Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that have no specific antecedents. Although an indefinite pronoun may refer to someone or something identifiable, it refers to them in general with the notion of all, some, any, or none.

Indefinite pronouns obey the rule of concord in grammar in that singular indefinite pronouns are only used with singular verbs while plural indefinite pronouns only go with plural verbs. Examples are given below in sentences.

Examples:

1.       Singular                -              Somebody says he/she likes the book.

       Plural                   -              Many were saying that they liked the book.

2.       Singular                -              John gave me another bottle of Coke yesterday.

Plural                    -              Several men gave me bottles of Coke yesterday.

3.       Singular                -              Someone/Everyone here wants to see you.

Plural                    -              Some of us here want to see you.

4.       Singular                -              Nobody here knows what is next.

Plural                    -              Many here know what is next.

Look at the following sentences:
Every student are in the class (WRONG)
Every student is in the class. (CORRECT)

Few mango is in the fridge. (WRONG)
Few mangoes are in the fridge. (CORRECT)

Neither of the shoes are good for me. (WRONG)
Neither of the shoes is good for me. (CORRECT)

There are two types of indefinite pronouns: Singular and plural indefinite pronouns.

The singular indefinite pronouns include:

another, both, everything, nothing, any, each, neither, one, anybody, either, nobody, somebody, anyone, everybody, none, someone, anything, everyone, no one, something.

The plural indefinite pronouns include:

                all, few,  more, much, several, both, many, most, plenty, some.

NOTE: Indefinite pronouns can only be classified as pronouns if they are used alone. If they are used with a noun, then they become indefinite adjectives.

Examples:

Pronoun:             Both agreed that surgery was the only solution.

Adjective:           Both doctors agreed that surgery was the only solution.

"Both" becomes an indefinite adjective in the second sentence because it modifies the noun "doctors."

Pronoun:             Several have marvelled at the new the look of Lagos.

Adjective:           Several tourists have marvelled at the new look of Lagos.

"Several" becomes an indefinite adjective in the second sentence because it modifies the noun "tourists."        

PRONOUN CASES

ANALYSIS OF THE LAST PROBLEMS
When we are faced with this kind of problem,  the simple logic is: Break the sentence into two or three depending on the number of used pronouns and try to fix the pronouns in the spaces provided, whilst noticing the function(s) of the pronouns in each of the sentences.

Remember that in our last lesson, we said the following are:
Nominative - I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who. (They can only be used as SUBJECTS)
Objective - me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom. (They can only be used as OBJECTS)
Possessive - my, mine, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs, your, yours, whose. (They show possessions).

Let's practice it here:
(1) The man slapped ............. (a) you and me            (b) you and I                (c) me and she
If we look at the options, the only option that has two Nominative pronouns is option A
So, if we break the sentence down into two:

(a) The man slapped you.
(b) The man slapped me.


 It would be wrong to say, for example, using option B to say:
(a) The man slapped I. (X)

Try this method on question 2 and guess the correct answer.
(2) ....... and ....... ate the food.      (a) He and her          (b) He and she           (c) Him and her

Questions 3 & 4 combine the three pronoun cases: nominative, objective and possessive. Study the pronouns again, try the method above and guess the correct answer.
(3) When both ...... and ........ dog came in, I saw that ......... tail has been cut off.
       (a) he/his/it           (b) him/his/its           (c) he/his/it's            (d) he/his/its

(4) ....... told Mrs. John that both ....... and ....... daughter may come in.
(a) She/she/her         (b) She/her/her                 (c) She/her/she                  (d) Her/her/her.

PLEASE, endeavour to leave your comments behind so I may know how well you got it. Note that you could comment as anonymous.

Pronoun Cases

 What is a pronoun case? 

The case of a pronoun is defined by the function of the pronoun in a sentence or clause.                

Types of Pronoun Case

• Nominative Case

In the nominative (also called subjective) case, pronoun functions as the subject of sentence, or as the subject complement (predicate noun). Pronouns in this case tell "who did what". 

Examples are: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who. 

Examples:  

1. She came to the house.
2. Who has seen the wind?
3. I am she.  (In response to an inquiry.)
4. This is she.

• Objective Case

The objective case pronoun functions as a direct or indirect object, or as an object of a preposition. Pronouns in this case tell "to whom something was done".

Examples are: me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom.

Examples: 

1.  I gave her a nickel.
2.  I sold it to them.
3.  I don't know to whom I speak.
4.  The book is beside him.

• Possessive Case

The possessive case pronoun indicates possession. That is, pronouns in this case tell "who owns what".

Examples are: my, mine, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs, your, yours, whose 

Example:  

    1.   That is my baseball.                                                       

          That baseball is mine.  

    2.   Her pleasure at receiving the award was apparent.                    

          The pleasure was all hers.  

   

    3.  That is its tail.                                                                          

         The tail is its.        

NOTE: The subject in a sentence performs the action of the verb (i.e. it is the doer of the verb's action. Conversely, the object receives the action of the verb. (We shall treat this in greater details later).

Pronouns

PRONOUNS AND ANTECEDENTS

The noun which a pronoun replaces is called its antecedent.

Examples:  

 (a) Mary wondered whether she should go to the party.

 "Mary" is the antecedent of the pronoun "she."

(b) The test was difficult for Dave, who had not studied.

  "Dave" is the antecedent of the pronoun "who".

Rule for Pronouns and Antecedents

The general rule is that a pronoun must agree with its antecedent. Therefore, if the antecedent is plural, use a plural pronoun; if the antecedent is feminine, use a feminine pronoun, and so on.

Examples:

1.       Mary and Juliet asked me to buy something for them.   (plural pronoun and antecedent)

2.       Sandra could not find her school bag.                    (feminine pronoun and antecedent)

3.       Mr. John drove his car roughly yesterday.            (masculine pronoun and antecedent)

Types of Antecedent

Basically, there are two types of pronoun antecedents: Ambiguous and Vague Antecedents    

1.                  Ambiguous Antecedents

Ambiguous antecedent error occurs when the pronoun in a sentence could refer to two or more of the nouns present in the sentence. That is, it is not clear which noun the pronoun refers or stands for.

Example 1:   

Tim told his brother he was working too hard.

In this sentence, the pronoun "he" could refer to either "Tim" or "his brother".

Example 2:

When I saw Grace and Abigail, I could not help appreciating her beauty.

In this sentence, which of Grace and Abigail does the pronoun “her” refers.

SOLUTION:

General Rule - Pronouns should always replace a noun. The antecedent of a pronoun needs to be clear.

Example:   

Although the pizza was cold, it tasted good.

Here, the pronoun "it" clearly refers to the noun "pizza".              

2.                   Vague Antecedents

Vague antecedent error occurs when the pronoun does not refer to a specific noun in the sentence.  That is, the noun being referred to in the sentence is not in the sentence.

Example:   

The mother of the young mountain climber wanted him to give it up.

What does the pronoun "it" stands for in this sentence?

Although one might guess that "it" refers to "mountain climbing", there is no such noun in the sentence.          

CLEAR: The mother of the young mountain climber wanted him to give mountain climbing up.

Example:

John failed his final exams. His parents blame his teachers for these marks.  (What marks? "Poor marks” in the exams, may be implied, but not stated.)

CLEAR:  John failed his final exams. His parents blame his teachers for his poor marks in the exams.