THE PRONOUN

We use pronouns instead of nouns.

1. CLASSIFICATION OF PRONOUNS
Pronouns fall under the following groups:
1. PERSONAL: I, he, she, it, we, you, they.
2. POSSESSIVE: my, his, her, its, our, your, their.
3. REFLEXIVE: myself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourself (yourselves),
themselves.
4. RECIPROCAL: each other, one another.
5. DEMONSTRATIVE: this (these), that (those), such, the same.
6. INTERROGATIVE: who, whose, what, which.
7. DEFINING: each, every, everybody, everyone, everything, all, either, both,
other, another.
8. INDEFINITE: some, any, somebody, anybody, something, anything,
someone, anyone, one.
9. NEGATIVE: no, none, neither, nobody, no one, nothing.

NOTES:
1.We don’t have singular and plural forms of you. We can say “You’re right” to
someone we don’t know at all (Вы) or we know very well (Ты), to a child or to an
adult.
2. We use it for things, to refer to animals, a babv or a child. We use he, she,
who when we refer to pets, ships, cars, motorbikes, a country if a reference is
“affectionate”: □ Roger is a good dog. He is my best friend. □ Bessie’s a fine cow.
She gives a lot of milk. □ My old car is not fast, but she does 50 ml to the gallon.
□ In 1941, America assumed her role as a world power.
3. We use objective pronouns after “to be”, "than” and in answer to questions
“Who?”: □ Who is it? - It’s me/him/her/us/them. □ Who told him? - Me/not
me. □ He is taller than me/him/her (= lam).
 4. Possessive pronouns are dependent. They must go in front of nouns: □ He is
my son. □ Is it your name? □ The cat drank its milk.
5. Absolute forms stand on their own or they can be used in such
constructions as: “a friend of mine”, “that car of yours”: □ This book is mine. □
That brother of yours is always in trouble. □ That music of hers drives me crazy.
6. Possessive pronouns are often used before the names of the parts of the
body, clothing. things belonging to a person, etc. In this case they are not
translated: □ He rose and held out his hand to help his father up. □ The girl
dropped her handkerchief and he picked it up. □ He always puts his hands into his
pockets.

Ex. 1. (A) Fill in the blanks with personal pronouns.

Model: I see a girl, I see her. 1. I see a teacher, I see____ . 2. . Please, read this
letter, read____ . 3. I know the boy, I know_____. 4. I’m glad to meet both Tom
and Ann, I’m glad to meet_____ . 5. Give me the book, give____ to me. 6. I don’t
like Ann’s brother, I don’t like_____. 7. This task was given to you and to me, it
was given to_____ .
Ex. 2. (A) Answer the questions, using “my-mine”, “her-hers”, etc.
Model: This book belongs to me. This is my book. The book is mine. 1. Do these
shoes belong to your husband? 2. Will this new flat belong to them? 3. This
umbrella doesn’t belong to you, does it? 4. These books belong to us, don’t they?
5. Do these things belong to him or to her?
Ex. 3. (A) Use the absolute form of the possessive pronoun in brackets.
Translate the sentences into Russian.
Model: The pleasure was all (my). The pleasure was all mine. 1. Our house is in
that street. (His) is round the corner. 2. It was through no fault of (her). 3. You
can very well do without my help but not without (their). 4. Her handbag is on the
chair. (My) is on the sofa. 5. (Our) was the last turn.
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Ex. 4. (A) Fill in the blanks with missing possessive pronouns. 1. This
doesn’t look like____book, it must be____ . 2. Tell him not to forget____ ticket,
she mustn’t forget____either. 3. Tell me, isn’t that____ girl-friend over there? 4. I
see that he has lost____pencil, perhaps you can lend him____ . 5. He has come to
see me, ___ father and____ are school friends. 6. This is___ work, I did it without
any help at all.
Ex. 5. (B) Re-word the following sentences. Pay attention to the indefinite article
before nouns in the singular.
Examples: a) He is my cousin. He is a cousin of mine. b) They are our friends.
They are friends of ours. 1. She is their relative. 2. He’s her friend. 3. We are your
former students. 4. She is his niece. 5. I am your colleague. 6. They are her
pupils. 7. She is our neighbour. 8. He is her former school-friend. 9. I am his
student.
Ex. 6. Choose the correct form of the pronouns in brackets.
I
1. It may be (our, ours) dictionaries. 2. He has not read a line of (your, yours).
How can he criticise (your, yours) poems? 3. His composition is much more
interesting than (your, yours) or (my, mine). 4. (Their, theirs) knowledge of the
subject is not much superior to (our, ours). 5. I’m afraid they will take (her, hers)
advice not (your, yours). 6. All (our, ours) clothes were extremely dirty, and (my,
mine) especially so. 7. Will you help me to sort out the things? I cannot tell which
are (your, yours) and which are (my, mine). 8. This is (your, yours) note-book,
but where is (my, mine)?
II
1. She got to (her, hers) feet and took (his, him) hand. 2. “Let me see your
passports,” I gave him__and Catherine got__ out of__ handbag (my, mine; her,
hers; her, hers). 3. Mind __own business and I’ll mind__ (your, yours; my, mine).
4. Mr Black gave (his, him) wife a leather bag for (her, hers) birthday. 5. The next
voice to speak up was not the Lieutenant’s but __(my, mine). 6.1 looked at (her,
hers)__ and at none other from that moment. 7.__ was not a marriage that could
last (their, theirs). 8.__nerves are as bad as__ (your, yours; my, mine). 9. His
eyes were as bright as___(her, hers). 10. After all, this is __ home just as much
as__(your, yours; my, mine). 11. My sister likes much sugar in___ tea, but I like
little in___(her, hers; my, mine). “Who can drink tea as sweet as___ (your,
yours),” I wonder. 12. His own hand shook as he accepted a rose or two
from__and thanked her (her, hers).

