Everything you wanted to know about pronouns but didn't know how to ask. Features of personal pronouns in the oblique case of the Russian language

16.10.2019

The Russian language has a huge number of speech possibilities, for example, allowing you to replace meaningful words with others without changing the meaning, but giving the narrative more dynamism and diversity. What are pronouns and what is their role in the language?

An independent role among the parts of speech is assigned. pronominal words refer to objects without specifying their names, characterize the quantity, circumstantial moments and signs of these active objects. The pronoun as a part of speech therefore has a generalized lexical concept.

In contact with

Classification and distinctive features

There are a lot of pronominal words, they differ in categories, functions and meanings. The table of pronouns will help you figure it out:

They refer to: are changing
Personal pronouns
Participants in the conversation: on the one who speaks; that - for whom they say or those - about whom (what) they are talking. They change the number: I, you, he, his - the only one:

we, them, you used in the plural.

They have a sign of gender only in the third person: he came, she liked it, she was invited, they talk about him.

I - me, she - hers, you - you, they - theirs.

I read this book – I was interested in this book.

She did her homework - Her asked to do homework.

Possessive
The relation or connection of an object with something or someone. They have numerical forms: a single sign: yours, his, mine, mine; plural: ours, theirs, yours.

Case forms: my, my, mine.

Genus can be identified only in singular: her, him, her.

Example: I live in my apartment. You live in your apartment. They live in their own apartment. In the first sentence, we are talking about the apartment of the speaker, in the second - about the apartment of the one with whom they are talking, and in the third - those they are talking about.
Refundable
The event happens to the actor. They do not change person, gender or number.

In all cases, with the exception of the nominative, they tend to change the ending: themselves, themselves, themselves.

Your reports are excellent. My mirror is broken. My clothes look very fashionable.
Interrogative pronouns
Used to reinforce a question in speech Case changes: what, to whom, what, whom, what, what, what.

The genus is defined in a single meaning - how sweet, how fresh, how cheerful.

Multiple expressions - which day, what news.

Remain unchanged pronouns-adverbs: Why did he come? Where to stay? When does vacation start? Where did the bus return from?

An animated object is referred to by the pronoun "who?". An inanimate noun is asked the question “what?”.

Who committed the crime? What to give for a birthday?

Relative pronouns
Similar in properties to interrogative ones, but without a question mark. They are used as unions to connect subordinate clauses in complex sentences with the main one. are changing in the same order, which are interrogative pronouns.
Examples: I understand who solved this problem. He remembers when the meeting starts.
Negative pronouns
The denial of the existence of something: persons, quantities, objects, phenomena or signs. They come from interrogative or relative digits, merging with the prefix "ni-".

They change according to the same principle.

Used in p negative sentences:

Nobody can solve this issue. I can never forgive you.

Indefinite pronouns
Uncertainty, uncertainty of signs, properties and quantity. They are formed by adding the stressed prefix "not-", the prefix "something" and the postfixes "-something", "-or", "-something" to words of interrogative or relative content.

Features of morphology and grammar - as in the interrogative category of pronouns.

There is no point in this action. Nobody was here. I won't tell anyone.
Demonstrative pronouns in Russian
One of similar items, special features, a certain number of them. Indicate without a name the occurring event, cause, purpose, method. Adjective pronouns: decline in all cases - that picture, that paper, that bag; numbers - that room, those rooms; in a single meaning they have a generic sign - that basket, that backpack, that decision.

How numerals can change in cases - So many beautiful fountains. Met so many friends. I owe you so much.

Pronouns do not change: From now on, there is no way for you to go there. These sounds come from there. Now the guests are coming.

Come to that table. This option does not suit us. Those are the rules this year.

Determinants
They are a tool for clarifying a subject feature, object or subject. Pronouns- tend to change their form in - every time, every little thing, every information. Numerical values ​​​​- the very first, most unexpected.

In a single form, they have generic differences - any, any.

Pronouns-adverbs remain unchanged: The truth must always be told. Gardens are blooming everywhere. Birdsong is heard everywhere.

Every person is obliged to protect nature. Parents are the closest people.

Transition to other parts of speech

Pronouns have a substitutive meaning in the text of sentences - they are used, replacing other parts of speech, or pass into them.

Syntactic features in sentences

Pronominal words can occupy in the syntactic analysis of the sentence any place other than the predicate. So, personal pronouns of the 3rd person play the role of the subject. The defining feature is which of the parts of speech in this case is replaced by such a pronoun in the text.

Important! In order to correctly determine the role of which member of the sentence the pronoun will play, it is necessary to correctly pose a question to it.

