ENGLISH PRONOUNS

Presentación

PRONOUNS

Empezar

ÍNDICE

1. Personal pronouns

2. Posessives

3. Genitive Case

4. Demonstratives

5. Reflexive

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Pronombres personales

The pronoun acts as the subject (subject pronouns) of the sentence, as opposed to instances when it is used in the function of an object (object pronouns).

What about "IT"?

There are two types of possessives which are determined by their function in the sentence.

POSSESSIVES

POSSESIVE DETERMINERS

1. The possessive as determiner These pronouns function as the determinative article of the noun that they accompany and therefore precede the object.

POSSESIVE PRONOUNS

2. The possessive as pronoun In this case, the possessive pronoun acts as a direct complement.

Possessive pronouns vs genitive case

possessive pronouns

genitive case

HER DRESS

ANDREA'S DRESS

vs

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

THIS

(este/a/o)

THAT

(ese/a/o, aquél, aquello/a)

THESE

(estos/as)

THOSE

(esos/as, aquellos/as)

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REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the complement of the verb are the same. While reflexive verbs are common in many other languages, they are not used as frequently in English. When necessary, the verb is followed by one of the following reflexive pronouns

We can use reflexive pronouns when we want to emphasize the subject.

We can use reflexive pronouns with most transitive verbs, but among the most common are:

• blame,
• cut,
• enjoy,
• help ,
• hurt ,
• introduce,
• prepare,
• teach

We use “by” + reflexive pronoun to indicate “alone”.

WE do not use reflexive pronouns for actions that people usually do for themselves

THe use of the reflexive pronoun with some verbs can change the meaning.

WE use reflexive pronouns with certain expressions

THANK YOU!

Singular and “there”: I like that car.

We use “that” when we are not sure with whom we are speaking. Example: Peter, is that you? “That” can be used to refer to something in the past. Example: That pizza was delicious.

Neutral Form

Pronouns in English distinguish gender and include the neuter form “it”, as demonstrated in the pronouns table above. The neutral form is used to refer to things, animals for which we do not know the sex, as well as the time and the weather. The plural form of “it” is “they”. NOTE: The neutral form “it” is a very important grammatical component of English and one that non-native speakers tend to forget.

Examples:

• How did he hurt himself?

• We really enjoyed ourselves while on holiday.

• I blame myself.

RULES

3. We can also use the genitive at the end of a sentence when it is used in response to a prior question. In this case, we do not need to use the noun. Examples: Question : Where is your sister? Answer: She is at my parents’.

1. We always use the genitive to refer to people. Examples: Paul’s house… Mary’s bike…

2. When we want to make reference to places or things we use the preposition “of”: The wheel of the bike… Washington is the capital of the United States.

4. When there is more than one possessor, the apostrophe comes after the “s”.Examples: The girls’ toys…. The students’ exams…

In these cases, it is more common to place the pronoun at the end of the sentence rather than after the verb. Examples:

• We painted the house ourselves.
• What a great party! Did you prepare everything yourself?.

Examples:

• I often prefer to be by myself.
• She learned to read all by herself.

Examples:

• Help yourself to some coffee. (meaning: take some coffee)
• We found ourselves in the middle of a very complicated situation. (meaning: to discover unexpectedly)

Singular and “here”: I like this car.

We use “this” when we present ourselves to someone on the telephone.Example: Hello. This is Alicia. We use “this” when we are introducing people. Example: Lucy, this is my friend Jill.

Examples:

• I have to shave every other day.
• I have to shave myself every other day.

The pronoun as subject:

The subject of a sentence is the the person or thing that performs the action of the verb.. In English, the subject pronoun is mandatory, as opposed to some other languages, where the subject is optional. Examples:

I am ill.Subject = I You are tall. Subject = You He is handsome. Subject = He

Plural and “there”: I like those cars.

The pronoun as object

Object pronouns function as the object of a verb and are located after the verb that they complement or after prepositions such as “for”, “to”, “with” and “at”. Examples:

Can you see him? Subject = you, Object = him He is going to the party with us. Subject = he, Object = us It [the letter] is for you. Subject = it, Object = you

Plural and “here”: I like these cars.

Examples:

• Behave yourselves! (meaning: behave well)

• Help yourself. (meaning: said to someone when offering something, such as food or drink)

• Make yourself at home. (meaning: said to a guest to encourage them to feel comfortable in your home)

When the name of the possessor ends in “s”, we do not add the genitive “-’s” termination, but only the apostrophe after the “s” of the possessor’s name. Example: Luis’ house…

Reciprocal Pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns are formed with the phrase “each other”. This is not a reflexive form, but rather a reciprocal one. In contrast to the reflexive, we have two different subjects that are talking one to one. Example: John and Peter speak to each other every day.

Demonstrative pronouns can be accompanied by a noun, as in the examples above, or they may be found alone, as in the following example

Examples:

• This is a good book.
• What is that?