Relative Pronouns

Read the following pairs of sentences:-
1.    I met John. John had just returned.
2.    I have found the pen. I lost the pen.
3.    Here is the book. You lent me the book.
       Let us know combine each of the above pairs into one sentence. Thus:-
1.    I met John who had just returned.
2.    I have found the pen which I lost.
3.    Here is the book that you lent me.
Now let us examine the work done by each of the words, who, which and that.
The word who is used instead of the noun John. It, therefore, does the work of a Pronoun.
The word who joins or connects two statements. It, therefore, does the work of Conjunction.
       The word who, therefore, does double work--the work of a Pronoun and also the work of a Conjunction. We might, therefore, call it a Conjunctive Pronoun. It is, however, called a Relative Pronoun because it refers or relate to some noun going before, which is called its Antecedent.
       Let the learners show why which and that are also Relative Pronouns in the second and third sentences.
What is the Antecedent of which in the second sentence?
What is the Antecedent of that in the third sentence?

Distributive Pronouns

Consider the following sentences:-
Each of the boys gets the prize.     Each took it in turn.      Either of these roads leads to the railway station.    Either of you can go.     Neither of the accusations is true.
      Each, either, neither are called Distributive Pronouns because they refer to persons or things one at a time. For this reason they are always singular and as such followed by the verb in the singular.
Note:-  Each is used to denote every one of a number of persons or things taken singly.
Either means not the one nor the other of two. It is the negative of either.
     Hence either and neither should be used only in speaking of two persons or things. When more than two are spoken of, any no one, none should be used.

Indefinite Pronouns

Consider the following sentences:-
One hardly knows what to do.     One cannot be too careful of one's good name.    One must not boost of one's own success.    None of his poems are well known.      None but fools have ever believed it.    All were drowned.    Some are born great.    Somebody has stolen my watch.     Nobody was there to rescue the child. Few escaped unhurt.     Many of them were soldiers.    We didn't see any of them again.    Do good to others. What is everybody's business is nobody's business.   His words are in everyone's mouth.
     All these Pronouns in italics refer to persons or things in a general way, but do not refer to any person or thing in particular. They are, therefore, called Indefinite Pronouns.
     Most of these words may also be used as Adjectives; as, 
I will take you there one day.      Any fool can do that.     He is a man of few words, etc.  

Demonstrative Pronouns

Consider the following sentences:-
This a person from my uncle.     These are merely excuses.   Make haste, that's a good boy.    My views are quite in accordance with those of the University Commission.     That is the red fart.
      It will be noticed that the Pronouns in italics are used to point out the objects to which they refer, and are, therefore, called Demonstrative Pronouns.
This refers to what is close at hand, and nearest to the thought or person of the speaker; that refers to what is 'over there', farther away, and more remote; as,     This is better than that.

Reflexive And Emphatic Pronouns

When -self is added to my, your, him, her, it, and -selves to our, your, them, we get what are called Compound Personal Pronouns. They are called Reflexive Pronouns when the action done by the subject turns back upon the subject; as,  I hurt myself, You will hurt yourself,   He hurt himself,  We hurt ourselves, etc.
      It will be noticed that each of these Reflexive Pronouns is used as the Object of a Verb, and refers to the same person or thing as that denoted by the subject of the verb.
     Sometimes in old English, especially in poetry, a simple pronoun was used reflexively; as,
                                       Now I lay me down to sleep.
     The word self is sometimes used as a Noun; as,     He thinks much of self,    He cares for nothing but self.

Emphatic Pronouns:-    Now look at the following sentences.
 I will do it myself.     I myself saw him do it.     We will see to it ourselves.    You yourself can best explain.   She herself says so.    We saw the Prime Minister himself.    The town itself is not very large.
      It will be seen that here Compound Personal Pronouns are used for the sake of emphasis, and are therefore called Emphatic Pronouns.

Forms Of The Personal Pronouns

The following are the different forms of the Personal Pronouns:-
                                                First Person    ( Masculine or Feminine )
                                                Singular                               Plural
Nominative                                   I                                          we
Possessive                                 my, mine                               our, ours
Accusative                                    me                                        us

                                               Second Person ( Masculine or Feminine )
                                                                Singular/Plural
Nominative                                    you
Possessive                                  your, yours
Accusative                                     you

                                               Third Person
                                                     Singular                                Plural
                        Masculine           Feminine       Neuter      All Genders 
Nominative           he                          she                 it                  they
Possessive           his                        her, hers           its              their, theirs
Accusative          him                         her                  it                 them

• It will be seen that the possessive cases of most of the Personal Pronouns have two forms. Of these the forms my, our, your, her, their are called Possessive Adjectives because they are used with nouns and do the work of adjectives; as This is my book.    Those are your books.  That is her book. Possessive Adjectives are sometimes called Pronominal Adjectives, as they are formed from pronouns.    
• The word his is used both as an Adjective and as a Pronoun; as, This is his book ( Possessive Adjective ),  This book is his ( Possessive Pronoun ).  In the following sentences the words in italics are Possessive Pronouns:-     This book is mine.    That book is hers.  That idea of yours is excellent.                  

                       

Personal Pronouns

Read the following Sentences:-
I am young,     We are young,    You are young,    They are young,     He (she) is young.
I, we, you, he,(she,it),  they are called Personal Pronouns because they stand for the three persons,
i)   the person speaking,   ii)   the person spoken to, and   iii)   the person spoken of.
     The pronouns I and we, which denote the person or persons speaking, are said to be Personal Pronouns of the First person.
     The pronoun You, which denotes the person or persons spoken to, is said to be a Personal Pronoun of the Second Person.. You is used both in the singular and plural.
     The pronouns he (she) and they, which denote the person or persons spoken of, are said to be Personal Pronouns of the Third Person. It, although it denotes the thing spoken of, is also called a Personal Pronoun of the Third Person.