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325. We know that a noun as “horse,” is a word that represents only things of a certain kind, which it describes.
A pronoun, as “that,” is a word that may refer to any thing without describing it. Although the pronouns are few in number, they are divided into several classes, and the most of them have much to do besides merely taking the place of nouns. [See § 147] |
| 326. A Pronouns that of themselves show whether we mean the person speaking, the person spoken to, or some person or thing spoken of, are called Personal pronouns. |
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327. ( 1 ) Pronouns of the first person always represent the speaker, either alone or with others. They are I and its variations, — me, my, mine; we, us, our, ours. ( 2 ) Pronouns of the second person always stand for the person or persons spoken to (unless also including the speaker). They are you and its variations, — your, yours; and the antiquated thou, thee, thy, thine, ye. ( 3 ) Pronouns of the third person generally refer to what has been spoken of. They are he, she, it, and their variations, — him, his; her, hers, its; they, them, their, theirs. Any pronoun not referring to the speaker or the person addressed is of the third person in meaning. Some of these forms are used as adjectives. [ § 393.] |
| 328. Myself, thyself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, and their plurals, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, are called Compound personal pronouns. |
| 329. A Personal pronoun is one that by its form tells what grammatical person is meant. |
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330. An Interrogative Pronoun is one used to ask a question. The three interrogative pronouns are who, which, and what. The last two are sometimes used as adjectives. [ § 393.] |
| 331. The word appropriate for naming what an interrogative pronoun might refer to is unknown to the person asking the question until it appears in the answer. |
| 335. In the last exercise we see that each clause is connected to the word to which it relates by what we call a Conjunctive pronoun referring to the same person or thing. |
| 336. The word which refers to the same thing as the pronoun is called the Antecedent, because it generally “goes before” the pronoun. |
| 337. When its antecedent is expressed, a conjunctive pronoun may be called a relative pronoun. |
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338. The four relative pronouns are who, which, that, and as. Who (whom, whose) refers to persons only, which refers to anything but persons, and that and as refer to either. ( a ) As which has no possessive form, whose is often used to refer to something besides persons. It is generally better to avoid the implied reference to a person that this form brings with it and use of which instead. ( b ) That as a relative pronoun also fails to have a possessive form. ( c ) When as is a relative pronoun, its antecedent is as, such, or same; as in “I give thee such as I have” “As many as wish may go”; “Mine is the same as yours (is).” Its antecedent may also be referred to using the adverb so, and such compound adjective pronouns as whatsoever. |
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339. We know that an adjective may be used without its noun when the meaning is perfectly clear;
as in, “The ignorant should be taught.” From the preceding exercise we learn that an adjective clause may also be used without the modified word, when the meaning of that word would be indefinite. Used alone in this way it becomes a Noun clause. Thus in —
So, too, the sentence “Employ whoever applies,” is equivalent to “Employ anyone who applies.” | |||||
| 339a. A noun clause which is used as though it were an adjective clause with an indefinite antecedent is called an Indefinite noun clause. | |||||
| 340. In indefinite noun clauses we use what, whatever, whatsoever, whoever, whosoever, whomever, whomsoever, whichever, and whichsoever for the connecting or conjunctive pronoun. But we do not call them “relative,” for they only imply another pronoun or a noun which is really the omitted antecedent. | |||||
| 341. Noun clauses may be subjects, objects, or subjective complements, etc., like the antecedents which they replace. [ § 623.] |
| 342. A Noun clause is a clause having the use of a noun. |
| 343. A Conjunctive pronoun is one that connects a clause to the rest of the sentence. |
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344. ( a ) The conjunctive pronouns what, whatever, whatsoever, whoever, whosoever, whomever, whomsoever, whichever, and whichsoever are used in indefinite noun clauses. ( b ) The interrogative pronouns are used in noun clauses as connectives when a question is repeated indirectly as part of the reply to it. Thus: “Who wrote the book?” I do not know “who wrote the book.” “Who did it” is a secret. Ask again “which he took.” I will not tell “what it is.” |
| 344a. A noun clause which is used when a question is repeated indirectly is called an Interrogative noun clause. |
| 344b. In interrogative noun clauses we use what, whatever, who, whoever, whom, whomever, which, and whichever for the conjunctive pronoun. |
345. In the last exercise we see words that are sometimes used as adjectives to limit the application of a noun, and sometimes as Adjective pronouns to replace that noun.
Thus in the sentence, —
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346. The principal words used as adjective pronouns are: — All, another, any, both, each, either, few, former, latter, many, more, most, much, neither, none, one, other, own, same, several, some, such, this, that, these, those. Some of these words often have enough of descriptive meaning to be called nouns. In such cases they will usually be used with an article like the. |
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347. All, both, few, many, more, most, much, no, none, one, several, some are called quantifiers, because they refer to a number of objects or an amount of something. Each, either, and neither are called distributives, because they refer to a number of objects taken separately. This, that, these, and those are called demonstratives when they point out objects definitely. The personal pronouns, he, she, they, etc., have a similar use in such sentences as “He that would thrive must rise at five.” Any, another, none, one, other, some are (also) called identifiers when they refer to something indefinite. Former, latter, own, and same, are called article intensifiers, because they are used with an article to strengthen the way it refers. |
| 348. An Adjective pronoun is a limiting adjective used without its noun. |
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349. Fourteen pronouns have, like nouns, two number forms
They are: — ( 1 ) Five of the personal pronouns:
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350. All other pronouns have but one form, which is used either with a singular or with a plural meaning. ( a ) Another, each, either, neither are always singular in meaning; and both, few, many, several are always plural in meaning. |
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351. We see from the preceding exercise that besides a possessive form some pronouns have still another special form, which is required whenever they are used as objects. Thus besides who, we have the possessive form whose, and the object, or objective form whom, which is used when the pronoun is the object of a verb or of a preposition; as in, —
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352. Eight pronouns, —
( 1 ) The possessive, to show ownership; ( 2 ) The objective, required when the pronoun is used as an object; and — ( 3 ) The subjective or nominative form for all othe uses. “Nominative” means merely naming. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 353. Cases are the differnt forms of nouns and pronouns required by the construction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
354. To give all the singular and plural case forms of a pronoun is to decline it.
Thus: —
( b ) The possessive forms of these pronouns are adjectives by use, and may be called possessive adjectives. [See § 231.] ( c ) The nominative forms of who, whoever, and whosoever are often used for the objective nowadays. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
355. Three pronouns — one, other, another — like nouns, have a special form only for the possessive use.
Thus: —
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356. Most pronouns, however, are not used as possessives, and have but a single form for all their constructions. Either’s and neither’s are sometimes used; but the phrases of either, of neither, are to be preferred. |
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357. He, she, and it are gender specific pronouns.
He refers to a male, and is of the masculine gender; she refers to a female, and is of the feminine gender; it generally refers to what has no sex, and hence is said to be of the neuter gender. ( a ) He is often used with an antecedent that refers to both males and females. As in, —
( b ) In sentences like “The child cries for its mother,” “Shoot the crow if you see it,” we use it, because the sex is either unknown or unimportant. | ||
| 358. Personification. We sometimes speak of things as if they were persons, and use masculine or feminine pronouns in referring to them. Such objects are said to be personified. Thus: “The sun his ceaseless course doth run.” “Nature in her robes of green.” | ||
| 358a. Metonymy. Sometimes we speak of persons as if they were things, but we still use masculine or feminine pronouns in referring to them. Such a figure is called metonymy. For example, a waitress in a restaurant may speak to another employee and refer to a customer by what he ordered: “The BLT wants his receipt now.” “The fish and chips is playing with her food.” |