1. The words 'a' or 'an' and 'the' are called Articles. They come before nouns

2. There are two Articles - a (or an) and the.

3. 'A' or 'an' is called the Indefinite Article, because it usually leaves indefinite the person or thing spoken of; E.g: "A doctor; that is, any doctor."

4. "The" is called the Definite Article, because it normally points out some particular person or thing;

5. The choice between 'a' and 'an' is determined by sound. Before a word beginning with a vowel sound 'an' is used; as, An ass, an enemy, an ink-pad, an orange, an umbrella, an hour, an honest man. An heir.

6. It will be noticed that the words hour, honest, heir begin with a vowel sound, as the initial consonant h is not pronounced

Find the Article to be used:

1. ____ book you want is out of print. (Ans: The)

2. Let's go to ___ park. (Ans: The)

3. ____ cow is a useful animal. (Ans: The)

4. The banyan is ____ kind of fig tree. (Ans: a)

5. __ woman is more sensitive than ___ man. (Ans: a)

6. ____ Mr. Roy whom you met last night is my uncle. (Ans: a)

7. ___ great Caesar : ___ immortal Shakespeare. (Ans: a)

8. ___ darkest cloud has ___ silver lining(Ans: The , a)

9. This is ___ best book of elementary chemistry. (Ans: The)

10. ___ poor are always with us. (Ans: The)

11. Twelve inches make ___ foot. (Ans: a)

12. Not __ word was said. (Ans: a)

13. ___ bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. (Ans: a)

14. One evening ___ beggar came to my door.(Ans: a)

15. ___ pupil should obey his teacher. (Ans: a)

16. ___ Daniel comes to judgement! (Ans: a)

1. Definition: A word that is thus used instead of a noun is called a Pronoun

2. I am young.

3. We are young.

4. You are young.

5. They are young.

6. He (she, it) is young

7. I, we, you, he, (she, it), they are called Personal Pronouns because they stand for the three persons like (i) the person speaking, (ii) the person spoken to , (iii) the person spoken of.

Forms of the Personal Pronouns

1. FIRST PERSON (Masculine or Feminine)

1. Nominative -- I -- We

2. Possessive -- my, mine -- our, ours

3. Accusative -- me -- us

2. SECOND PERSON (Masculine or Feminine)

1. Nominative -- You

2. Possessive -- Your, Yours

3. Accusative -- You

3. THIRD PERSON (Masculine -- Feminine -- Neuter -- All Genders)

1. Nominative -- he -- she -- it -- they

2. Possessive -- his -- her, hers -- its -- their, theirs

3. Accusative -- him -- her -- it -- them

Rules while deciding use of pronouns

1. If the Collective Noun conveys the idea of separate individuals comprising the whole, the Pronoun standing for it must be of the Plural Number

1. The jury were divided in their opinions.

2. The committee decided the matter without leaving their seats.

2. When two or more Singular Nouns are joined by and, the Pronoun used for them must be Plural

1. Rama and Had work hard. They are praised by their teacher.

2. Both Sita and Savitri are tired; they have gone home.

3. When two Singular Nouns joined by and refer to the same person or thing, the Pronoun used must of course be Singular

1. The Secretary and Treasurer is negligent of his duty.

4. When two Singular Nouns joined by and are preceded by each or every, the Pronoun must be Singular

1. Every soldier and every sailor was in his place.

5. When two or more Singular Nouns are joined by or or either...or, neither... nor, the Pronoun is generally Singular

1. Rama or Hari must lend his hand

2. Either Sita or Amina forgot to take her parasol.

3. Neither Abdul nor Karim has done his lesson.

6. When a Plural Noun and a Singular Noun are joined by or or nor, the Pronoun must be in the Plural

1. Either the manager or his assistants failed in their duty

7. When a pronoun refers to more than one noun or pronoun of different persons, it must be of the first person plural in preference to the third

1. You and I have done our duty.

2. You and Hari have idled away your time

Solved Exercises

Question: In the following sentences point out the Pronouns and say for what each stands:-	Answer
Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment.	She, her -> Alice
There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked.	they -> doors
Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage.	it -> door
“I wish I hadn't cried so much,” said Alice.	I, I -> alice
“You are not attending”, said the Mouse to Alice severely. “What are you thinking of?	you, you -> alice
“Come back!” the Caterpillar called after her. Alice turned and came back again	her -> alice
Hari brought his book and laid it on the table.	his -> hari, it -> book
Karim has lost his dog and cannot find it.	his -> karim , it -> dog
Suresh is at the head of his class, for he studies hard	his, he -> suresh
Rama, you are a lazy boy.	you -> Rama

