词条 | Indefinite pronoun | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
释义 |
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that refers to non-specific beings, objects, or places. Indefinite pronouns can represent either count nouns or noncount nouns and include a number of sub-categories: universal (such as everyone, everything), assertive existential (such as somebody, something), elective existential (such as anyone, anything), and negative (such as nobody, nothing).{{sfn|Quirk et al.|1985|pp=376–377}} Assertive existential pronouns differ from elective existential pronouns in that they either themselves assert (that is, presuppose) or are used in contexts that assert that the group to which the pronoun refers has at least one member (or a non-zero quantity in the case of noncount nouns), whereas the elective existential pronouns do not assert such membership and are used in contexts where membership is uncertain, and may be determined, or elected, at a later point in the discourse.[1] Electives are also used when a question of existence is being explicitly denied, which gives rise to their frequent use in negative clauses.[2] In many contexts, assertive and elective existentials are largely in partial complementary distribution or free variation, but there are contexts where they contrast and the difference in their meanings can be demonstrated clearly:
The latter implies that there was a specific thing that the lawyer failed to do which could have helped Bill. On the other hand, the former makes no presupposition on if there was anything the lawyer could have done differently, only that he ultimately did not help Bill. Indefinite pronouns are associated with indefinite determiners (sometimes called indefinite adjectives) of a similar (or identical) form (such as every, any, all, some). A pronoun can be thought of as replacing a noun phrase, while a determiner introduces a noun phrase and precedes any adjectives that modify the noun. Thus all is an indefinite determiner in "all good boys deserve favour" but a pronoun in "all are happy". List of English indefinite pronounsNote that many of these words can function as other parts of speech too, depending on context. For example, in many disagree with his views the word "many" functions as an indefinite pronoun, while in many people disagree with his views it functions as a quantifier (a type of determiner) that qualifies the noun "people". Example sentences in which the word functions as an indefinite pronoun are given. Most indefinite pronouns are either singular or plural. However, some of them can be singular in one context and plural in another. The most common indefinite pronouns are listed below, with examples, as singular, plural or singular/plural. Notice that a singular pronoun takes a singular verb. Also, any personal pronoun should also agree (in number and gender):
Similarly, plural pronouns need plural agreement:
Table of indefinite pronouns
List of quantifier pronounsEnglish has the following quantifier pronouns:
Some people say that "none" should always take a singular verb, even when talking about countable nouns (e.g. five friends). They argue that "none" means "no one", and "one" is obviously singular. They say that "I invited five friends but none has come" is correct and "I invited five friends but none have come" is incorrect. Actual usage evidence does not support this view. "None" has been used for hundreds of years with both a singular and a plural verb, according to the context and the emphasis required. Possessive formsSome of the English indefinite pronouns above have possessive forms. These are made as for nouns, by adding 's, or just an apostrophe following a plural -s (see English possessive). The most commonly encountered possessive forms of the above pronouns are:
Note that most of these forms are identical to a form representing the pronoun plus -'s as a contraction of is or has. Hence someone's may also mean someone is or someone has, as well as serving as a possessive. Compound indefinite pronounsTwo indefinite pronouns can sometimes be used in combination together. Examples: We should respect each other. People should love one another. And they can also be made possessive by adding an apostrophe and s. Examples: We should respect each other's beliefs. We were checking each other's work. See also
References1. ^https://www.ultius.com/glossary/grammar/pronouns/indefinite-pronoun.html 2. ^1 https://awelu.srv.lu.se/grammar-and-words/selective-mini-grammar/pronouns/indefinite-pronouns/ Bibliography
External links{{Wiktionary|indefinite pronoun}}
1 : Pronouns |
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