Ex. 7.Use the appropriate form of personal pronouns in the following sentences.

1. He patted Jack heartily on (he) shoulder. 2. He put (he) hand in (she). 3. “This
foolish wife of (I) thinks I’m a great artist,” said he. 4. (They) say there’s been a
great earthquake in the Pacific. 5. Then he stopped and pointed and said, “Those
are peas.” I said, “We’ve got some peas, too.” “I expect (you) are bigger than
(our),” he said politely. 6. Don’t show this letter to (you) brother. 7. There’s a
ghastly article of (he) in the evening’s paper. 8. She folded the letter and replaced
it in (it) envelope. 9. The children had had (they) tea. Kate was late for (she) as
usual, Mary and Paul were having (they). 10. This demand of (they) is quite
ridiculous. 11. She makes all (she) clothes herself. 12. There was a cold wind
blowing so I put on (I) heavy coat.

1.2 REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

MYSELF/HIMSELF/HERSELF/ITSELF/OURSEL VES/YOURSELF (YOURSEL
VESJ/THEMSELVES
We often use reflexive pronouns with these verbs:
amuse/blame/cut/dry/enjoy/hurt/ introduce: □ I enjoyed myself very much at
the party. □ We amused ourselves playing football on the beach. □ Jim prides
himself on his cooking.
We can use reflexive pronouns after prepositions: □ Look after yourself! Take
care of yourself. □ She lives by herself (= alone). She made the dress by
herself (= without help).
We don’t use "myself”, etc. after
feel/relax/concentrate/wash/dress/shave/behave\ □ I feel great after having a
swim. □ You must try and concentrate. □ I got up, washed, shaved and
dressed quickly.
But: □ Wash/dress/shave yourself! - Помойся/оденься/побрейся! □ Behave
yourself! - Веди себя прилично!
COMPARE:
... selves (себя) each other/one another (друг друга) □ Tom and Ann stood in
front of □ Tom and Ann stood in front of the mirror and looked at the mirror and
looked at each other themselves. (one another).
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(Tom looked at Tom, Ann looked at Ann.)
(Tom looked at Ann and Ann looked at Tom.) “Each other” generally implies only
two. “one another” - two or more.
Remember set expressions meaning alone:

I like living on my own/by myself.

