11.2.6  Interrogative Pronouns

11.2.6.1  Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. There are 4 main interrogative pronouns: who, whom, what, which, as well as the possessive pronoun whose, used as the interrogative possessive pronoun, and the compounds whoever, whatever, whichever.

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The table below sums up the use of interrogative pronouns:

 

subject

object

 

person

who

whom

 

thing

what

 

person/thing

which

 

person

whose

(possessive)

 

        Examples:

• Who told you? (subject)

• Whom did you tell? (object)

• What has happened? (subject)

• What do you want? (object)

• Which came first? (subject)

• Which will the teacher see first? (object)

• There's one car missing. Whose hasn't arrived? (subject)

• We've found everyone's keys. Whose did you find? (object)

• Whoever would want to do such a nasty thing? (subject)

• Whatever did he say to make her cry like that? (object)

• They're all fantastic! Whichever will you choose? (object)

11.2.6.2  Singular verb after Who and What.

When Who or What is used to ask questions, the verb after it is always singular, whether the people or the things in the answers are singular or plural. Eg.

• Who knows the answer to this question? We all do.

• Who is the captain of the team? John is.

• What has been done to the house? Many things, including the renovation of the basement.

• What is it? A flower.

11.2.6.3  Singular or plural verb after What + noun (s), depending on
 whether the noun is singular or plural. Eg.

• What dog is that?

• What things have been done to the house?

  11.2.7  Reflexive Pronouns 反身代名詞

 

We use a reflexive pronoun when we want to refer back to the subject of the sentence or clause. Reflexive pronouns end in “-self” (singular) or “-selves” (plural).

 

In English, the 8 common reflective pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

 

Examples:

• I saw myself in the mirror.

• Why do you blame yourself?

• John sent himself a copy.

• Mary bought herself a diamond ring.

• My dog hurt itself.

• We blame ourselves.

• Can you help yourselves?

• They cannot look after themselves.

11.2.8  Reciprocal Pronouns相互代名詞

We use reciprocal pronouns when each of two or more subjects is acting in the same way towards the other. For example, A is talking to B, and B is talking to A. So we say:

• A and B are talking to each other.

The action is “reciprocated.” John talks to Mary and Mary talks to John. I give you a present and you give me a present. The dog bites the cat and the cat bites the dog.

There are only 2 reciprocal pronouns, and they are both two words:

• each other

• one another

  When we use these reciprocal pronouns:

• there must be two or more people, things or groups involved (so we cannot use reciprocal pronouns with I, you [singular], he/she/it), and

• they must be doing the same thing

Examples:

• John and Mary love each other.

• Peter and David hate each other.

• The ten prisoners were all blaming one another.

• Both teams played hard against each other.

• We gave each other gifts.

• Why don't you believe each other?

• They can't see each other.

• The gangsters were fighting one another.

• The boats were bumping against each other in the storm.

In general, we use each other more often than one another. Some people say that we should use one another only for three or more people or things, and each other for two people or things.

Adapted from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/pronouns-reciprocal.htm
 

11.3  Pronouns and Determiners

Pronouns and determiners are closely related, and some linguists think pronouns are actually determiners without a noun or a noun phrase. The following chart shows their relationships in English.

 

Pronoun

Determiner

Personal (1st / 2nd)

we

we Chinese

Possessive

ours

our freedom

Demonstrative

this

this book

Indefinite

some

some books

Interrogative

who

which person

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11.4  Pronoun Case

There are only 3 pronoun cases.

• subjective case (they act as the subject)

• objective case (they act as the object)

• possessive case (they show possession of something else)

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The following table shows the different forms for pronouns depending on case.

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subjective case

objective case

possessive case

personal pronouns

singular

1st

I

me

mine

 

 

2nd

you

you

yours

3rd

he
she
it

him
her
it

his
hers
its

 

plural

1st

we

us

ours

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2nd

you

you

yours

3rd

they

them

theirs

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relative/interrogative pronouns

​

who

whom

whose

whoever

whomever

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which/that/what

which/that/what

 

indefinite pronouns

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everybody

everybody

everybody's

 

11.5  Some problems of pronouns and pronoun cases.

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11.5.1  Mary and I or Mary and me?