The subject or nominal part of the predicate are usually pronouns-nouns, sometimes pronoun adjectives.

We are going to the theatre. Who has read this play? Something will happen soon. On the exam, some passed the test successfully.

All categories of pronouns can be additions: Relatives came to me. You won't be able to tell everything. You have beautiful clothes on.

As definitions adjectives stand out(definitive pronouns, possessive pronouns, interrogative, indefinite, demonstrative). I'll take my friends for a walk. For some time now I have ceased to trust him. No difficulty will change our plans.

The circumstance as a member of the sentence contains questions: where from?, why?, how? There is no specific distinction as to whether the pronoun in this case is a circumstance or an addition. Both options considered correct:

Your teacher is giving you a headache. It was fun with him.

Grammar of correct spelling

There are certain rules for writing pronominal words with various prepositions, particles. Use with prepositions and other words can be merged, separate or with a hyphen. Not with pronouns - an important topic that requires careful study.

How negative pronouns are written and how to distinguish an indefinite pronoun:

Spelling with prefixes "not" and "neither":

  • In the absence of a preposition between the prefixes and the root “not” and “neither”, it is written together: there is no one to ask, someone else, no one is visible, several years, something interesting.
  • With a preposition before the root, it is written separately: nothing to complain about, does not apply to anything, not with any passerby, did not play with anyone, there is no one to try for.
  • When using “not” in the meaning of negation, everything must be written separately: we didn’t do it, we didn’t come ourselves, we didn’t come here, it doesn’t concern everyone.

Learning pronouns

Important! It should be remembered: for nothing, for nothing, for nothing, for nothing.

Together, separately or through a hyphen

  • In the case when in a phrase the pronoun is replaced without loss of meaning by another part of speech or is completely excluded from it, they are written separately with a preposition: behind that turn - around the turn - behind a sharp turn; along this route - along the route - along a difficult route.
  • At merging a preposition and any sign pronouns-adverbs are formed that write together: then pour water, be therefore, therefore he did not answer, because it matters.
  • With the prefix “something” or the postfixes “-or” and “-something”, it is correct to write with a hyphen: somehow leaves, someone brought, somewhere located, somewhere located.

Pronouns in Russian

Types of pronouns, lesson

Conclusion

There are a lot of pronouns in Russian, and their types are quite diverse. No other language gives such a role to this part of speech. They differ in their functions in speech and roles in syntax and grammar. The ability to replace other members of speech without losing meaning allows you to compose a competent and logically correct sentence and add variety to the text.

The pronoun is an independent part of speech. Its peculiarity is that it points to an object, property, quantity, but does not name them. The very word "pronoun" speaks of the substitutive function of this part of speech. The term is a tracing paper from the Latin pronomen, and it is from the Greek antonymia, which literally translates "instead of a name."

Pronouns are one of the most frequent words. They rank third in terms of frequency of use. In the first place - nouns, in the second - verbs. However, out of the 30 most frequent words, there are as many as 12 pronouns. 5 of them are personal, the rest are divided into different categories. Third person pronouns occupy an important niche in Russian. There are 3 of them among the most frequent words - he, she, they.

Ranks of pronouns

At school, the topic of pronouns begins to be studied from the 4th grade.

There are such groups of pronouns as personal, possessive, reflexive, interrogative, relative, indefinite, negative, demonstrative, attributive.

Personal pronouns refer to a person or thing: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they.

Possessives indicate belonging to someone and answer the question: “Whose?”. This is mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs and faceless mine.

Returnable ( yourself, yourself) - on the inclination towards oneself.

Interrogative ( who, what, when etc.) are used in interrogative sentences.

Relative (same who what etc., but in subordinate clauses) play the role of allied words.

undefined (to something, somebody, some etc.) are used when we do not know the quantity, object or feature.

Negative ( nobody, nobody, nowhere etc.) indicate the absence of all of the above.

The index directs our attention to specific objects and signs, and the attributive ( himself, all, other etc.) - help to clarify them.

Person category

The category of the face shows the relation of the action to the speaker. It has verbs and some pronouns. As you know, there are 3 faces. The first person indicates the speaker(s) or belonging to the speaker(s): me, we, my, our. Second person - to the interlocutor (s) or belonging to the interlocutor (s): you, you, yours, yours. Third - indicates the object, phenomenon or person that is being discussed or belonging to this person (persons). What pronouns are in the 3rd person? He, she, it, they, him, her, them.

