she
part of speech
pronoun (she — subject; her — object and possessive; hers; herself); noun (a she — a female, informal)
meaning for a pupil
1) A word used instead of the name of a girl, woman or female animal already talked about. tree →
2) Sometimes used for a ship, a country or a car, as if it were a person. tree →
3) (informal) A she is a female animal: «Is your cat a he or a she?» tree →
4) (casual, Australia, NZ) «She'll be right» means everything will be fine; «she» here means things in general. tree →
5) (casual) «She's» = she is or she has; «she'd» = she would or she had; «she'll» = she will. tree →
6) (rough, rude) «Who's she, the cat's mother?» is an old put-down for saying «she» about someone who is right there. tree →
7) (casual, broken grammar) «Her and me went» is heard in speech; in writing say «She and I went». tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and word problems «she» points back to a female character named earlier, so the reader must find who «she» is. In casual talk she is often the person everybody can see, never named («she took 3 of mine»). In the exam voice the name is repeated or the passive is used: «4 apples are given away by the girl». Phrases: she said, she is, she has, she'll be right.
examples
- And she called his name Issachar. (Torah GEN.30.18, JPS 1917) tree →
- And again she bore his brother Abel. (Torah GEN.4.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Sarai was barren; she had no child. (Torah GEN.11.30, JPS 1917) tree →
- And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. (Prophets JER.3.7, JPS 1917) tree →
- How is she become as a widow! (Writings LAM.1.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Amnon said unto her: 'Arise, be gone.' (Prophets 2SA.13.15, JPS 1917) tree →
- Mia lost her pencil, so she borrowed one. tree →
- She is my older sister. tree →
- The cat licked her kittens because she loves them. tree →
- She has 5 apples and gives away 2. tree →
- My teacher says she likes poetry. tree →
- She and I walk to school together. tree →
- The ship sailed and she reached port at dawn. tree →
- she had 5 — no wait, 6 apples, then ate 2 (casual, self-correction) tree →
- Lost the ball? She'll be right, we've got 3 more. (casual, Australia) tree →
- She nicked my pen again, the cheeky cow. (rough) tree →
- It is given that she possesses 5 apples and subsequently relinquishes 2; determine the quantity remaining in her possession. (formal exam) tree →
- "Some wine and meat," she replied. tree →
note
«She» is the subject: «She runs.» The object form is «her»: «I saw her.» Say «She and I», not «Her and me went». With «she» the verb takes -s: she runs, she has, she is. In a maths problem «she» is the same person as the girl named before, so her numbers belong to that person. Trap: with two girls in the story, check who «she» is. «She'll be right» is not about a girl. Insults like «the cheeky cow» still mean the same she and do not change the numbers. Formal «in her possession» = what she has; «relinquishes» = gives up.
In the corpora
- And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
- And again she bore his brother Abel.
- And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him any more.
- And Sarai was barren; she had no child.
- And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «she» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.