1. Mary and I are delighted to be here today. (NOT Mary and me)

2. The letter was addressed to Mary and me. (NOT Mary and I)

In 1, Mary and I are subjects, which is why the pronoun takes the subjective case “I.” In 2, Mary and me are objects, which is why the pronoun takes the objective case “me.” An easy way to check the correct case is to try the sentence without Mary. Would you say “I am delighted to be here” or “Me am delighted to be here”? Would you say “The letter was addressed to me” or “The letter was addressed to I”?

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11.5.2.  In comparisons.

Comparisons usually follow than or as:

• He is taller than I (am tall).  (NOT He is taller than me.)

• This helps you as much as (it helps) me.  (NOT This helps you as much as I.)

• She is as noisy as I (am).  (NOT She is as noisy as me.)

Comparisons are really shorthand sentences which usually omit words, such as those in the parentheses in the sentences above. If you complete the comparison in your head, you can choose the correct case for the pronoun.

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11.5.3.  In formal and semiformal writing.

Use the subjective form after a form of the verb to be.
Formal: It is I.
Informal: It is me.

Use whom in the objective case.
Formal: To whom am I talking?
Informal: Who am I talking to?

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11.5.4  Everybody, anybody, everyone, anyone, each, neither, either, neither of, either of, neither…nor, either…or, nobody, someone, a person.

 There are debates among linguists in the use of singular or plural verb, singular or plural pronoun after these indefinite pronouns / indefinite adjectives. Here is my position on some of these:

11.5.4.1  After neither and either you use a singular verb. Eg.

• Neither was selected for the job.

• I don't think either school is stronger than the other. 

11.5.4.2  Neither of and either of are followed by a singular verb and a plural noun or pronoun.

• Neither of my parents lives with me. They live out of town.

• Either of them is correct.

11.5.4.3  Neither…nor, either…or are followed by a singular verb or a plural verb, depending on the subject (singular or plural) closest to the conjugated verb.

• Neither Helen nor Lily lives in Hong Kong. (second subject singular)

• Neither Frank nor my other friends care about their future. (second subject plural)

• Either Phil or Opera is coming. (second subject singular)

• Either Peter or the girls need to attend the seminar. (second subject plural)

11.5.4.4  Everybody, everyone, anybody, anyone are followed by a singular verb and a plural pronoun.

• Everybody loves Raymond, but Raymond doesn’t love them.  

• If everyone hands in their assignments on time, they will likely do well in the exam.

• If anybody is interested, we will go for the movie tonight.

• How can I know if anyone is stealing the money here?

 

「 每 人 」 是 單 數 還 是 複 數 ？

 

古德明    2004.8.3  www.appledaily.com                                   

楊 鐵 樑 《 楊 官 英 語 》 欄 認 為 Shakespeare 、 Austen 、 Thackeray 等 文 豪 英 文 都 有 錯 誤 ， 先 生 同 意 嗎 ？

細 看 讀 者 擲 下 的 半 篇 《 楊 官 英 語 》 ， 原 來 是 說 Shakespeare 有 everyone to rest themselves （ 各 人 自 休 息 ） 一 語 ， Austen 有 I would have everybody marry if they can do it properly （ 我 希 望 天 下 人 無 不 婚 嫁 ， 只 是 婚 嫁 必 須 得 當 ） 一 語 ， Thackeray 則 有 A person can't help their birth （ 出 生 家 世 ， 非 人 所 能 控 制 ） 一 語 。 楊 鐵 樑 認 為 everyone / everybody （ 每 個 人 ） 和 a person （ 一 個 人 ） 都 是 單 數 名 詞 ， 所 以 上 述 三 句 ， rest themselves 應 改 為 rest himself ， if they 應 改 為 if he 或 if she ， their birth 則 應 改 為 his birth 或 her birth 。