Personal and possessive pronouns have a category of person. Personal pronouns can be related to nouns. They perfectly replace them in sentences and have the same categories: gender, number and case. They point to an object, phenomenon or person and play the role of the subject in the sentence. Possessives are similar to adjectives. They also have gender, number and case, but they agree with nouns and indicate the sign of the object - its belonging.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns play a huge role in the language. The self-consciousness of every child begins with the word "I". As soon as the baby begins to talk about himself in the first person, and not in the third, calling himself by name, a new period of development begins. This usually happens at three years of age.

Without the words "you" and "you" it would be much more difficult for us to address the interlocutor. And third person pronouns he, she, it, they- shorten speech and help to avoid unnecessary repetitions and unnecessary searches for a synonym.

The first person pronouns are I and we. Second - you and you. Third - the most numerous due to the presence of the category of the genus. There are as many as 3 pronouns of the third person singular - he, she, it. And only one in the plural - They. Just like adjectives, it is devoid of gender and universal for all genders, so there is only one.

How do personal pronouns of the third person decline according to cases?
An interesting pattern can be seen. In indirect cases, third person pronouns have adjective endings -his(cf.: blue). However, the pronoun she genitive and accusative form her constitutes an exception. Adjectives in these cases will have endings - to her (blue) And - yuyu(blue).

Declension of pronouns without prepositions

Nominative (who, what?) - He, she, it, they.
Genitive (of whom? What?) - him, her, him, them.
Dative (to whom? What?) - him, her, him, them.
Accusative (of whom? What?) - him, her, him, them.
Creative (by whom? What?) - them, her, them, them.
Prepositional (about whom? About what?) - about him, about her, about him, about them.

Why was there no pretext in the latter case? As is known from the school course, the prepositional case is so called precisely because it is impossible to use nouns and pronouns without prepositions in it.

Prepositions

Let's see how third person pronouns with prepositions decline.
In the nominative case, prepositions do not apply.
Genitive prepositions include: Without, at, with, from, to, from, about, near, near, for ( him, her, them)

In this case, the pronoun answers a more numerous range of questions. To questions of the genitive case " whom?», « what? Prepositions are added: “B ez whom? - without him. Of what? - out of him". In all oblique cases, a question appears with a spatial meaning: "Where? Where? Where from?"

Dative prepositions - to and to ( him, her, him) Questions "Where? Where?" - To her!
Prepositions of the accusative case - on, for, under, in, in, through, about ( him, her, them) Questions also "Where? Where?"
Instrumental prepositions - over, behind, under, before, with, with, between ( him, her, them)
Prepositions of the prepositional case - in, about, about, on, at ( him, her, them). They answer the question "About whom? About what? Where?"

Mysterious letter n

It can be noted that when using all these prepositions, n- is added at the beginning of pronouns: with him, for her, for him, between them. The exception is derivative prepositions: thanks to, according to, contrary to, towards. For example, towards him.

Where did the mysterious letter n come from? Several centuries ago, the prepositions v, k and s had a different form - vn, kn, son. They consisted of 3 sounds. The letter Ъ - er, sounded like a muffled vowel. It turns out that pronouns with prepositions were written like this: vn him, kn her. Prepositions were simplified over time, but the consonant n took root in the language and began to be perceived as part of the pronouns themselves. Therefore, the use of this letter has spread to other prepositions, to which it was not originally applied.

A little more history

One more strange feature can be noticed. The form of the nominative case of pronouns does not seem to correspond to the indirect ones. This is no coincidence. Indeed, at one time such demonstrative pronouns existed in the language: for the masculine - and, for the feminine - I, for the middle - e. It was their forms that were the usual “his, them, her” ... But these short pronouns were easily confused with the union and, as well as the pronoun i.

There were other demonstrative pronouns: familiar to us he, she, it. However, they leaned differently:
Nominative - He.
Genitive - of it.
Dative - this.
Creative - it.
Prepositional - about it.

The third person plural pronoun also existed - these or they.
Due to convenience, the nominative case of the first pronouns (and, i, e) was replaced by the nominative case of the second. But indirect forms remained. Indirect cases from the pronoun "he" also did not disappear. They were used in the language and some of them are still alive. They are archaic or ironic in nature: it is in time, in the absence of it.

Third person possessive pronouns

First person possessive pronouns are my, our. Second - yours, yours. Third - his her And their. Why are there one less? Where did the neuter pronoun go? The fact is that it coincides with the masculine pronoun - his.
But third-person possessive pronouns do not decline in cases. All of them correspond to the forms of the genitive or accusative case of personal pronouns: him, her, him, them. They don't change in sentences. her hat - her hat) in contrast to the same first and second person pronouns: ( my hat - my hat, your hat - your hat).

Errors when using personal pronouns

One of the possible mistakes is the omission of the letter -n after prepositions. “Trees grew near him”, “came to visit her”- sounds illiterate.

