one
  33. us
  34. everything
  35. nothing
  36. we
  37. few
  38. one
  39. what
  40. he
  41. others
  42. which
  43. her
  44. our
  45. who
  46. hers
  47. ours
  48. whom
  49. herself
  50. ourselves
  51. whose
  52. him
  53. several
  54. you
  55. himself
  56. she
  57. your
  58. his
  59. some
  60. yours
  61. I
  62. somebody
  63. yourself
  64. it
  65. someone
  66. yourselves

Archaic pronouns

Personal pronouns

  • thee
  • thou
  • thy
  • thine
  • thyself
  • thineself

Collective pronouns

  • mine
  • ye

Examples

The following are examples of archaic second person singular pronoun in English (they were used wherever we would say you to indicate only one person):

  • Thou wast in the next room. (one person, subject)
  • Ye were in the next room. (several people, subject)
  • I saw thee in the next room. (one person, object)
  • I saw you in the next room (several people, object)
  • That is thy room. (one person, possessive)
  • That is your room. (several people, possessive)
  • That room is thine. (one person, predicate possessive)
  • That room is yours. (several people, predicate possessive)

Example sentences

  • I saw thee and thy friend John getting into a car.
  • Wast thou going somewhere with him?
  • I saw thee sitting behind the wheel, so I thought thou wert (or thou wast) the driver.
  • Was the car his or thine?
  • I didn't know thou hadst thy license.

Devlin

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun; as, "John gave his pen to James and he lent it to Jane to write her copy with it." Without the pronouns we would have to write this sentence,—"John gave John's pen to James and James lent the pen to Jane to write Jane's copy with the pen."

There are three kinds of pronouns—Personal, Relative and Adjective Pronouns.

Personal Pronouns are so called because they are used instead of the names of persons, places and things. The Personal Pronouns are I, Thou, He, She, and It, with their plurals, We, Ye or You and They.

I is the pronoun of the first person because it represents the person speaking.

Thou is the pronoun of the second person because it represents the person spoken to.

He, She, It are the pronouns of the third person because they represent the persons or things of whom we are speaking.

Like nouns, the Personal Pronouns have number, gender and case. The gender of the first and second person is obvious, as they represent the person or persons speaking and those who are addressed. The personal pronouns are thus declined: 

* First Person.
  M. or F.
	Sing. 	Plural.
 N. 	I 	We
 P. 	Mine 	Ours
 O. 	Me 	Us

* Second Person.
  M. or F.
	Sing. 	Plural.
 N. 	Thou 	You
 P. 	Thine 	Yours
 O. 	Thee 	You

* Third Person.
  M.
	Sing. 	Plural.
 N. 	He 	They
 P. 	His 	Theirs
 O. 	Him 	Them

* Third Person.
  F.
	Sing. 	Plural.
 N. 	She 	They
 P. 	Hers 	Theirs
 O. 	Her 	Them

* Third Person.
  Neuter.
	Sing. 	Plural.
 N. 	It 	They
 P. 	Its 	Theirs
 O. 	It 	Them

N. B.—In colloquial language and ordinary writing Thou, Thine and Thee are seldom used, except by the Society of Friends. The Plural form You is used for both the nominative and objective singular in the second person and Yours is generally used in the possessive in place of Thine.

The Relative Pronouns are so called because they relate to some word or phrase going before; as, "The boy who told the truth;" "He has done well, which gives me great pleasure."

Here who and which are not only used in place of other words, but who refers immediately to boy, and which to the circumstance of his having done well.

The word or clause to which a relative pronoun refers is called the Antecedent.

The Relative Pronouns are who, which, that and what.

Who is applied to persons only; as, "The man who was here."

Which is applied to the lower animals and things without life; as, "The horse which I sold." "The hat which I bought."

That is applied to both persons and things; as, "The friend that helps." "The bird that sings." "The knife that cuts."

What is a compound relative, including both the antecedent and the relative and is equivalent to that which; as, "I did what he desired," i. e. "I did that which he desired."

Relative pronouns have the singular and plural alike.

Who is either masculine or feminine; which and that are masculine, feminine or neuter; what as a relative pronoun is always neuter.

That and what are not inflected.

Who and which are thus declined: 

    Sing. and Plural 		Sing. and Plural
N. 	Who 		N. 	Which
P. 	Whose 		P. 	Whose
O. 	Whom 		O. 	Which

Who, which and what when used to ask questions are called Interrogative Pronouns.

  • Adjective Pronouns partake of the nature of adjectives and pronouns and are subdivided as follows:
Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns which directly point out the person or object 
this, that with their plurals these, those, and yon, same and selfsame.
Distributive Adjective Pronouns used distributively 
each, every, either, neither.
Indefinite Adjective Pronouns used more or less indefinitely 
any, all, few, some, several, one, other, another, none.
Possessive Adjective Pronouns denoting possession 
my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their.

N. B.—(The possessive adjective pronouns differ from the possessive case of the personal pronouns in that the latter can stand alone while the former cannot. "Who owns that book?" "It is mine." You cannot say "it is my,"—the word book must be repeated.)

External links

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