pronoun

«pronoun» in Mova's judaism dictionary: a word used instead of a noun, so we don't have to repeat… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a pronoun, pronouns)

meaning for a pupil

1) A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, so we don't have to repeat it, like «he», «she», «it», «they», «we», «you» and «I». tree →

2) Possessive pronouns show who something belongs to: «mine», «yours», «hers», «ours», «theirs». tree →

3) Relative pronouns like «who», «which» and «that» join extra information to a noun: «the girl who won». tree →

sense in the lessons

In English grammar lessons pupils replace nouns with pronouns to avoid repetition, and make sure it is clear who the pronoun means. Phrases: «personal pronoun», «possessive pronoun», «relative pronoun», «reflexive pronoun» («myself», «themselves»). In everyday life some people tell others which pronouns to use for them, such as «she/her», «he/him» or «they/them», and it is kind to use them.

examples

• «She» is a pronoun in «She is my sister». tree →
• Replace «the dog» with a pronoun: «It barked». tree →
• «Mine» is a possessive pronoun. tree →
• «Who» is a relative pronoun in «the boy who laughed». tree →
• «Myself» is a reflexive pronoun. tree →
• Too many pronouns can confuse the reader about who is who. tree →
• «They» can be used for one person whose gender you don't know. tree →

note

Plural «pronouns». Traps: «its» (no apostrophe) is the possessive; «it's» means «it is». Use «I» as a subject and «me» as an object: «Sam and I went», «he gave it to Sam and me». «Their», «there» and «they're» sound the same but mean different things.

In the corpora

• Relative clauses usually start with a relative pronoun: who, which, that, whose, where or when.
• The relative pronoun can often be left out when it is not the subject of the clause: «the book I read».
• A pronoun stands in for a noun so you don't repeat it: "Mia went to the shop.
• The antecedent is the noun a pronoun points back to; a pronoun is ambiguous when it could point to more than one person.
• English mostly uses word order and small words instead of cases, but pronouns like he, him and his still change a little.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «pronoun» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.