The use of pronouns as substitute words can create ambiguities. Therefore, you cannot use a pronoun if there is no replacement word in the previous sentence. This situation is especially insidious if the sentence contains another word of the same number or gender. It can even create a comic effect.

Lensky entered the duel in pantaloons. They parted and a shot rang out.

Here, although one of the participants in the duel is named, there is a word in the plural. Therefore, "they" is referred to the word "knickers". Here's how to be careful with third person pronouns! Examples reach the point of absurdity:

Gerasim was very devoted to the mistress and drowned her himself.

The situation is similar, only the pronoun “her” and a noun that is close in form ended up in the same sentence. The word "dog" or the name "Mumu" was lost somewhere in the previous sentences, and "lady" was in the dangerous neighborhood of a pronoun.
If the sentence contains several nouns of the same gender or number, then in the next sentence or the second part of the complex sentence it is also incorrect to use replacement pronouns.

A package arrived from the US. It soon closed for lunch.(Mail or package?)

In colloquial speech, pronouns are used much more often and it is permissible to use them even in the absence of substitute words. The fact is that in life the situation itself often tells what it is about, and facial expressions and intonation can help the speaker. But in writing or in oral presentation, such errors must be avoided.

Mistakes when using possessive pronouns

Since the possessive pronouns of the third person coincide with the forms of the genitive and accusative case of personal pronouns, it is erroneous to form them along the lines of other possessive pronouns and add the suffix -н and the ending -й/й, which are typical for adjectives. Everyone knows that the non-existent word "theirs" in a person's speech characterizes his culture and literacy not from the best side. A talented writer can play on mistakes in speech. To reproduce the colloquial writing style of a peasant boy, A.P. Chekhov, in addition to other words, also uses an erroneous form of the pronoun: "... And she took a herring and with her muzzle began to poke me in the mug". But still, writers are masters of the word because they are well aware of the norms of the language and it is precisely because of this that they can play with deviations from these norms.

conclusions

Thus, the pronouns of the third person are, although short, but very important words and it is almost impossible to do without them in speech. Therefore, it is important to know the rules of their declension and use well and use these words correctly.

This article provides information about pronouns, their main types, declension and spelling rules are indicated, personal pronouns in indirect cases are considered separately.

A pronoun is a part of speech of the Russian language that indicates objects, signs or persons, but does not name them. As a rule, it is used instead of nouns, adjectives, numerals and is that part of speech that helps the speaker better and without unnecessary repetition of the same word to present the speech to the listener.

What types of pronouns exist in Russian?

This independent part of speech is divided into several categories according to meaning and grammatical features:

  • personal pronouns name the persons participating in the speech (I, you, he);
  • interrogatives are usually used in interrogative sentences (who, what?);
  • possessive ones indicate the sign of the subject in relativity (mine, yours);
  • returnable means that the action that is performed by someone is directed to the acting object itself (to itself);
  • relative - the same as interrogative, but are used in subordinate clauses as (who, to whom);
  • name missing objects or signs (no one, no one);
  • the defining parts of speech are a method of clarifying the subject that is being spoken about (everywhere, everywhere);
  • indefinite names are indefinite objects, signs, etc. (someone, somewhere);
  • demonstratives serve as means of pointing to a certain kind of objects or signs (this one, that one).

personal pronouns

This type of independent part of speech does not change by gender, but from the context it is possible to determine who it is about: you wrote - you wrote.

This part of speech varies by case. The table shows that personal pronouns change in person and number. They in sentences, as a rule, play the role of a subject or an object. The main feature of declension is suppletivism, that is, not only the ending changes, but the whole word.

How do pronouns decline in Russian?

When changing in cases, these parts of speech change the whole basis.

R.p. me, us, you, you, him, her, them.

D.p. me, us, you, you, him, her, them.

V.p. me, us, you, you, him, her, them.

etc. me, us, you, you, them, her, them.

P.p. about me, about us, about you, about you, about him, about her, about them.

When compared with the table of personal pronouns, the following conclusions can be drawn:

  • the part of speech of the first and second person has no gender;
  • when declining, they lose the initial consonant (she - by her).

How are pronouns spelled correctly?

Personal pronouns can be declined by case. Their characteristic feature is that if they come after prepositions, a letter is added before them n(around her, for him, with them).

Letters n will not be after derivative prepositions (in spite of, like) that govern the dative case: like her. Examples of personal pronouns in indirect cases: like her, thanks to him.

Also letter n does not join the part of speech after comparative adjectives (she left after them).

