Download Lecture 7. Pronouns I

Erik Smitterberg ([email protected])
Dept. of English, Uppsala University
A1/HS1/T1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2012
Lecture 7. Pronouns I

A pronoun:
o
Typically functions as the head of a noun phrase or as a determiner in a noun
phrase.
o
Often replaces all or part of a noun phrase so that the full noun phrase does
not have to be repeated.
1 Personal, Reflexive, and Possessive Pronouns

Personal pronouns typically refer to something, someone, etc. that is already
familiar (cf. the), and often have different forms for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person, for
singular and plural number, and for subject and object functions.
o
Uncountable nouns correspond to singular pronouns (e.g. I heard the news, and
it was not good) and invariable plural nouns to plural pronouns (e.g. I need my
binoculars, but I left them at home).
o
When Swedish det can be replaced by han/hon/de, English must have he/she/they
to describe or characterize someone (e.g. She seems to be a very good actress vs.
/Hon/Det/ verkar vara en mycket bra skådespelerska).

But when the pronoun identifies someone, it can also be used (e.g. “Who
is that guy in the corner?” “/It/He/ is my brother”).
o
They is sometimes used instead of it to refer back to a collective noun (e.g. The
staff gathered in the conference room, where they waited anxiously for news).
o
The subject forms are used as subjects of clauses (e.g. He and I did the
assignment together; He is taller than I am).
o
The object forms are used as objects (e.g. Susan helped him a lot) and as
prepositional complements (e.g. Susan completed the task without him). In
informal language, than and as are used as prepositions in this way (e.g. He is
taller than me). Object forms are also often used as subject predicatives in
informal language (e.g. Hi, it’s me!).

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of a clause.
o
Form:

First element: dependent possessive forms in the 1st and 2nd persons
(my-, your-, our-); object forms in the 3rd person (him-, her-, it-, them-).

Second element: -self in the singular; -selves in the plural.

NOTE 1. Avoid, for instance, -self in the plural (e.g. *ourself) and
possessive forms in the 3rd person (e.g. *theirselves).

NOTE 2. Special case: oneself (e.g. One can easily cut oneself on sharp
knives). See below for more information on one.
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Erik Smitterberg ([email protected])
Dept. of English, Uppsala University
o

A1/HS1/T1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2012
Functions:

Make a verb reflexive (e.g. He cut himself on the sharp knife).

NOTE. Many verbs are reflexive in Swedish but not in English –
see Appendix 11 in UGE (e.g. She concentrated on the task vs.
Hon koncentrerade sig på uppgiften).

Occur after prepositions in some expressions (e.g. I’ll tell you a secret, but
keep it to yourself).

NOTE. In Swedish, reflexive sig occurs after some prepositions
with meanings related to space, where English instead uses object
pronouns (e.g. He has no money on him). But reflexive pronouns
are used in more abstract expressions with prepositions (e.g. He
was beside himself with anger).

Used for emphasis (e.g. I tied my shoes myself).
Possessive pronouns typically express ownership, much like genitive noun phrases.
o
May function dependently, as determiners in noun phrases, or (except its)
independently, as heads of noun phrases. Unlike Swedish possessive
pronouns, English possessive pronouns have different forms as heads and
determiners (e.g. This bike is mine [head] vs. Den här cykeln är min; This is my
bike [determiner] vs. Det här är min cykel).
o
Do not take an apostrophe when they end in -s.
o
A dependent possessive pronoun or a genitive noun phrase is required before
own in English: Hon har fått ett eget rum vs. She has got /a room of her own/her
own room/. Do not use *an own except in a few set phrases (e.g. an own goal
[BrE]).
o
Their is often used instead of its to refer to a noun phrase with a collective
noun (e.g. The family should be having their dinner about now).
o
Possessive pronouns are used in expressions with body parts, clothes, many
belongings, people’s minds and lives, etc., where Swedish often has the
definite form of the noun (e.g. He broke his leg vs. Han bröt benet). Exceptions:

Passive clauses (e.g. He was hit on the head).

