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Pronouns Substitution - Ellipsis

Pronouns: we use them instead of nouns and noun phrases.


There was a five-pound note on the floor of the cafeteria.
Someone must have dropped it.
Substitution: its the use of forms such as one, ones, so and do
so instead of noun phrases, verbs phrases and clauses.
Is it a real one? asked Barney. I think so, said Max
Ellipsis: its the process of leaving out words and phrases
instead of repeating them.
Max looked round quickly, then _reached down, _grabbed the
money and _hurried out of the room.


PERSONAL, GENERIC AND POSSESSIVE
PRONOUNS
SUBJECT PRONOUNS OBJECT PRONOUNS POSSESSIVE
PRONOUNS
I ME MINE
YOU YOU YOURS
HE HIM HIS
SHE HER HERS
IT IT -
WE US OURS
YOU YOU YOURS
THEY THEM THEIRS
They are usually before
the verb.
They are usually after
verbs and
prepositions.*
We use them in place of
possessive noun phrases
and when answering to
Whose?*
GENERIC PRONOUNS
They are:
You: people in general, including the speaker.
We: to make a statement of opinion more general and to
include the reader/listener.
One: people in general. Its very formal and rarely used
in modern Enlglish.
They: other people in general or people in authority
(informal situations)
DEMONSTRATIVE AND INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
o Demonstratives are: this that these those
o This / These -> things near or closely connected to the
speaker (place and time)
-> to introduce people
o That / Those -> for things further away (place and time)
-> identifying people in the distance.
o Indefinite pronouns are: someone, something, anyone,
anything, everyone, everything, no one and nothing.
We use them in a very general way, usually because we cant or
dont identify people or things specifically.

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
Characteristics
In subject positions, we use them with singular verbs
and plural pronouns.
We usually use all the combinations with some for
affirmative sentences and questions expecting positive
answers.
We usually use all the combinations with any for
negative sentences and open questions. Also to mean
it doesnt matter who or what.
Somewhere, anywhere, etc. are indefinite pronouns.


REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
We use a reflexive pronoun instead of an object pronoun when
the object is the same person or thing as the subject.
They are: myself yourself himself herself itself
ourselves yourselves themselves
Uses:
after prepositions when the object of the preposition is the
same as the subject. After prepositions of place and verbs such
as take and bring, we use object pronouns not reflexive ones.
After noun phrases and pronouns to emphasise a particular
person or thing or after a verb phrase to emphasise without
help. Also, after certain verbs to emphasise that the action is
difficult.
RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
We use reciprocal pronouns instead of reflexives when the
same action or feeling goes both ways between two or more
people and things.
They are each other and one another (they have the same
meaning)
Uses:
After prepositions and as possessives.
We can use each as subject and the other as object when the
action goes both ways.
EMPTY SUBJECT IT
We use it as an empty subject with the verb be in
expressions of time, distance and weather.
We use it as a personal pronoun subject when we
are referring to a thing or animal. We use it + be
before an adjective or noun plus a noun clause.
We can also use it + be before an adjective or noun
plus a gerund or infinitive.

EMPTY SUBJECT IT
After it, we usually use a form of the verb be, but
we can use verbs such as surprise and frighten
plus an object to describe a reaction and verbs
such as seem and appear to express a conclusion.
We can also use it as an empty object after liking
verbs before a noun clause and after verbs such as
find, make and think before an adjective plus a
clause or infinitive. After some verbs such as
regard, see and view before and adjective to
express opinion. We put as after it.

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