Characteristics of personal pronouns in the indirect case

There are only five indirect cases. This is everything except the nominative. Features of the spelling of pronouns when changing by cases were discussed above. As you know, this part of speech is often used in order to avoid tautology.

Here are sample sentences with personal pronouns in oblique cases:

  1. The whole world was talking about me, because I wrote a famous novel.
  2. We have always had three brothers: the eldest, the youngest and Vovka.
  3. - You were gone exactly two hours, where were you? my wife asked me.
  4. - We are very glad to see you! the students exclaimed.
  5. Masha thought about him several times a day.
  6. It was impossible to forget her: a beautiful voice and a magnificent camp drove everyone crazy.
  7. The whole country is proud of them! After all, they are veterans!
  8. They were given a lot of tasks in mathematics, they must certainly complete them.
  9. - Let me take you home! - said a passer-by to a girl walking by.
  10. There were a lot of people in front of us, so we decided to come here another time.

From the considered examples of personal pronouns in indirect cases, it can be seen that they sometimes occur in a sentence not once, but several times. This aspect does not worsen the state of the text as a whole.

Personal pronouns in the oblique case in Russian and English

In both languages, these parts of speech are inflected. As in Russian, there are two types of declension in English: nominative and indirect. In the second there is an important point: the pronouns "you" and "you" sound and are written exactly the same - you. The translation depends on the context. Otherwise, there are no distinguishing features. So, I - I, you - you, you, he - he, she - she, it - it, we - we, they - they.

Unlike Russian, English has only two cases, not five. Therefore, all pronouns in foreigners have the same form.

In sentences, personal pronouns in oblique cases of Russian, as well as foreign ones, are often used and can be used in several forms. For example:

  • She sees them. - She sees them.
  • Give us that pens. - Give us those pens.
  • tell her. - Tell her.
  • He gives her a map. - He gives her a map.

When comparing two types of declension in English, one can also see suppletivism. It can be seen from the table above that only two forms of pronouns - you and it - match.

Thus, an insignificant part of speech exists both in Russian and in English. personal pronouns in indirect cases is suppletivism, that is, a change in the stem completely and a reduction in the number of declensions.

The name of this part of speech speaks for itself. The place of the name, that is, instead of the name. It is immediately clear that those parts that are called nominal can be replaced by a pronoun. The proposal from this replacement will not suffer, but will only benefit. Nouns and adjectives, and other parts with them, may not be repeated, a synonymous pronoun will cope with this.

specific conversation about each

There are not so many types of pronouns, they are easy to remember. Each category name is bright and telling. For clarity, you can disassemble each of them.

  • personal, indicate persons (I, he, you), they most often replace nouns.
  • reflexive, return to themselves (themselves), it cannot have any grammatical category, except for the case.
  • possessive, attract to a specific person, it becomes mine, yours, his, theirs. They successfully replace the adjective.
  • interrogative, contain a question (who?, what?, how much?), are used in interrogative sentences.
  • relative,
  • indexes, give an installation on a certain object (that, this, there).
  • defining,
  • negative, deny the object and its existence (no one, there is no need).
  • Indefinite, they cannot decide who the conversation is about at all (something, someone), they are formed from pronouns containing a question, in a prefixed way.

Features of pronouns

Some pronouns are unusual and do not seem to be inflected. For example, personal pronouns of the third person he, she, they in the dative, instrumental and prepositional cases have an additional letter H to the word: to him, about her, with them.

In negative pronouns, the presence of prefixes non- and ni- completely depends on the stress of the syllable. In a stressed strong position, the letter E is inserted, in an unstressed position, the letter AND For example, SOMEONE, but NOBODY.

Indefinite pronouns have their own spelling rule. The prefix KOE- and suffixes -THAT, -OR, -EVER, participating in the formation, have a hyphen: someone.

The language has such a form as pronouns by reciprocity. There are a great many of them, which appeared due to the abundance of pretexts and the meaning of the relationship to several, and most often, to two objects or personalities. An example of this are the following expressions beloved by a Russian person: from case to case, once from time, from each other.

The pronoun always indicates, but does not specifically name anything. This feature does not allow to give the pronoun complete freedom. This part of speech often performs a substitute function.

A pronoun is a special class of significant words that point to a subject without naming it. To avoid tautology in speech, the speaker may use a pronoun. Examples: I, yours, who, this, everyone, the most, the whole, myself, mine, another, another, that, somehow, someone, something, etc.

As can be seen from the examples, pronouns are most often used instead of a noun, and also instead of an adjective, numeral or adverb.

