Pronouns

D. Indefinite Pronouns:

                            

Singular:

one	someone	anyone	no one	everyone
each	somebody	anybody	nobody	everybody
(n)either	something	anything	nothing	everything

                  

                     

Examples:

Somebody is coming to dinner.

Neither of us believes a word Harry says.

Plural:     

Examples:

Both are expected at the airport at the same time.

Several have suggested canceling the meeting.

Singular with non-countables / Plural with countables:

Examples:

Some of the dirt has become a permanent part of the rug.

Some of the trees have been weakened by the storm.

Indefinite pronouns use apostrophes to indicate possessive case.

Examples:

The accident is nobody’s fault.

How will the roadwork affect one's daily commute?

Some indefinite pronouns may also be used as determiners.

one, each, either, neither, some, any, one, all, both, few, several, many, most

Note the differences:

Each person has a chance.

(Each is a determiner describing person.)

Each has a chance.

(Each is an indefinite pronoun replacing a noun.)

Both lawyers pled their cases well.

(Both is a determiner describing  lawyers.)

Both were in the room.

(Both is an indefinite pronoun replacing a noun.)

E. Interrogative Pronouns:


Interrogative pronouns produce information questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer.

Examples:

What do you want?

Who is there? We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. The interrogative pronoun represents the thing that we don't know (what we are asking the question about). There are four main interrogative pronouns: who, whom, what, which Notice that the possessive pronoun whose can also be an interrogative pronoun (an interrogative possessive pronoun). subject object person who whom thing what person/ thing which person whose Notice that whom is the correct form when the pronoun is the object of the verb, as in "Whom did you see?" ("I saw John.") However, in normal, spoken English we rarely use whom. Most native speakers would say (or even write): "Who did you see?" Look at these example questions. In the sample answers, the noun phrase that the interrogative pronoun represents is shown in bold. question answer Who told you? John told me. subject Whom did you tell? I told Mary. object What's happened? An accident's happened. subject What do you want? I want coffee. object Which came first? The Porsche 911 came first. subject Which will the doctor see first? The doctor will see the patient in blue first. object There's one car missing. Whosehasn't arrived? John's (car) hasn't arrived. subject We've found everyone's keys. Whose did you find? I found John's (keys). object Note that we sometimes use the suffix "-ever" to make compounds from some of these pronouns (mainly whoever, whatever, whichever). When we add "-ever", we use it for emphasis, often to show confusion or surprise. Look at these examples: Whoever would want to do such a nasty thing? Whatever did he say to make her cry like that? They're all fantastic! Whichever will you choose?

F. Relative Pronouns:

A relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause. It is called a "relative" pronoun because it "relates" to the word that its relative clause modifies. Here is an example:

• The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.

In the above example, "who":

• relates to "The person", which "who phoned me last night" modifies
• introduces the relative clause "who phoned me last night"

There are five basic relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that*

Who (subject) and whom (object) are generally only for people. Whose is for possession. Which is for things. That can be used for things and people only in defining relative clauses (clauses that are essential to the sentence and do not simply add extra information).**

Relative pronouns can refer to singular or plural, and there is no difference between male and female.

Look at these examples showing defining and non-defining relative clauses:

	example sentences S=subject, O=object, P=possessive		notes
defining relative clauses	S	- The person who phoned me last night is my teacher. - The person that phoned me last night is my teacher.	"that" is preferable
		- The car which hit me was yellow. - The car that hit me was yellow.	"that" is preferable
	O	- The person whom I phoned last night is my teacher. - The people who I phoned last night are my teachers. - The person that I phoned last night is my teacher. - The person I phoned last night is my teacher.	"whom" is correct but formal relative pronoun is optional
		- The car which I drive is old. - The car that I drive is old. - The car I drive is old.	"that" is preferable to "which" relative pronoun is optional
	P	- The student whose phone just rang should stand up. - Students whose parents are wealthy pay extra.
		- The police are looking for the car whose driver was masked. - The police are looking for the car of which the driver was masked.	"whose" can be used with things "of which" is also possible
non-defining relative clauses	S	- Mrs Pratt, who is very kind, is my teacher.
		- The car, which was a taxi, exploded. - The cars, which were taxis, exploded.
	O	- Mrs Pratt, whom I like very much, is my teacher. - Mrs Pratt, who I like very much, is my teacher.	"whom" is correct but formal "who" is common in spoken English and informal written English
		- The car, which I was driving at the time, suddenly caught fire.
	P	- My brother, whose phone you just heard, is a doctor.
		- The car, whose driver jumped out just before the accident, was completely destroyed. - The car, the driver of whichjumped out just before the accident, was completely destroyed.	"whose" can be used with things "of which" is also possible

*Not all grammar sources count "that" as a relative pronoun.
**Some people claim that we should not use "that" for people but must use "who/whom". There is no good reason for such a claim; there is a long history of "that" for people in defining relative clauses from Chaucer, Shakespeare and the Authorized Version of The Bible to Fowler's and Churchill.

Relative pronouns introduce relative (adjectival) clauses.

Note:	Use who, whom, and whose to refer to people.
	Use that and which to refer to things.