The “owner” is an object (e.g. She hit him on the head).

A few expressions (e.g. She has racing cars on the brain).
o
NOTE 1. Swedish mina och dina skivor = English your records and mine. Swedish
often puts min/mitt/mina first; this pattern is impolite in English.
o
NOTE 2. A friend of mine, yours, etc.
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Erik Smitterberg ([email protected])
Dept. of English, Uppsala University
A1/HS1/T1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2012
Table 1. Personal, possessive, and reflexive pronouns in English (excluding one and its
variant forms)
Number Person Personal
Possessive
Reflexive
Subject
Object Dependent Independent
1st
I
me
my
mine
myself
2nd
you
you
your
yours
yourself
Singular
he
him
his
his
himself
3rd
she
her
her
hers
herself
it
it
its
—
itself
1st
we
us
our
ours
ourselves
Plural
2nd
you
you
your
yours
yourselves
3rd
they
them
their
theirs
themselves
2 Some Problems with Swedish Det

Preparatory subjects:
o
The preparatory subject is an empty “place-holder” in subject position. In
Swedish, det is typically used as preparatory subject; in English, either there or
it is used.
o
An extraposed subject occurs later in the clause.
o
There as preparatory subject (existential there):

Existential there is used as preparatory subject in constructions that
express some type of existence.

Structure: there + a verb that implies existence (be, sit, stand, occur,
remain, seem to be, etc.) + an extraposed subject that is a noun phrase (e.g.
There are huge problems with pollution in our society; There remains a clear
bias in favour of politicians).

Exception: it is used as preparatory subject when a noun phrase
headed by weather is the extraposed subject (e.g. It’s horrible
weather today).

Existential there often corresponds to Swedish constructions with det as
preparatory subject such as det finns, förekommer, ligger, (åter)står, verkar
finnas, etc. Do not use it in these constructions in English just because det
is used in Swedish!

The number of the head of the extraposed subject determines subject–
verb agreement (e.g. There are huge problems with pollution in our society).
o
Preparatory it:

It is used as preparatory subject when the extraposed subject is a clause
(e.g. It is true that the winter of 2010 was very snowy; It is difficult to explain
this passage in the book).
3
Erik Smitterberg ([email protected])
Dept. of English, Uppsala University
A1/HS1/T1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2012


Cf. the “original” constructions without preparatory it: That the
winter of 2010 was very snowy is true; To explain this passage in the
grammar book is difficult.
That-clauses and to-infinitive clauses (see above) as subjects are usually
extraposed in English. In contrast, -ing clauses as subjects are extraposed
more rarely (e.g. Studying grammar is great fun), but note the common
extraposed patterns it is no use + -ing and it is no good + -ing (e.g. It’s no
use trying to dodge the reporters’ questions).

“Empty” it is an “empty” placeholder in subject position without an extraposed
subject later in the clause.
o
Typically corresponds to Swedish det.
o
Used mostly about the weather or certain measurements – temperature, time,
distance (e.g. It’s raining in Baltimore; It is 9 p.m. in Uppsala).

However, when this is expressed with a noun phrase, there is used as
preparatory subject (but see weather exception above) (e.g. There was a
hurricane last night).

So and neither/nor:
o
So is used corresponding to Swedish det after a number of verbs (see section
8.1.3 in UGE) and after be afraid (e.g. Does she have a driving licence? – Yes, I think
so).
o
So sometimes corresponds to Swedish det … också; the last word after so is
emphasized (e.g. He asked me to help him, and so I did; She was wrong, and so was
I).
o
Neither or nor sometimes corresponds to Swedish det … inte … heller (e.g. I will
not steal anything, and /neither/nor/ will you ‘… och det skall inte du heller’).
3 Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns (singular this and that, plural these and those):
o
Often correspond to Swedish den här/det här/de(m) här or denna/detta/dessa.
o
Can be used both as determiners in noun phrases (e.g. This book is really good)
and as heads of noun phrases (e.g. That is nice of you).
o
This and these are near the speaker, and sometimes more positive; that and
those are further away from the speaker, and sometimes more negative (e.g.
This house is much nicer than the last one. – Yeah, that house was really ugly).
o
This can be used instead of the indefinite article in informal speech to
introduce a new concept (e.g. I was walking down the street, and this bloke came
up to me and asked me what time it was).
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Erik Smitterberg ([email protected])
Dept. of English, Uppsala University
o
A1/HS1/T1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2012
NOTE. Swedish Det här är/Det där är + plural noun phrase corresponds to
English These are/Those are + plural noun phrase (e.g. These are my guitars vs.
Det här är mina gitarrer).
4 Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, what) introduce many whquestions.
o
The different pronouns have slightly different functions:

Whose, which, and what can be determiners in noun phrases (e.g. Whose
car is that?; Which car is yours?; What colour is her dress?) or heads in
noun phrases (e.g. Whose is that?; He asked me which of them was mine;
What is your favourite colour?).

Who and whom can only be heads in noun phrases (e.g. Who wrote that
song?; From whom did you get that letter?).
o
Interrogative pronouns occur in two types of questions:

Direct (e.g. Who has eaten the pie?).

Indirect (e.g. She asked us who had eaten the pie).

NOTE. There is no English word corresponding to the Swedish som in
many indirect questions (e.g. Hon frågade vilka av lärarna som talade
brittisk engelska vs. She asked which of the teachers Ø spoke British English).
o
Who, whom, and whose refer to people and cannot be followed by of (e.g. Which
of the boys borrowed the book?).

In formal language, who is used for subjects (e.g. Who saw them at the
cinema?) and whom is used for objects (e.g. Whom did you meet?) and
prepositional complements (e.g. To whom did she give the letter?).

In informal language, who is used instead of whom for objects, and for
prepositional complements where the pronoun does not follow the
preposition (e.g. Who did you meet?; Who did she give the letter to?). But
whom must always be used when the interrogative pronoun follows the
preposition (e.g. To whom did she give the letter?).

Whose is the genitive form of who (e.g. Whose jacket is this?; She wanted to
know whose jacket it was).

NOTE: who’s = who is or who has! Both who’s and whose are
pronounced /hu;z/, but they must be kept apart in writing.
o
Which can refer to people as well as things, abstractions, etc. Which is only used
when there is a choice from a selection of people, things, etc. (e.g. Which of
these languages do you speak?). It is often followed by one(s) when there is no
other noun phrase head (e.g. Which one do you prefer?).
o
What usually refers to things, abstractions, etc. when there is an open choice
(e.g. What languages do you speak?).
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Erik Smitterberg ([email protected])
Dept. of English, Uppsala University

A1/HS1/T1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2012
NOTE. What is often used with like about permanent characteristics (e.g.
What does he look like? ‘in general’), while how without like is used about
temporary ones (e.g. How do I look? ‘now’).
5 Generic Reference

Swedish den som/de(m) som:
o
With generic reference (‘var och en som’):

With singular verbs: anyone who, whoever (e.g. Anyone who goes to China
should see the Great Wall).

With plural verbs: those who, people who (e.g. Those who go to China should
see the Great Wall).

NOTE. The one who, they who, and them who are not used in this sense in
English; he who is only used in sayings and proverbs.
o
With specific reference:

In the singular: the person who (e.g. We will find the person who did this).

NOTE. The one who works only in some cases.

In the plural: the people who or those who (e.g. Those who robbed the bank
will be caught).

Swedish man:
o
One can correspond to Swedish generic man in formal language when the
speaker is included (e.g. One should take care of oneself and one’s investments).

NOTE. One has the genitive form one’s – which has an apostrophe, unlike
possessive pronouns – and the reflexive form oneself.
o
You is informal and is often used to give advice or instructions (e.g. You take a
right to get to the church).
o
We must include the speaker (e.g. We eat crayfish in August in Sweden).
o
They/people must exclude the speaker (e.g. They mixed their wine with water in
Ancient Rome).
o
The passive (see Lecture 5) is a frequent option (e.g. The criminal is believed to
be armed and dangerous).
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