Pronouns tend to be divided into categories according to their meaning. This part of speech focuses on names. In other words, pronouns replace nouns, adjectives, numerals. However, the peculiarity of pronouns is that, replacing names, they do not acquire their meaning. According to the established tradition, only inflected words belong to pronouns. All invariable words are treated as pronominal adverbs.

This article will present the meaning and grammatical features, as well as examples of sentences in which certain pronouns are used.

Table of pronouns by category

Personal pronouns

I, you, we, you, he, she, it, they

reflexive pronoun

Possessive pronouns

mine, yours, ours, yours

Demonstrative pronouns

this, that, such, so many

Definitive pronouns

himself, the most, all, everyone, each, any, other, other

Interrogative pronouns

who, what, which, which, whose, how much, which

Relative pronouns

who, what, how, which, which, whose, how much, which

Negative pronouns

no one, nothing, none, no one, no one, nothing

Indefinite pronouns

someone, something, some, some, a few

Pronouns are divided into three categories:

  1. Pronominal nouns.
  2. Pronoun adjectives.
  3. Pronominal numerals.

Personal pronouns

Words that indicate persons and objects that are participants in a speech act are called "personal pronouns". Examples: I, you, we, you, he, she, it, they. I, you, we, you denote participants in speech communication. The pronouns he, she, they do not participate in the speech act, they are reported by the speaker as non-participants in the speech act.

  • I know what you want to tell me. (Participant in a speech act, object.)
  • You must read all the fiction on the list. (The subject to which the action is directed.)
  • We have had a wonderful holiday this year! (Participants of the speech act, subjects.)
  • You played your part perfectly! (The addressee, the object to which the appeal is directed in the speech act.)
  • He prefers a quiet pastime. (Non-participant in the speech act.)
  • Is she definitely going to America this summer? (Non-participant in the speech act.)
  • They jumped with a parachute for the first time in their lives and were very pleased. (Non-participant in the speech act.)

Attention! The pronouns his, her, their, depending on the context, can be used both in the category of possessive and in the category of personal pronouns.

Compare:

  • He was not at school today, neither at the first nor at the last lesson. - His performance at school depends on how often he attends classes. (In the first sentence, his is a personal pronoun in the genitive; in the second sentence, his is a possessive pronoun.)
  • I asked her to keep this conversation between us. She ran, her hair flowing in the wind, and the silhouette was lost and lost with every second, moving away and dissolving in the light of day.
  • They should always be asked to turn the music down. - Their dog very often howls at night, as if yearning for some unbearable grief of his.

reflexive pronoun

This category includes the pronoun itself - indicates the person of the object or addressee, which are identified with the actor. This function is performed by reflexive pronouns. Suggestion examples:

  • I have always considered myself the happiest person in the whole wide world.
  • She constantly admires herself.
  • He does not like to make mistakes and trusts only himself.

May I keep this kitten?

Possessive pronouns

A word that indicates the belonging of a person or object to another person or object is called a "possessive pronoun". Example: mine, yours, ours, yours, yours. Possessive pronouns indicate belonging to the speaker, interlocutor or non-participant in the act of speech.

  • My The decision is always the correct one.
  • Your wishes will surely come true.
  • Our the dog behaves very aggressively towards passers-by.
  • Is yours the choice will be yours.
  • Finally I got mine present!
  • Their keep your thoughts to yourself.
  • My the city misses me and I feel like I miss it.

Words like her, him, them can act as a personal pronoun in or as possessive pronoun. Suggestion examples:

  • Their the car is at the entrance. - They haven't been in the city for 20 years.
  • His the bag is on the chair. - He was asked to bring tea.
  • Her the house is located in the city center. - They made her the queen of the evening.

The belonging of a person (object) to a group of objects also indicates a possessive pronoun. Example:

  • Our Joint trips will be remembered to me for a long time!

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative is the second name of the demonstrative pronoun. Examples: this, that, such, so much. These words distinguish one or another object (person) from a number of other similar objects, persons or features. This function is performed by the demonstrative pronoun. Examples:

  • This the novel is much more interesting and informative than all those that I have read before. (Pronoun this distinguishes one object from a number of similar ones, indicates the peculiarity of this object.)

Pronoun This also performs this function.

  • This sea, these mountains, This the sun will forever remain in my memory the brightest memory.

However, you should be careful with the definition of the part of speech and not confuse the demonstrative pronoun with the particle!

Compare examples of demonstrative pronouns:

  • This it was excellent! - Did you play the part of the fox in the school play? (In the first case, This is a pronoun and fulfills the predicate. In the second case This- the particle has no syntactic role in the sentence.)
  • That the house is much older and more beautiful than this one. (Pronoun That selects an object, points to it.)
  • Neither such, no other option suited him. (Pronoun such helps to focus on one of the many subjects.)
  • So many once he stepped on the same rake, and again he repeats everything anew. (Pronoun so many emphasizes repetition.