其 實 楊 鐵 樑 所 說 的 「 錯 誤 」 ， 是 英 文 慣 用 法 。 Everyone 等 字 ， 文 法 上 固 然 是 單 數 形 式 ， 意 思 上 卻 是 複 數 ， 所 以 雖 然 可 配 單 數 代 名 詞 ， 習 慣 上 卻 常 配 單 數 形 式 動 詞 、 複 數 形 式 代 名 詞 ， 例 如 ： Everyone is trying their best （ 人 人 都 盡 力 而 為 ） 。 以 複 數 形 式 代 名 詞 配 everyone ， 是 英 文 所 謂 notional agreement （ 觀 念 上 的 配 合 ） 。 就 以 Austen 那 一 句 來 說 ， 假 如 照 楊 鐵 樑 所 言 改 they 為 he ， 那 麼 女 人 去 了 哪 ？ 改 they 為 she ， 男 人 又 去 了 哪 ？ 改 為 he or she ， 那 也 許 是 法 律 文 件 寫 法 ， 一 般 文 字 不 會 這 樣 累 贅 。

又 請 看 以 下 句 子 ： Everyone was there. They were all dressed in their best （ 人 人 都 在 那 ， 都 穿 上 了 最 好 的 衣 服 ） 。 這 第 二 句 假 如 改 為 He was dressed in his best ， 楊 鐵 樑 也 一 定 認 為 不 成 體 統 。

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英文 child、 person、 everyone之類名詞，沒有說明性別，而英文沒有不分性別的單數代名詞，傳統文法以 he/ him/ his充數，但女權分子不高興，而且有時會很荒謬，例如紐約州議會曾有議員說：

 

Everyone will be able to decide for himself whether or not to have an abortion（人人可自行決定墮不墮胎）。這似乎是說男人墮胎， himself最好改為 themselves。事實上，以 they/ them/ their作 child、 person等的代詞，古已有之，例如十八世紀名作家 Jonathan Swift Polite Conversation中有以下一句： Every fool can do as they're bid（無論哪個獃子，都可按吩咐辦事）。這用法舊例不少，今天更加常見，不能算是錯誤。

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問： Not one of them believes that they are overpaid （他們都不相信他們工資過高）這一句，文法正確嗎？

 

答：嚴格而言， not one believes that之後應用單數形式的 he is或 she is，但英文沒有男女合用的單數形式代名詞，所以 anyone、 each、 everyone、 nobody、 somebody、 not one等名詞，往往配複數形式的 they（或 them、 themselves、 their）這個男女合用代名詞。莎士比亞長詩 The Rape of Lucrece有一句就常見引為例子： And every one to rest themselves betake（人人都去休息）。讀者示下那一句用 they are，是同一法則，不能算是錯誤。

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11.5.5  For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or she. There are several solutions to this:

• If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.

• If a teacher needs help, he should see the principal.

• If a teacher needs help, they should see the principal.

11.5.6.  ** Some people say that “none” should always take a singular verb, even when talking about countable nouns (eg. five friends). They argue that “none” means “no one,” and “one” is obviously singular. They say that “I invited five friends but none has come” is correct and “I invited five friends but none have come” is incorrect. Historically and grammatically there is little to support this view. “None” has been used for hundreds of years with both a singular and a plural verb, according to the context and the emphasis required.

11.5.7.  *** When referring to people, both that and who can be used.

That may be used to refer to someone in general, and when a particular person is being spoken about, who is preferred. Some people claim that we cannot use that for people but must use who/whom; there is no good reason for such a claim.

11.6  List of English pronouns

There are 73 pronouns in this list.

 

A   all   another   any   anybody   anyone   anything

B   both

E   each   each other   either   everybody   everyone   everything

F   few

H   he   her   hers   herself   him   himself   his

I   I   it   its   itself

L   little

M   many   me   mine   more   most   much   myself

N   neither   no one   nobody   none   nothing

O   one   one another   other   others   ours   ourselves

S   several   she   some   somebody   someone   something

T   that   theirs   them   themselves   these   they   this   those

U   us

W   we   what   whatever   which   whichever   who   whoever   whom  

whomever   whose

Y   you   yours   yourself   yourselves