Pronoun
In
linguistics and
grammar, a
pronoun is a
pro-form that substitutes for a
noun phrase. The replaced phrase is normally the
antecedent of the pronoun.For example, consider the sentence "John gave the coat to Alice." Any of the three nouns in the sentence can be replaced by
personal pronouns to give: "He gave it to her." If the coat, John, and Alice have been previously mentioned, the listener can deduce to what the pronouns
he,
it and
her refer and understand the meaning of the sentence.
A pronoun can also be precedent, as "He" is in the sentence: "He gave it to her, John did."
The use of pronouns is particularly welcome when it prevents repetitions. For example "John bought the coat. Then John gave the coat to Alice." can be expressed more effectively by "John bought the coat. Then he gave it to Alice."
When the subject and object are the same, many languages (including English) require the use of a
reflexive pronoun: "She saw herself in the mirror."
* They say that this hamburger is tastier than
that one.
* It doesn't get any better than
this.
* They say that this tree is taller than
that one.
*
What kind of drinks do you like?
* I don't know
who stole my bicycle.
*
You just don't get
it, do
you?
* Jane did all the work
that I was supposed to do.
* He is the man
who stole my bicycle.
As can be seen by the examples, pronouns are not restricted to personal pronouns.
Also, note that in the sentence
If you think your
car is expensive, you should see minethe word "your" is a
possessive adjective, not a pronoun. In fact, in that context, "your" stands for a
determiner phrase, and not a
noun phrase, and so its
lexical category is
determiner. However, some call possessive adjectives
determinative possessive pronouns.
Similarly, in the sentence
They say that this
hamburger is tastier than that onethe word "this" is not a pronoun, but a
demonstrative adjective, also called
determinative demonstrative.
