Possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns express possession. They are typically used when the head noun is recoverable from the preceding text: Alice took my hands in hers. Everyone seemed to have a newspaper in their hands that morning. Several people waved theirs at Bobbie and smiled as she went by. My hair is very fine. Yours is much thicker. What happened? Your guess is as good as mine. The possessive pronoun also occurs in a post-modifying of-phrase, which is parallel to the double-genitive: She is a friend of my wifes. She is a friend of hers. (one of her friends)

This construction makes it possible for a noun to be specified with both a determiner and a possessive marker. A relative of mine had a son called Rick, who was learning brick-laying at a local college. He took a fancy to a cousin of mine. Reflexive pronouns The reflexive pronouns form a set corresponding to the personal and possessive forms and show co-reference with the subject, i.e. they are identical in reference with the subject of the same clause. The reflexive pronoun however carries a different syntactic role, it is typically an object: So I consoled myself by reading books. She cried herself to sleep. John forced himself to smile. Do pull yourself together! The reflexive pronoun oneself refers to people in general: It is only through study that one really begins to know oneself. Reflexive pronouns also show emphasis. In this use, the reflexive pronouns are stressed and are usually placed immediately after (or nearby) the noun phrase they relate to. They are called emphatic reflexive pronouns and their function is to underline the identity of the referent: Ill go and see the President himself if I have to. Having reached the place himself, he ran tiptoe down the steps. With subject noun phrases, they may also be placed later in the clause and have greater positional mobility. Compare: The mayor himself spoke to me. The mayor spoke to me himself. Reciprocal pronouns The reciprocal pronouns each other and one another are co-referent with a preceding noun phrase within the same clause, usually in subject position: They visit each other a lot. Her friends were talking to one another. Both reciprocal pronouns can have possessive forms: We avoided one another's / each others eyes. They differ from the reflexive pronouns in that the reference is to more than one entity and in that there is a mutual relationship between the entities. Each other is used

when only two people are involved. One another is used when we refer to more than two people or when making very general statements: Jane and Mary talk to each other a lot. Despite the chaos, people were getting one another out and trying to save one another. However, in modern English, most people make no difference between these two pronouns. Indefinite pronouns Indefinite pronouns refer to entities which the speaker cannot specify more exactly. There are four main sets of indefinite pronouns, each derived from a quantifier: quantifier every some any no everybody somebody anybody nobody indefinite pronouns everyone someone anyone no one everything something anything nothing

Reference is always to an indefinite person or thing: I feel fine! Where is everybody? Mr. Kennedy always knew everything about everybody. And nobody knew anything about aquafarming. Now no one said anything at all. Somebody, someone and something are usually used in affirmative sentences, while anybody, anyone, anything are distributed in interrogative sentences: Something or someone frightened him off. Can anybody believe stories like that? Anybody, anyone, anything also occur in negative sentences generated by: a) negating the verb with the negative particle not: I opened the door but I couldnt see anybody. b) the negatives never, no, neither, nor, hardly, scarcely, etc.: Never lend money or anything else to a stranger. Neither team think they're going to gain anything from that. Nor is there anyone willing to do that. Hardly anyone noticed her as she passed by. c) the implied negatives, i.e. words with a negative meaning: fail, prevent; reluctant, hard, difficult, comparison with too: The problem was too difficult for anyone to solve. He was reluctant to meet anyone that day. This was too risky for anybody to do it. They worked hard for anything they got. d) in conditional clauses If they have to take anything, they'd rather take the money. I'll be there all day if anyone can help me. For all this, compounds of some can be used in negative, interrogative or conditional clauses, when the basic meaning is assertive: Why don't you just hire somebody else? (I strongly suggest you hire somebody else) If somebody calls, tell him or her Im sick in bed. (the speaker expects that someone will call) Conversely, anybody, anyone and anything can be used with stress in clauses with the meaning no matter who, no matter what:

I enjoy cooking. I'd cook anything. Anybody can see that it's wrong. Everybody, everyone and everything are used with singular verbs. When possessives and pronouns refer back to everybody or everyone they can be either singular (more formal) or plural (less formal): 'How's everything with you?' 'Fine, thanks.' (informal) Everyone held his or her breath. (formal) I know everybody's got their own arguments but . . .(informal) The pronoun one has two pronominal uses, in addition to being used as a numeral: a) substitute one One is often used to replace or to avoid repeating a noun. A singular noun is replaced by one, a plural noun by ones: May I have a melon a nice ripe one? The new designs are much better than the old ones. b) generic one One may also refer to people in general (including you and me). It is a rather formal and impersonal pronoun in this use: What can one do to protect oneself from these awful people? There is also a possessive ones and a reflexive pronoun oneself: Ones family can be a real nuisance at times. One should always give oneself plenty of time to pack Interrogative pronouns The interrogative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which and what) are used in questions. They replace the item questioned. Who, whom and whose have only personal reference: Who are you?. Im Jane. Whose are these books? These books are Marys. Whom have you asked about your assignment? My teacher. Which and what may have both personal and non-personal reference: I can see five girls in this photo. Which is your sister? There are several umbrellas here. Which is yours? What is she? She is a Chemistry teacher. What is he drinking? He is drinking lemon juice. Which is selective and usually implies that the speaker has a limited number of choices in mind, while what has indefinite reference and implies what kind of. Relative pronouns Relative pronouns are a group of noun substitutes (who, whoever, whosoever, which, whichever) used to join the dependent clauses they introduce to their own antecedent, i.e. the nouns to which the relative pronouns refer. The choice of the relative pronoun is also conditioned by the antecedent:

Who is used when the antecedent is a person; That is used to refer to either persons or things; Which is used to refer to anything except persons.

John, who is my brother, will be joining the school in September. The watch (that/which) you gave me keeps perfect time. The people (that/whom) I spoke to were very helpful.

The relative pronoun whose refers to people but can also refer to things or animals: The salesman, whose name I have forgotten, sold Sam a car.