1. When -self is added to my, your, him, her, it, and -selves to our, your, them, we get what are called Compound Personal Pronouns

2. They are called Reflexive Pronouns when the action done by the subject turns back (reflects) upon the subject

1. I hurt myself.

2. We hurt ourselves.

3. You will hurt yourself.

4. You hurt yourselves.

5. He hurt himself.

6. She hurt herself.

7. They hurt themselves.

8. The horse hurt itself.

3. Compound Personal Pronouns are used for the sake of emphasis, and are therefore called Emphatic Pronouns.

1. I will do it myself.

2. I myself saw him do it.

3. We will see to it ourselves.

4. You yourself can best explain.

5. He himself said so.

6. She herself says so

7. We saw the Prime Minister himself.

8. The town itself is not very large.

9. They themselves admitted their guilt.

Solved Exercises

Questions: Tell which Pronouns in the following sentences are Reflexive and which Emphatic	Answers
I will go myself.	myself- emphatic
Rama has hurt himself.	himself - reflexive
We often deceive ourselves.	ourselves - reflexive
I myself heard the remark.	myself - emphatic
You express yourself very imperfectly.	yourself - reflexive
I wash myself when I get up.	myself - reflexive
The boys hid themselves	themselves - reflexive
They have got themselves into a mess.	themselves - emphatic
Boadicea poisoned herself.	herself - reflexive
They loved themselves so much that they thought of no one else.	themselves - reflexive

Indefinite Pronouns - Distributive Pronouns

1. 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.

2. Pronouns that 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.

Indefinite Pronouns	Distributive Pronouns
One hardly knows what to do.	Each of the boys gets a prize.
One does not like to say so, but it is only too true.	Each took it in turn.
One cannot be too careful of one's (not, his) good name.	Either of these roads leads to the railway station.
One must not boast of one's own success.	Either of you can go.
One must use one's best efforts if one wishes to succeed.	Neither of the accusations is true.
One must not praise one's self.
None of his poems are well known.
None but fools have ever believed it.
They say that one of the local banks has stopped payment.
All were drowned.

1. Each is used to denote every one of a number of persons or things taken singly. Either means the one or the other of two. Neither means not the one nor the other of two. It is the negative of either.




2. 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.




3. The position of the pronoun each should be noticed. It may have three positions. At the beginning




1. Each of the men received a reward.




2. Each of these horses cost five thousand rupees.




3. I bought each of these mangoes for three rupees.




4. In the Middle




1. These men received each a reward.




2. These horses cost each five thousand rupees.




5. At the end




1. These horses cost five thousand rupees each.




2. I bought these mangoes for three rupees each.




3. The third order is usual after a numeral. We do not say, 'The men received a reward each'; but we say, 'The men received five hundred rupees each'.

1. I met Hari who had just returned.




2. I have found the pen which I lost.




3. Here is the book that you lent me.

Analysis of the Relative Pronouns:

1. The word who is used instead of the noun Hari. It, therefore, does the work of a Pronoun




2. The word who joins or connects two statements. It, therefore, does the work of a Conjunction.




3. The word who, therefore, does double work-the work of a Pronoun and also the work of a Conjunction. Therefore, it might be mistaken as a Conjunctive Pronoun. It is, however, called a Relative Pronoun because it refers or relates (Le., carries us back) to some noun going before (here, the noun Hari), which is called its Antecedent.

Forms of the Relative Pronouns:

1. The Relative Pronoun who has different forms for Accusative and Genitive. Singular and Plural. Forms are the same for singular and plural, masculine and feminine.




