complete Detail

1. Pronouns
 By
 Muhammad Saleem

2. Outline
 Traditional Grammar
 Pronoun
 Indefinite pronoun
 Personal pronoun
 Reflexive pronoun
 Emphatic pronoun
 Distributive pronoun
 Demonstrative pronoun
 Relative pronoun

3. What is traditional grammar?
 The term traditional grammar refers to the collection of prescriptive rules and concepts
about the structure of language that is commonly taught in schools.
 Traditional English grammar, also referred to as school grammar, is largely based on
the principles of Latin grammar, not on modern linguistic research in English.

4. Pronoun in Traditional Grammar
 Traditional grammars defined pronouns as “small words that take the place of nouns and noun phrases.”
 Types of pronouns:
 Indefinite pronoun
 Personal pronoun
 Reflexive pronoun
 Emphatic pronoun
 Demonstrative pronoun
 Distributive pronoun
 Relative pronoun

5. Indefinite Pronouns
 An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that refers to non-specific beings, objects, or places.
Indefinite pronouns can represent either countable nouns or uncountable nouns.
 An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that refers to a person or a thing without being
specific.

6. Function of Indefinite Pronouns
 Indefinite pronouns function similarly to personal pronouns but refer to unspecified
persons, places, things, and ideas.
 Indefinite pronouns are most commonly used in impersonal constructions, or sentences
that make general statements without a specified grammatical agent.

7. Examples
 Anyone may attend the lecture. (subject)
 The culprit is someone. (subject complement)
 You should tell no one. (direct object)
 My brother sent someone a gift. (indirect object)
 Our new supervisor bought breakfast for everyone. (prepositional complement)
 One must wash one’s hands. (determinative)

8. Examples
 Somebody is in trouble. (subject)
 The culprit could be anybody. (subject complement)
 My dog has bitten nobody. (direct object)
 The boss bought everybody small gifts. (indirect object)
 He must have sold the couch to somebody. (prepositional complement)
 Somebody’s car has been stolen. (determinative)

9. Examples
 Everything is beautiful. (subject)
 The problem has to be something. (subject complement)
 We will purchase nothing. (direct object)
 You must give something some consideration. (indirect object)
 You can elect me anything. (object complement)
 I finished my essay early for nothing! (prepositional complement)
 Something’s nest is at the top of the tree. (determinative)

10. Personal pronoun
 Personal pronouns are pronouns that are associated primarily with a
particular grammatical function – first person (as I), second person (as you),
or third person (as he, she, it, they).
 Personal pronouns may also take different forms depending on
number (usually singular or plural), grammatical or natural gender, case, and
formality.
 Personal pronouns provide us with the following information:
 The person – Who is speaking?
 The number – Is the pronoun plural or singular?
 The gender – Is the pronoun feminine, masculine, or neuter?

11. Examples of personal pronoun
 The word “he” is an example of a personal pronoun. He is third person
(because he is the person being spoken about), singular, and masculine.
 The word “we” is another example of a personal pronoun. We is first person
(because we are speaking as a group), plural, and neuter.

12. Types of personal pronoun
Subjective Personal Pronoun
 This type of personal pronoun works as a subject, for instance:
 They are happy.
 You have done great.
 Objective Personal Pronoun
 This personal pronoun works as an object, either indirect or direct, or as an object of
a preposition. It can appear in the form of me, you, it, her, him, them, and us. For
instance:
 Robert knows her.
 Robert gave them a letter.
 Robert went with her.

13. Reflexive Pronoun
 Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of a sentence are
the same.
 The nine English reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, oneself, itself,
ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.
 Example of Reflexive Pronoun
 She took herself to the hospital.
 In this example, "she" is the subject of the sentence. "Took" is the verb. But who
did she take? The answer is "herself," a terrific illustration of a reflexive pronoun
at work.
 As you examine this type of pronoun, notice how they are used regularly in
everyday speech and writing.

14. Reflexive Pronouns are Objects
 One of the biggest markers for reflexive pronouns is their ending. They always end in -self or
-selves and refer back to a previously mentioned noun or pronoun. Another giveaway is the
fact that these pronouns serve as the object of a sentence, always coming after the verb.
 For Example
1. I taught myself to play the guitar.
2. You know yourself better than anyone else.
 In the first example, "I" is the subject/noun, "taught" is the verb, and "myself" is the reflexive
pronoun, referring back to the noun "I." "Myself" is also the object, answering the verb
"taught."
 In the second example, "you" is the subject/noun, "know" is the verb, and "yourself" is the
reflexive pronoun, referring back to the noun "you." "Yourself" is also the object, answering
the verb "know."

