COROLLARY THEOREMS - ENGLISH GRAMMAR: PRONOUNS

English Grammar Notes #5:

PRONOUNS

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Definition (fragment from Definition M4.0 in LSEG)
"Pronoun" is the sentence element used to replace a noun, or a noun equivalent construction. The replaced noun is named the "antecedent".

The structure employed to present pronouns briefly in this page is:
1. Categories of Pronouns
2. Personal Pronoun - Declension
3. Reflexive and Emphatic Pronoun
4. Demonstrative Pronoun
5. Possessive Pronoun
6. Interrogative Pronoun
7. Relative Pronoun
8. Reciprocal Pronoun
9. Indefinite Pronoun

ATTENTION
These Grammar Notes are not sufficient to understand the topics presented. For accurate and detailed information we recommend LOGICALLY STRUCTURED ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

CATEGORIES OF PRONOUNS

Syntactically, pronouns have the same functions as nouns do; morphologically, pronouns are used to avoid repetition, and to set/clarify nouns' categories of number, person, and gender. In addition, pronouns can be:
A. nouns
B. adjectives
C. numerals
D. adverbs
E. conjunctions
F. prepositions

There are eight categories of pronouns, because the reflexive and emphatic pronouns are considered one single group--they have exactly the same form, and they differ only in position and phonetic accent. The categories of pronouns are:
1. Personal Pronouns
2. Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns
3. Demonstrative Pronouns
4. Possessive Pronouns
5. Interrogative Pronouns
6. Relative Pronouns
7. Reciprocal Pronouns
8. Indefinite Pronouns

Pronouns agree in gender, number, and person with their antecedent. Grammatical category of case is different, depending on the position pronouns have within the sentence structure. Generally, pronouns follow their antecedent nouns within the sentence structure. However, there are instances when pronouns are positioned ahead of their antecedent nouns.

ATTENTION
Some pronouns have exactly the same form as determining adjectives.

PERSONAL PRONOUN DECLENSION

Fragment from LSEG: personal pronoun forms.

REFLEXIVE AND EMPHATIC PRONOUN

Reflexive pronoun is used with an active voice verb in order to reflect the action of the verb back on the subject--the antecedent.

Emphatic pronoun accompanies its antecedent in order to accentuate its action/state.

Reflexive and emphatic pronouns take different positions within the sentence structure. The following examples should clarify few aspects.

REFLEXIVE AND EMPHATIC PRONOUN
Pronoun	Example
Singular
myself	I wash myself. (Reflexive)
herself	She went to the door herself. (Emphatic)
Plural
ourselves	We ourselves* believe that is true.* (Emphatic)
yourself	You did it yourself. (Reflexive)
Impersonal
himself	The one who cares, should do it himself. (Emphatic)

The examples presented summarily above are not sufficient to understand the topics, because they do not have the accompanying, necessary, explanations of specific rule implementation for each instance. Besides, both topics are fairly complex--details are presented in LSEG.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN

Demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives have exactly the same forms. The way to differentiate them depends on their position relative to the antecedent/determined nouns. A fragment from LSEG is presented next.

LSEG: demonstrative pronoun

ATTENTION
The word "that" has four main functions:
1. demonstrative pronoun or adjective:
That is my boy.
2. relative pronoun:
Anything that you remember could help a lot.
3. conjunction:
He said that he had been there before.
4. adverb:
The snow was that high.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUN

You will never find a possessive pronoun near a noun, despite the fact it is the genitive of personal pronoun. Following is a fragment from LSEG.

LSEG: possessive pronoun

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN

Interrogative pronoun replaces the antecedent in an interrogative sentence.

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN
Case	Pronoun	Example
Nominative	who?	Who is this man?
Genitive	whose?	Whose shoes are those?
Dative	to whom?	To whom shall I speak?
Accusative	whom?	Whom have you seen?

RELATIVE PRONOUN

Relative pronouns are:
1. Who:
John, who is often late, is the first one to be fired.
2. Which:
She has a sister which I remember very well.
3. What:
This is what I want you to do: go home.
4. That:
This is a good strategy that never fails.
5. As:
He prefers not to hear more arguments as the ones you pointed out.
6. But:
There was no leaf but stirred in the breeze. (archaic form of expression)

Relative pronouns have the same number and person as the antecedent nouns, but they take a different case, depending on their position within the sentence structure.

RECIPROCAL PRONOUN

Few reciprocal pronouns are:

1. "one another":
They drew closer to one another.
2. "each other":
We like each other.
3. "for one another":
They care a lot for one another.
4. "for each other":
They care for each other.

INDEFINITE PRONOUN

Indefinite pronoun replaces a noun to which it refers in a vague, indefinite manner. There are many indefinite pronouns; only few of them are listed here. Please be aware these pronouns have specific use in affirmative, interrogative, and negative constructions.

1. some; somebody; someone; something.
2. any; anybody; anyone; anything.
3. no; nobody, none; nothing.
4. every; everybody; everyone; everything.
5. one; another; the other; the others; all; little; many.

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