Your English Class

Indefinite Pronouns

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The Indefinite Pronouns take their name from the fact that they do not refer to definite persons or things.

Compare “Somebody will have to pick that up” (indefinite) with “He will pick that up” (definite).

The indefinite pronouns include a large number of words indicating various degrees of indefiniteness. The more common ones follow:

some, someone, somebody, something,
any, anyone, anybody, anything
everyone, everybody, everything
one, none, nobody, nothing
other, another, either, neither, all, many
few, each, both

Case and Number. The nominative and objective case forms of indefinite pronouns are the same, but some indefinite pronouns have a distinct possessive case form: as, one’s, other’s, another’s, and the compound forms employing one and body (anyone’s, everybody’s).

One and other have plural forms: ones and others: as, “These are the ones I need.” “The others aren’t worth discussing.”

Copyright © 2012 Thomas Fasano.
Your English Class™ trademark is the property of Thomas Fasano.

Demonstrative Pronouns

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The Demonstrative Pronouns are this and that, with their plurals these and those.

They are used to point out persons or things with definiteness or a special emphasis. (The word “demonstrative” comes from the root word “demonstrate,” meaning “to point out.”)

Case. The demonstrative pronouns have the same form for the nominative and objective cases, and have no possessive form.

Antecedent. The antecedent of the demonstrative pronoun may be:

(1) A single noun: as, “I recently reread The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and I believe that is the best of Mark Twain’s novels.”

(2) Two or more nouns, referred to by a plural demonstrative pronoun: as, “I have spent many years reading Keats and Wordsworth. These are the most rewarding of the Romantic poets.”

(3) A whole statement: as, “The Los Angeles Philharmonic charges a lot of money for tickets, and that keeps many people from attending their concerts.” (In order to avoid ambiguity, this last type of reference is often avoided in formal writing.)

Often the demonstrative pronoun has no expressed antecedent. This is especially true in conversation, when persons or things referred to can be indicated with a gesture or a glance. A person seeing something of note only has to say, “Look at that!” or picking up a book, could say, “Have you read this yet?”

This and these refer to objects comparatively near; that and those, to things comparatively farther away: as, “I like this as well as that.” “I’ll stick with these instead of those.”

This and that make reference to singular antecedents; these and those, to plural antecedents.

Distinction Between Relative and Demonstrative Pronouns. That can be either a relative or a demonstrative pronoun. Compare the following sentences:

He opened the package that he ordered (relative).

He wanted to do that, time permitting (demonstrative).

The demonstrative that points out something as definitely as if one had pointed a finger at it. The relative that has none of this definite force. As a rule, the relative that is placed immediately after the antecedent and introduces a separate clause which modifies the antecedent.

The demonstrative that can be at a considerable distance from its antecedent, even in a sentence or two removed from the antecedent, and it does not introduce a separate clause.

Copyright © 2012 Thomas Fasano.
Your English Class™ trademark is the property of Thomas Fasano.

Interrogative Pronouns

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The Interrogative Pronouns are used in asking questions.

There are three of them: who, which, and what.

Antecedents. An interrogative pronoun does not have an antecedent expressed in the sentence.

Case. Who has the following case forms.

Which and what have the same form for both the nominative and objective cases and have no possessive form.

Like other pronouns, the case of an interrogative pronoun is determined by its use in the sentence — as subject, object of a verb, etc.

Who wants coffee? (Nominative case — subject of the verb).

Who was Charles Bukowski? (Nominative case — predicate pronoun).

Whose is that? (Possessive case — denoting possession).

Whom will you hire? (Objective case — object of the verb).

Whom did you collect money for? (Objective case — object of the preposition).

Position in the Sentence. As a general rule, the interrogative pronoun is placed at the beginning of the sentence, even when it is a predicate pronoun or the object of the verb. When used as an object of a preposition, in formal English, the preposition usually precedes it: as “From whom did you learn that?” (In informal English and especially conversation, a preposition is often placed at the end of a sentence.)

Interrogative Pronouns in Indirect Questions. Interrogative pronouns are used in both direct and indirect questions: “Tell me whom you met.” “I asked her what she baked.” In indirect questions the syntax of a direct question is expressed in a way somewhat different from that actually used by the speaker. Indirect questions most often follow verbs like ask, tell, wonder, etc. Thus, “Tell me whom you met” is the indirect form of the direct question, “Whom did you meet?” The question mark is omitted after an indirect question.

Distinction Between Interrogative and Relative Pronouns. Who, which, and what may be either interrogative or relative pronouns. In direct questions the interrogative pronoun is easy to spot. In indirect questions, also, the classification of who and which offers little difficulty because as relatives these pronouns will have antecedents, as interrogative they will not.

Play the music which you selected (relative).

Tell me which you selected (interrogative).

As mentioned in the previous podcast, what used as a relative pronoun does not have an antecedent, nor does it have an antecedent as an interrogative. Its classification is determined by whether or not a question is implied.

We know what he did (relative).

She asked me what he said (interrogative).

Copyright © 2012 Thomas Fasano.
Your English Class™ trademark is the property of Thomas Fasano.