Definitive pronouns

Examples of pronouns: himself, the most, all, everyone, each, any, other, other. This category is divided into sub-categories, each of which includes the following pronouns:

1.Himself, the most- pronouns that have a distinguishing function. They elevate the object in question, individualize it.

  • Myself director - Alexander Yaroslavovich - was present at the party.
  • He was offered most a highly paid and prestigious job in our city.
  • Most The greatest happiness in life is to love and be loved.
  • Samo Her Majesty condescended to praise me.

2.Whole- a pronoun that has the meaning of the breadth of coverage of a characteristic of a person, object or feature.

  • Whole the city came to watch him perform.
  • All the road passed in remorse and the desire to return home.
  • All The sky was covered with clouds, and not a single gap was visible.

3. Anyone, everyone, anyone- pronouns denoting the freedom to choose from several objects, persons or features (provided that they exist at all).

  • Semen Semenovich Laptev - a master of his craft - this is for you any will say.
  • Any a person is able to achieve what he wants, the main thing is to make an effort and not be lazy.
  • Each blade of grass, every petal breathed life, and this desire for happiness was transmitted to me more and more.
  • Anything the word he said turned against him, but he did not seek to correct it.

4.Other, other- pronouns that have the meaning of non-identity with what was said earlier.

  • I chose different a path that was more accessible to me.
  • Imagine another Would you have done the same in my place?
  • IN different once he comes home, silently, eats and goes to bed, today everything was different ...
  • The medal has two sides - another I did not notice.

Interrogative pronouns

Examples of pronouns: who, what, which, which, whose, how much, which.

Interrogative pronouns include a question about persons, objects or phenomena, quantities. A sentence that contains an interrogative pronoun usually ends with a question mark.

  • Who Was that the man who came to us this morning?
  • What what will you do when the summer exams are over?
  • What there should be a portrait of an ideal person, and how do you imagine him?
  • Which of these three people could know what really happened?
  • Whose is it a briefcase?
  • How much is the red dress which did you come to school yesterday?
  • Which your favorite time of the year?
  • whose I saw a child in the yard yesterday?
  • How Do you think I need to enter the Faculty of International Relations?

Relative pronouns

Examples of pronouns: who, what, how, which, which, whose, how much, which.

Attention! These pronouns can act as both relative and interrogative pronouns, depending on whether they are used in a particular context. In a complex sentence (CSP), only a relative pronoun is used. Examples:

  • How are you making a biscuit pie with cherry filling? - She told how she makes a cherry pie.

In the first case How - the pronoun has an interrogative function, i.e. the subject concludes a question about a certain object and about the method of obtaining it. In the second case, the pronoun How is used as a relative pronoun and acts as a connecting word between the first and second simple sentences.

  • Who knows in which the sea flows into the Volga river? - He did not know who this man was to him, and what could be expected from him.
  • What do you need to do to get a good job? - He knew what to do in order to get a well-paid job.

What- pronoun - is used both as a relative and as an interrogative pronoun, depending on the context.

  • What shall we do tonight? - You said that today we should visit grandma.

To accurately determine the category of pronouns, choosing between relative and interrogative, you need to remember that the interrogative pronoun in a sentence can be replaced by a verb, a noun, a numeral, depending on the context. The relative pronoun cannot be replaced.

  • What do you want to have dinner tonight? - I would like vermicelli for dinner.
  • Which do you like the color? - Do you like purple?
  • Whose is this a house? - Is this your mother's house?
  • Which are you in line? Are you eleventh in line?
  • How many do you have candy? - Do you have six sweets?

A similar situation with the pronoun than. Compare examples of relative pronouns:

  • What would you like to do for the weekend? He completely forgot what wanted to do it for the weekend. (As we can see, in the second version the pronoun how enters the category of relative and performs a connecting function between the two parts of a complex sentence.)
  • How did you get into my house yesterday? - Anna Sergeevna looked at the boy inquiringly and did not understand how he got into her house.
  • How does it feel to know that you are in trouble? - I know for myself what it's like to realize that your plans are collapsing rapidly and irrevocably.
  • How many times do I ask you not to do this again? - She has already lost count, which time her son brought his class teacher to tears.
  • Whose car is parked at the gate of my house? - He was at a loss, so he could not figure out whose idea it was to provoke a fight.
  • How much is this Persian kitten worth? - He was told how much a red Persian kitten costs.
  • Who knows what year the Battle of Borodino took place? - Three students raised their hands: they knew in what year the Battle of Borodino took place.