□ Did you go on holidays on your own/by yourself?
□ Learner-drivers are not allowed to drive on their own/by themselves.

Ex. 9. (A) Extend the statements following the example given in the pattern.
Example: The children like to cook dinner. They always do it themselves. 1. I
never ask my mother to buy my clothes. 2. My sister likes to make cakes. 3. The
boys built this boat. 4. We want to repair the bicycle. 5. I like to clean my flat. 6.
Nobody helped him correct the mistake.

Ex. 10. (A, B) Insert a reflexive pronoun where necessary. 1. He shaves___every

other day. 2. Go and wash____ . 3. She washed____ quickly and went to prepare
breakfast. 4. He likes his wife to dress____well. 5. Behave____ ! 6. You can’t
behave__ . 7. The child fell and hurt____ badly. 8. The book was ever so
interesting that I could not tear____from it. 9. Be careful with the knife, you may
cut____. 10. I tried to make____agreeable. 11. He thinks too much o f____ . 12.
Sit down and make____at home. 13.1 am sure they will succeed in the aim
they’ve put before____ . 14. We established___ in a hotel. 15. She was
beside____ with anger. 16. She looked in the mirror and could not recognize___.

Ex. 11. (B) Complete these sentences using myself/yourself, etc.

Example: Here is the money, go and buy yourself an ice-cream. 1. Be careful! That
pan is very hot. Don’t burn____. 2. I want to know you better. Tell me
about_____________________ . 3. It isn’t her fault. She really shouldn’t
blame____. 4. Did you make the dress___ ? 5. The boy was lucky when he fell
down the stairs. He didn’t hurt_____ . 6. Tom cut____while he was shaving this
morning. 7. He spends most of his time alone, so it’s not surprising that he talks
to____. 8. Don’t worry about us. We can look after___ .
Ex. 12. (В) Complete these sentences, using myself, etc. only where
necessary.
1. Tom is growing a beard because he doesn’t like
shaving___________________ . 2. The telephone rang while I was taking a
shower. I dried____ and ran into the room. 3. I tried to study but I just couldn’t
make____. 4. Jack and I first met____at a party five years ago. 5. You’re working
too much. Why don’t you relax_________ more? 6. It was a lovely holiday. We
really enjoyed____very much. 7. The routine is the same every morning: I
wash____and have breakfast.

Ex. 13. (B) In these sentences you have to write -selves or each other.
Example: Look at yourself. Your face is dirty.
How long have Tom and Ann known each other? 1. At Christmas friends often
give____presents. 2. I enjoyed____very much at the party. 3. Jack and Jill are
very happy together. They love____ very much. 4. She has no reason to
blame____. 5. I think this poor dog has hurt____. 6. Nora and I don’t see____
very often these days.

Ex. 14. (B) Complete these sentences using on my own/by myself, etc.
Example: Learner-drivers are not allowed to drive on their own. 1. She hated being
in the house on____. She was afraid to be alone. 2. The box was too heavy for me
to lift by___ . 3. You can’t expect them to do everything by____. 4. Very young
children should not be allowed to go swimming by____. 5. Mothers shouldn’t leave
children in the house on____. 6. We’ve often made that mistake____. 7. Do you
like working with other people or do you prefer working by;____? 8. If the rest of
you can’t help we’ll have to do it on____.

Ex. 15. (B) Finish these sentences, using reflexive pronouns.

Example: If you want a job done well, do it____.
If you want a job done well, do it yourself. 1. The chairman announced the
news____. 2. I never do anything until I have checked everything_____. 3. She
says John broke the vase, but really she did it_____. 4. Next year we shall live all
by____. 5. Did the boys build this boat___ ? 6. You cannot leave the baby in the
house all by___. 7. We built most of the house___ . 8. The girl stood at the fire,
warming___ . 9. He made a mistake, then he corrected___ . 10. There can be no
doubt that Shakespeare____wrote this play. 11. They went swimming, but they
didn’t enjoy____. It was too cold. 12. Pat, stop laughing and behave____.
13. I hope you didn’t hurt____. 14. What are you doing here? Explain ______!