Questions tagged [pronouns]
A pronoun is a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase.
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questions
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I need either a confirmation or a refutation regarding the following theory of mine about the pattern"“noun phrase + of + possessive pronoun”
I've been thinking A LOT about this matter, and this is what I came up with as a rather complicated yet seemingly airtight rule regarding when not to use the aforementioned pattern. It goes like this:
...
3
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0answers
28 views
Why can't we say “… of its”?
In a comment on the question Is there any rule regarding when not to use the pattern "noun phrase + of + possessive pronoun"?, such as "a friend of his", John Lawler writes
First ...
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23 views
“Each of you has” vs “Each of you have” [duplicate]
I had a discussion with a friend about a phrase similar to
"... the perspective each of you has/have...".
But we are not sure which form is correct and why. Can anyone explain?
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0answers
13 views
Antecedent + comma + subject pronoun [duplicate]
Asking here because I'm having a bear of a time trying to Google this. Is there a name for the structure, often observed in spoken English, in which a sentence begins with a noun phrase followed by a ...
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1answer
103 views
Are there any mistakes in the following text?
"I want to express my gratitude to all those, from whose hard work and determination I've learned so much and will continue to learn in the future (some of whom I haven't had the pleasure to talk ...
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3answers
53 views
The difference between proper nouns and specified common nouns (eg 'my car') [closed]
Proper nouns are supposed to denote a specific entity. Why aren't the phrases "my car", "her hat", "their dinner", etc., considered proper? They each refer to specific ...
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25 views
Appositive versus vocative comma: ambiguity? [closed]
If I said
“I want to go with her, June.”
is June referring to ‘her’ or is June the person to whom the sentence is addressed?
Is the answer that the sentence as written is ambiguous, and technically ...
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2answers
36 views
What is the difference between someone and one? [duplicate]
I ran into this sentence written by a student:
This is an ordinary anxiety that comes and goes and does not interfere with someone’s life.
I feel that "someone's" should be replaced with ...
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26 views
What should we fiil in in the blank? [duplicate]
Everyone was interested in the news,________________?
Is the answer "wasn't he"? If not, what should it be?
Other choices include:
-was he
-were they
-weren't they
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38 views
What do “they” refer to in this sentence? [migrated]
Science is unique. Instead of making guesses, scientists follow a system designed to prove if their ideas are true or false. They constantly reexamine and test their theories and conclusions. Old ...
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What does the word “they” in this sentence replace? [migrated]
These chocolate-flavored muffins have got walnuts in them, and they smell really good.
Which word does the word "they" in this sentence replace? "Muffins" or "walnuts"?
(...
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1answer
38 views
Should these sentences actually use 'whom' instead of 'who'? [duplicate]
I'm fairly confident that some of the grammatical advice I've been reading recently is arrant balderdash. It relates to the distinction between the ‘who’ and ‘whom’.
I'm sure this is a classic case on ...
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33 views
Why does Google Ngrams show pronoun usage drop and rise over time? [migrated]
I was using Google Ngrams to investigate whether feminine pronouns have been used more often in English literature over time, relative to masculine pronouns. I was surprised to find that the ...
3
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1answer
47 views
Are pronominal adjectives and determiners just different terms to describe the same thing? If not, how do they differ?
I have seen words like "every" and "any", etc. classified both as determiners and pronominal adjectives. Are these just different classifications of the same thing? Or does the ...
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33 views
Confusion over SAT question
The answer is B, but I am confused on why D does not work. Is this just a case where its proper to have a pronoun? If so, how does this rule work and when is it appropriate? Doesn't this sentence, for ...
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0answers
54 views
Why does English only have one form of we/us?
I have tried googling this and looking here to no avail. Why does English only have one we? What I mean is, why aren't there two forms for:
Me and someone else excluding you
Me and someone else ...
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0answers
18 views
present participles, pronoun [duplicate]
I have difficulty understanding the following sentence:
-Or does it somehow lie behind its properties, supporting them, a solid peg on which they happen to hang.
Please help me grasp what the present ...
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2answers
36 views
Of anyone I know
The American Heritage Dictionary reads
Anyone is often used in place of the more logical everyone in sentences
like
She is the most intelligent person of anyone I know.
In our 2017 ballot, the ...
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5answers
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Is “one” unnecessary in this quote of Melville?
I cannot make much sense of one in the following passage from Moby-Dick:
Now the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline one for the ...
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2answers
29 views
The usage of “it”
I am reading a sentence as the following:
...,but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it.
And I wonder why does the clause "the future can be ...
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1answer
52 views
Weak forms of HAVE
According to Longman Pronunciation Dictionary
HAVE: The weak form /v/ is used only after a vowel (when it is often written as the contraction ’ve), or in very fast speech at the
beginning of a ...
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0answers
44 views
Can determiners precede pronouns?
Generally, determiners are defined as preceding nouns, but can they also precede pronouns? For example, the word "least" can take a number of forms including adverb, adjective, determiner, ...
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2answers
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Time reference in a paragraph and its interpretation as to what it want to say [closed]
“Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But ...
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3answers
64 views
Can I mix up plural with singular to resolve pronoun ambiguity?
I have here a sentence with an ambiguous antecedent.
Computers have larger screens than smartphones, the reason why they are still necessary.
The pronoun "they" can refer back to "...
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1answer
38 views
Comma or no comma after Mr. Thomas & do I need the word “message.” [closed]
Dr. Thomas I saw Dr. Smith and relied your hello message to him.
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2answers
60 views
Which or Who, Which should I use? [closed]
I am confused about this fill in the blank questions. What should I use, which or who?
