Indefinite Pronouns

LC 1.2 Students should be

able to identify and correctly
use indefinite pronouns

What is an indefinite
pronoun?
They are words that replace nouns
without specifying which noun they
replace (remember- a noun is a
person, place, or thing)
Ex: another, everybody, everyone,
everything, each, either,
somebody, someone, something,
both, few, many, all, most, none

Indefinite pronouns can be

singular or plural
Singular: another, everybody,
everyone, everything, each, either,
somebody, someone, something
Plural: both, few, many, others,
several
Singular or plural: all, any, more,
most, some

Singular Indefinite
Pronouns

Singular indefinite pronouns take singular verbs or

singular personal pronouns.
Correct: Each of the members has one vote.
(The subject, each, is singular. Use has.)
Incorrect: One of the girls gave up their seat.
Correct: One of the girls gave up her seat.
(Her refers to one, which is singular.)

Plural Indefinite Pronouns

Plural indefinite pronouns take plural verbs or
plural personal pronouns.
Correct: A few of the justices were voicing
their opposition.
(Few is plural, so are were and their.)
Incorrect: Both of the men was going to work.
(Both is plural, but was is not.)

Singular or plural
indefinite pronouns
For indefinite pronouns that can be singular or
plural, it depends on what the indefinite pronoun
refers to.

Correct: All of the people clapped their hands.

(All refers to people, which is plural.)
Correct: All of the newspaper was soaked.
(Here all refers to newspaper, which is singular.)

Can you find the indefinite

pronoun(s) in the
sentence?

I wanted to see them all.

All
She wanted to go to the movies to
see someone.
Someone
Something woke me up.
Something

Can you identify if these

indefinite pronouns are
singular or plural?

There is something outside.

Something= singular
All of my friends are at the movies.
All refers to friends, which is plural)
Both of the roads are closed.
Both= plural
Can we see some of the movie?
Some refers to movie which is singular

Is the indefinite pronoun

used correctly?

All of the people was watching the show.

No
I see someone in the house.
Yes
Most of the movie is over.
Yes
Is most of the people outside?
No
Both of the kids is riding bikes.
no

Remember
Indefinite pronouns are words that
replace nouns, but are not specific
They can be singular or plural,
depending on what they are referring to
(singular- one noun; plural- more then
one noun)
Indefinite pronouns and their verbs must
agree (plural indefinite pronoun= plural
verb and singular indefinite pronoun =
singular verb)