1. Nominative -- who




2. Genitive -- whose




3. Accusative -- whom/who (who replaces whom in informal English.)




2. The Relative Pronoun which has the same form for the Nominative and Accusative cases.




1. This is the house which belongs to my uncle.




2. The house which my uncle built cost him Rs. 3,50,000




3. The Relative Pronoun which has no Genitive Case, but whose is used as a substitute for 'of which'; as




1. A triangle whose three sides are equal is called an equilateral triangle.

Fill in the blanks with suitable relative pronouns:

Question	Answer
We always like boys --- speak the truth.	who or that
We saw the dog --- worried the cat.	that or which
He ---, does his best shall be praised.	who or that
I know ---. you mean
She has gone to Chennai, --- is her birthplace.	what
I have seen the bird --- you describe	which
I do not know the man --- hit the boy.	which or that
Here is the pen --- you lost.	that or which
Most people get --- they deserve.	what
Time --- is lost is never found again.	that or which
I did not know the person --- called.	who or that
He is a man --- you can trust. .	whom or that
Where is the book --- I gave you?	that or which
Is this the street --- leads to the station? .	that or which
The letter --- you wrote never arrived.	that or which

Name the Relative Pronouns in the following sentences, tell the case of each, and mention its antecedent:

Question	Relative Pronoun	Case	Antecedent
The pen that you gave me is a very good one	that	accusative	pen
The answer which you gave is not right	which	accusative	answer
I know the woman whose child was hurt.	whose	possessive	woman
Bring me the letters which the postman left.	which	accusative	letters
This is the house that Jack built.	that	accusative	house
Hari saw the man who had been hurt.	who	nominative	man
We met the sailors whose ship was wrecked.	whose	possessive	sailors
Here are the books which I found.	which	accusative	books
The cat killed the rat that ate the com.	that	nominative	rat
Bring me the books which lie on the table.	which	nominative	books
Here is the book that you lent me.	that	accusative	book
I hate children who are cruel	who	nominative	children
Show me the knife that you have bought.	that	accusative	knife
He has not brought the knife that I asked for	that	accusative	knife

Join sentences using a connective:

Question	Answer
I know a man. The man has been to Iceland.	I know a man who(that) has been to Iceland.
The thief stole the watch. The thief was punished.	The thief who(that) stole the watch was punished.
Show the road. The road leads to Delhi.	Show the road that (which) leads to Delhi.
Here is the doctor. The doctor cured me of malaria.	Here is the doctor who (that) cured me of malaria
I met a boy. He was very cruel.	I met a boy who was very cruel.
He does his best. He should be praised.	He who does his best should be praised.
The man is honest. The man is trusted.	The man who is honest is trusted.
My father is dead. I loved my father.	My father whom I loved is died.
The teacher sent for the boy. The boy came at once.	The boy, for whom the teacher sent came at once
Wellington was a great general. He defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo	Wellington who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo was a great general.
The dog bit the burglar. The burglar had broken into the house.	The dog bit the burglar who had broken into the house.
Once upon a time there lived a giant. The giant was very powerful and cruel.	Once upon a time there lived a giant who was very powerful and cruel.
We met a girl. The girl had lost her way.	We met a girl who had lost her way.
Kalidas is famous. He wrote some fine dramas.	Kalidas who wrote some fine dramas is famous.

Split each of the following sentences into two:-

Questions	Answer
The boys gave a loud shout, which was heard across the river.	The boys gave a loud shout. The shout was heard across the river.
Bring me the book that is on the table.	Bring me the book . It is on the table.
It was a wretched hut in which she lived.	It was a wretched hut. She lived in it.
The boy who fell off his bicycle has hurt his leg.	The boy who fell off his bicycle. He has hurt his leg.
The elephant that was sick died.	The elephant that was sick. It died.
The farmer is cutting the corn which has ripened	The farmer is cutting the corn. It has ripened
Napoleon, whom the French honour, died at St. Helena.	Napoleon died at St. Helena. The French honour him
The crow dropped the cheese, which the fox immediately snapped up.	The crow dropped the cheese. The fox immediately snapped it up.
John, who is my cousin, is a diligent boy.	John is a diligent boy. He is my cousin,
Where is the parcel that I left here yesterday?	I left a parcel here yesterday. Where is it?
I have found the book which I lost.	I lost a book. I found it.
We visited Cox's Bazar, which is the most attractive spot in Bangladesh.	We visited Cox's Bazar. It is the most attractive spot in Bangladesh.
The boy whom you see there made the top score in the last match.	The boy made the top score in the last match. You see him there.
Dadabhai Naoroji, who was the First Indian to enter the British Parliament, was a Parsee.	Dadabhai Naoroji was the First Indian to enter the British Parliament. He was a Parsee.
He is a poet whose works are widely known.	He is a poet. His works are widely known.

Previous

Next