15. Emphatic Pronoun
 When reflexive pronouns are used to emphasize the noun, then they are called the
emphatic pronouns.
 Examples:
 We saw the president himself.
 She herself told the news.
 The city itself does not receive much rainfall.
 They themselves prefer to stay at home.

16. Difference between emphatic and reflexive
pronoun
 The reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, themselves, itself, ourselves etc.
while an emphasizing pronoun is used to emphasize the doer of an action in particular.
For instance we say John did his homework himself(not someone else).

17. Demonstrative Pronoun
 According to google dictionary, demonstration means to give a practical exhibition and
explanation of (how a machine, skill, or craft works is performed).
 Demonstration means “to point out something.”
 Demonstrative pronouns may be used to represent a thing or things, demonstrative
pronouns can be either near or far in distance or time:
 Near in time or distance: this, these
 Far in time or distance: that, those

18. The use of demonstrative pronouns
 A demonstrative pronoun is a specific type of pronoun.
 This type of pronouns are used to point out a noun that has already been mentioned in
conversation or a written work.
 Speakers or writers sometimes use a demonstrative pronoun to refer to the noun instead
of repeating the noun in multiple sentences.
 This is encouraged to avoid repetition, assuming that using a demonstrative pronoun
won’t lead to confusion

19. Demonstrative Pronoun 2
 There are not many demonstrative pronouns in the English language, but their usage is
common in spoken communication and writing.
 This, that, these, those, such.
 For example:
 Ahmad was late again. That (boy) is stressing me out.
 I love apple pie and cherry pie. These are my favorite pies.
 How did you know I wanted some candy? This really hits the spot.
 Everything seems vague. Such is the reality of relationships.

20. 3 Rules of Demonstrative Pronouns
There are just three simple rules for using them correctly.
 Demonstrative pronouns always identify nouns, whether those nouns are named
specifically or not. For example: “I can’t believe this.” There is no idea what “this” is,
but it’s definitely something the writer cannot believe. It exists, even though we don’t
know what it is.
 Demonstrative pronouns are usually used to describe animals, places, or things,
however they can be used to describe people when the person is identified,
i.e., This sounds like Sana singing.
 Do not confuse demonstrative adjectives with demonstrative pronouns. The words
are identical, but demonstrative adjectives qualify nouns, whereas demonstrative
pronouns stand alone

21. Demonstrative Pronouns VS
Demonstrative Adjectives
Demonstrative Pronouns Demonstrative Adjectives
A demonstrative pronoun takes the
place of a noun phrase that has already
been mentioned. (It always comes after
the noun.)
A demonstrative adjective modifies
the noun and is always followed by the
noun. (It always comes before the
noun.)
For example:
1) These are merely excuses
2) This is a present from my uncle.
3) That is the red fort.
For example:
1) That food you’re cooking smells
delicious.
2) Did you finally throw away that old
t-shirt?
3) Is this book mine?

22. Distributive Pronoun
 Distributive pronoun can be defined as “A distributive pronoun refers to persons or
things one at a time and are always singular. They include each, any, either, neither and
others.”
 Distributive pronoun is a pronoun which denotes persons or things of group separately
that's why they always become singular and followed by the singular verbs.
 This pronoun is used to indicate all the members of representative group. Some of the
distributive pronouns are like each, either, neither, everyone, any, none, no one, etc.

23. Examples of distributive pronoun
 Neither of them plays well.
 Each one of you will be awarded with bravery award.
 Everyone must finish the breakfast.
 Either of you can help me in this matter.
 Neither of you has qualified this exam to go ahead.
 Each of the parents should take care of their children.
 Either of you may answer the questions asked by me.

24. Relative pronoun
 A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause. A relative pronoun serves
the purpose of conjoining modifying information about an antecedent.
 In English Grammar most common relative pronouns:
 Who, whom, whoever, whomever, which, that.
 Examples
 The man who is honest is trusted.
 I've found the pen which I had lost.
 Here is the book that you lent me.