Some scholars propose to combine relative and interrogative pronouns into one category and call them "interrogative-relative pronouns." Examples:

  • Who is there? He didn't see who was here.

However, at present, it has not yet been possible to reach a common agreement, and the categories of interrogative and relative pronouns continue to exist separately from each other.

Negative pronouns

Examples of pronouns: no one, nothing, none, no one, no one, nothing. Negative pronouns have the meaning of the absence of persons, objects, and also to indicate their negative characteristics.

  • Nobody didn't know what to expect from him.
  • Nothing he was not so interested that he could devote his whole life to this cause.
  • No debt and none money could not keep him from running away.
  • A lonely dog ​​ran along the road, and it seemed that she had never had a master, a home, and tasty food in the morning; She was draw.
  • He tried to find excuses for himself, but it turned out that everything happened precisely on his initiative, and no one was to blame.
  • He was completely nothing to do, so he walked slowly through the rain past the glowing shop windows and watched the oncoming cars passing by.

Indefinite pronouns

From interrogative or relative pronouns, an indefinite pronoun is formed. Examples: someone, something, some, some, several, someone, anyone, anyone, something, some, some Indefinite pronouns contain the meaning of an unknown, indefinite person or object. Also, indefinite pronouns have the meaning of deliberately concealed information that the speaker specifically does not want to communicate.

Such properties have Examples for comparison:

  • someone's the voice was heard in the darkness, and I did not quite understand to whom it belonged: a man or a beast. (Lack of information from the speaker.) - This letter was from my no one an acquaintance who had been absent from our city for a long time and was now about to come. (Intentionally withheld information from listeners.)
  • Something an incredible thing happened that night: the wind tore and threw leaves from the trees, lightning flashed and pierced the sky through and through. (Instead of something you can substitute indefinite pronouns similar in meaning: something, something.)
  • Some of my friends consider me a strange and wonderful person: I do not strive to earn a lot of money and live in a small old house on the edge of the village . (Pronoun some can be replaced by the following pronouns: someone, a few.)
  • Some a pair of shoes, a backpack and a tent were already packed and waiting for us to pack up and leave far, far from the city. (The subject does not specify the number of items, generalizes their number.)
  • someone informed me that you received a letter, but do not want to acknowledge in e volume.(The speaker deliberately hides any information about the face.)
  • If anyone saw this person, please report it to the police!
  • anyone knows what Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky were talking about at the ball?
  • When you see anything interesting, do not forget to write down your observations in a notebook.
  • some moments in learning English remained incomprehensible to me, then I returned to the last lesson and tried to go through it again. (Deliberate concealment by the speaker of information.)
  • how much I still had money in my purse, but I didn't remember how much. (Lack of information about the subject from the speaker.)

Grammar categories of pronouns

Grammatically, pronouns are divided into three categories:

  1. Pronoun noun.
  2. Pronoun adjective.
  3. Pronominal numeral.

TO pronominal noun include such categories of pronouns as: personal, reflexive, interrogative, negative, indefinite. All these digits are likened to nouns in their grammatical properties. However, pronominal nouns have certain features that a pronoun does not have. Examples:

  • I came to you . (In this case, this is the masculine gender, which we determined by the past tense verb with a zero ending). - You came to me. (The gender is determined by the end of the verb "came" - feminine,

As you can see from the example, some pronouns are devoid of the category of gender. In this case, the genus can be restored logically, based on the situation.

Other pronouns of the listed categories have the category of gender, but it does not reflect the real relationship between persons and objects. For example, the pronoun Who always combined with a past tense masculine verb.

  • Who was the first woman in space?
  • Ready or not, here I come.
  • She knew who would be the next contender for her hand and heart.

The pronoun what is used with past tense neuter nouns.

  • What enabled you to do this?
  • He did not suspect that something similar to his story could be happening somewhere.

Pronoun He has generic forms, but the gender here acts as a classification form, and not as a nominative.

TO pronominal adjective demonstrative, definitive, interrogative, relative, negative, indefinite pronouns. They all answer the question Which? and are likened to adjectives in their properties. They have dependent forms of number and case.

  • This tiger cub is the most playful in the zoo.

Pronouns are pronouns as many as, several. They are likened to numerals in their meaning in combination with nouns.

  • How many books did you read this summer?
  • So many opportunities now I had!
  • Grandma left a few hot pies for me.

Attention! However, in combination with pronoun verbs how many, how many, several are used as adverbs.

  • How much is this orange blouse?
  • So much can be spent on vacation.
  • I thought a little about how to live and what to do next.


Similar articles