B2 COURSE

Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners

9.1. - Pronouns

A pronoun is defined as a word or phrase that may be substituted for a noun or noun phrase, which
once replaced, is known as the pronoun’s antecedent. How is this possible? In a nutshell, it’s because
pronouns can do everything that nouns can do. A pronoun can act as a subject, direct object, indirect
object, object of the preposition, and more.

Without pronouns, we’d have to keep on repeating nouns, and that would make our speech
and writing repetitive, not to mention cumbersome. Most pronouns are very short words. Examples
include:

Pronoun ar use t
He
She

avoi repetitio
They
It
We
Who

As mentioned, pronouns are usually used to replace nouns, however they can also stand in for
certain adverbs, adjectives, and other pronouns. Anytime you want to talk about a person, animal,
place or thing, you can use pronouns to make your speech or writing flow better.

VIDEO - Types of pronouns

Pronouns can be divided into numerous categories including:

9.1.1. - Indefinite pronouns

Those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places:

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Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners

Always singular Always plural Singular OR Plural

each everyone no one both none

every everybody nobody many some
one everything nothing others more
either anyone someone several most
neither anybody somebody few any
another anything something fewer all

9.1.2. - Personal pronouns

Those associated with a certain person, thing, or group; all except you have distinct forms that indicate
singular or plural number:

Singular Plural

I We
Subject pronouns You You
He, she, it They

Me Us
Object pronouns You You
Him, her, it Them

9.1.3. - Reflexive pronouns

Those preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which they refer, and ending in –self or –
selves:

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Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners

Subject Reflexive pronoun

I Myself
You Yourself
He Himself
She Herself
It Itself
We Ourselves
You (plural) Yourselves
They Themselves

9.1.4. - Demonstrative pronouns

Those used to point to something specific within a sentence:

Singular Plural

Here This These

There That Those

9.1.5. - Possessive pronouns

Those designating possession or ownership:

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Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners

9.1.6. - Relative pronouns

Those which refer to nouns mentioned previously, acting to introduce an adjective (relative) clause:

It is used to refer to people

Who
Example: The man who works at the Post Office is very kind

It is used to refer to animals and objects

Which
Example: Tina has a bunch of flowers which his friend bought

It is used to refer to possession

Whose
Example: Whose is that dictionary?

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Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners

It is used to refer to people or animals. It can replace WHO or

WHICH
That
Example: The blue jacket that she is putting on belongs to
her friend

It is used to refer to places

Where
Example: The hotel where we slept was excellent

It is used to refer to time

When
Example: That was the day when my sister was born

9.1.6. - Interrogative pronouns

Those which introduce a question:

Interrogative pronoun Used to ask about... For example

What? Objects / people What is your name?

Which? Objects / people Which is your boyfriend?

Who? People Who are you?

Whose? Possession relation Whose flower is that?

Whom? People (more formal) Whom did you call?

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Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners
9.1.7. - Reciprocal

Those expressing mutual actions or relationship; i.e. one another:

2 nouns each other

3 or more nouns one another

9.1.8. - Intensive pronouns

Those ending in –self or –selves and that serve to emphasize their antecedents:

Singular reflexive & intensive personal pronouns Plural reflexive & intensive personal pronouns

Myself Ourselves

Yourself Yourselves

Himself, herself, itself Themselves

9.2. - Pronoun rules

There are a few important rules for using pronouns. As you read through these rules and the examples
in the next section, notice how the pronoun rules are followed. Soon you’ll see that pronouns are easy
to work with:

Subject pronouns may be used to begin sentences. For example: We did a great job.
Subject pronouns may also be used to rename the subject. For example: It was she who decided we
should go to Hawaii.
Indefinite pronouns don’t have antecedents. They are capable of standing on their own. For
example: No one likes the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard.
Object pronouns are used as direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions. These
include: you, me, him, her, us, them, and it. For example: David talked to her about the mistake.
Possessive pronouns show ownership. They do not need apostrophes. For example: The cat
washed its whiskers.

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Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners
PRONOUN CHART

Subject Object Possessive Possessive Reflexive

pronouns pronouns adjectives pronouns pronouns

1st person I Me My Mine Myself

2nd person You You Your Yours Yourself

3rd person Him His Himself

(male) He His
3rd person
(female) She Her Her Hers Herself

3rd person
Singular reflexive &Itintensive personal pronouns
It Its (not used) Itself

1st person We Us Our Ours Ourselves

(plural)
2nd person
(plural) You You Your Yours Yourselves

3rd person
(plural) They Them Their Theirs Themselves

9.3. - Determiners

What are determiners?

A determiner is used to modify a noun. It indicates reference to something specific or something of a

particular type. This function is usually performed by articles, demonstratives, possessive determiners,
or quantifiers.

VIDEO - Determiners vs pronouns

Determiners are followed by a noun:

The man
This book
Some people

Subject pronouns ( I , you , he , etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) cannot be
determiners because they can never be followed by a noun.

VIDEO - Types of determiners

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Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners

9.3.1. - Articles

The definite and indefinite articles are all determiners.

Definite article – the

Indefinite article – a or an (a is used before a consonant sound; an is used before a vowel sound.)

Examples:
Close the door, please.
I’ve got a friend in Canada.

9.3.2. - Demonstratives
There are four demonstrative determiners in English and they are: this, that, these and those.

Note that demonstrative determiners can also be used as demonstrative pronouns. When they are
used as determiners they are followed by the nouns they modify. Compare:

This is
(plural) my camera. (Demonstrative used as a pronoun, subject of the verb is) 

This camera is mine. (Demonstrative used as a determiner modifying the noun camera.)

9.3.3. - Possessives
Possessive adjectives – my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their – modify the noun following it in order
to show possession.

Possessive determiners are different from possessive pronouns – mine, his, hers, yours, ours,
their.
Possessive pronouns can stand alone and are not followed by nouns.
Possessive determiners, on the other hand, are followed by nouns.

Compare:
This is my house. (my is a possessive determiner. It is followed by the noun house which it modifies)
Is that car yours? (yours is a possessive pronoun. It is not followed by a noun.)

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Unit 9 - Pronouns and determiners

Singular reflexive & intensive personal pronouns Plural reflexive & intensive personal pronouns

I My

You Your

He His

She Her

It Its

We Our

You Your

They Their

9.3.4. - Quantifiers
Quantifiers are followed by nouns which they modify. Examples of quantifiers include:
some, any, few, little, more, much, many, each, every, both, all, enough, half, little, whole, less etc.

Quantifiers are followed by nouns which they modify. Examples of quantifiers include:

He knows more people than his wife.
Little knowledge is a dangerous thing .

QUANTIFIERS
Countable Uncountable
How many...? How much..?

every not many every a little

all a few all little
most few most any
a lot of any a lot of no; none
many no; none much
some some
several not much