Humans are the only factors in the ecosystem _____ are responsible for the changes in the ecology.
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1answer
61 views
Why are both “ye” and “you” used as subjects in Anne Bradstreet's To My Dear and Loving Husband?
As far as I know, in Middle English and Early Modern English "ye" was used for subjects and "you" for objects. Yet in "To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet ...
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2answers
61 views
Usage of that and those
Which is the current usage of that and those in the below-mentioned scenario?
Bar(s) that have been purchased by the customer.
How can this be the right sentence when that generally is used to refer ...
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2answers
34 views
Omitting pronouns in conditional clauses
I have a dispute with an acquaintance over this sentence:
If [you're] looking for aliases that will be displayed in the help message, see the link above.
("you're" is omitted)
I'm pretty ...
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0answers
47 views
Can there be two cases of pronoun in a sentence?
"She is doing her best to do the job"
The pronoun "her" is confusing me, it could be either in objective case 'cause it acts as object complement or in possessive case 'cause it ...
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4answers
142 views
A question on grammar in relation to pronouns
But he insisted on going, him being a tenacious problem solver.
I can intuit that "him" sounds more natural here than "he".
I want to know why this is so.
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3answers
80 views
Pronoun Case: When I was a child, Grandpa was unhappy with (me/my) excavating his rose garden in the hopes of finding dinosaur bones
I was answering an exercise on the internet when i come across this question:
When I was a child, Grandpa was unhappy with (me/my) excavating his rose garden in the hopes of finding dinosaur bones.
...
2
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1answer
72 views
Using “one” with nouns whose countability is ambiguous
An ESL student produced the following sentence:
“The Western diet seems to be more unhealthy than the Japanese one.”
The use of “one” immediately struck me as awkward, but not necessarily incorrect, ...
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1answer
46 views
Who or whom again but I think slightly different
'Voters Will Know Who to Blame': I saw this headline in www.commondreams.com today. I think it should be whom. Is whom now obsolete?
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37 views
When “who” is used in a sentence with two subjects which subject will it be referring to?
When "who" is used in a sentence with two subjects which subject will it be referring to, for example:
Between the cosmopolitan liberal "Anywheres" and the "Somewheres" ...
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0answers
29 views
If I want to talk about a country as an animated thing, should I use a she, he or it?
If I want to talk about a country as an animated thing (i.e., creating a meme that represents an action, where one subject is a country), should I use a "she", "he" or "it&...
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28 views
“Almost none” + plural verb
When none is modified by almost it is difficult to avoid
treating the word as a plural: Almost none of the officials were interviewed by the committee.
https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=none
...
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1answer
53 views
“One of my friends” vs “a friend of mine”
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, page 717, reads
[16] quantified NP has scope over frequency adjunct
One of my friends has been sacked two or three times in the last few
months
When ...
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1answer
64 views
“No one of” + plural noun phrase
The Collins English Usage reads
Don't use ‘of’ after ‘no one’ or ‘nobody’; Say ‘None of the
children could speak French’.
However in the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language on can find : No ...
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2answers
105 views
Who or whom in a sentence with multiple verbs
Would it be correct to use "who" or "whom" in the following sentence?
Industrialization in the USSR did not provide a better life for many soviets, especially the peasants, who(m) ...
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2answers
70 views
Can “that” as a pronoun be used without a leading noun?
An apple is on the table
edit: apparently these two didn't get separated when I typed it in. It's now separated
I looked at that
"That" is used as a pronoun
In this case, "apple"...
1
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1answer
45 views
Correct way to say “by itself”?
I was just talking to someone and the conversation went like this:
"I didn't get those shoes because they were pretty bulky. The pair I got is pretty bulky itself"
Now, I feel like "...
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0answers
26 views
Ambiguous “it” pronoun
If I said, “losing the race..it is a tragedy...a loss.a shame...if I fell during the race.”
What does the “it” pronoun refer to? Does it refer to - Losing the race? Or the event of me falling during ...
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0answers
33 views
Dropping a first person subject pronoun in a conditional sentence
Is it possible to drop the 'I' before the verb in a sentence where the object comes before the verb?
A few examples are:
If my journey (I) restart, then I do waste my time.
If my folders (I) delete, ...
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0answers
26 views
Which is the best way to say “this is my life and my family's life we're talking about.”
A) "This is me and my family's life we're talking about."
B) "This is my and my family's life we're talking about."
C) "This is mine and my family's life we're talking about.&...
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2answers
22 views
Appropriate pronoun for “deciding on” + pronoun + infinitive? [duplicate]
I was wondering about the grammar of sentences like this:
They decided on him going to Japan and her going to China.
Or should it be like this?
They decided on he going to Japan and she going to ...
2
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2answers
41 views
Compound interrogative pronouns
I'm confused what compound interrogative pronoun are used for? And what meaning does it give to a sentence? For ex
Whoever told you so?
Which also means who told you so? But what meaning does a ...
0
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1answer
80 views
Is the use of pronouns restricted by grammar structures?
My questions:
Please answer these two questions. There will be an example explaining why I ask these two questions. After you reading the example, please answer these two questions (1) and (2).
(1) ...
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3answers
65 views
Why do questions convert subjects to the accusative, e.g. “Me?” “Him?”
(Obvious disclaimer about the definition of "accusative case" being a touchy subject in English)
I'm an ESL speaker and have noticed that e.g. in German the following exchange
"You're ...
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0answers
32 views
“Those” used without antecedent
Is the sentence, "Bob asked those on his team a question" correct even though "those" doesn't really have an antecedent?
If it is not correct, what would be the best way to correct ...
