5️⃣ Possessive Pronouns


🔻What Are #Possessive_Pronouns?

A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that can take the place of a noun phrase to show ownership

➖This phone is mine.

🔹The weak possessives (also called #possessive_determiners) _my, your, his, her, its, our, and their_ function as determiners in front of nouns. 

➖My phone is broken.

🔹In contrast, the strong (or absolute) #possessive_pronouns stand on their own: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs. The strong possessive is a type of independent genitive.

🚫A #possessive_pronoun NEVER takes an apostrophe.


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🔻Possessive Pronouns 🆚 Possessive Determiners

✨"The possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) are like possessive determiners, except that they constitute a whole noun phrase.

1️⃣The house will be hers you see when they are properly divorced.

2️⃣Writers have produced extraordinary work in conditions more oppressive than mine.

#Possessive_pronouns are typically used when the head noun can be found in the preceding context; thus in 1️⃣, hers means 'her house,' and in 2️⃣, mine means ' my conditions.' Here the #possessive_pronoun is parallel to the elliptic use of the genitive."

(D. Biber, S. Conrad, and G. Leech, Longman Student Grammar of Student and Written English. Pearson, 2002)


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✨"[The] construction with the #possessive_pronoun [e.g. a friend of mine] differs from the alternative of #possessive_determiner + noun (e.g. my friend) mainly in that it is more indefinite. The sentences below illustrate this point.

🅰️You know John? A friend of his told me that the food served at that restaurant is awful. 👉🏻 (unspecified friend)

🅱️You know John? His friend told me that the food served at that restaurant is awful. 👉🏻 (the speaker and listener both know what friend is intended)”

(Ron Cowan, The Teacher's Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference Guide. Cambridge University Press, 2008)


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#possessive_pronouns

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🔻More about #possessives with parts of the body and clothes!


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6️⃣ Reciprocal Pronouns


🔻What Are #Reciprocal_Pronouns?

A #reciprocal_pronoun is used to express a mutual action or relationship. There are two #reciprocal_pronouns:

• Each other
• One another

Some usage guides insist that each other should be used to refer to two people or things, and one another to more than two.

➖Jack and Jill hate each other.
➖The team members played their hearts out for one another.

🔻Note: Both are treated as singular. Therefore, the possessive apostrophe is placed before the s.

➖Have you seen each other's solution?
➖They deliberately blocked one another's proposals.


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#reciprocal_pronouns

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🤔It's a little more complicated because it depends on what the writer had in mind:

➖Friends are kind to one another's dreams.☑️
➖Friends are kind to each another's dreams.☑️

Both of these could be correct. In the second version, the writer might have been focused on how one person treats another, i.e., two people.

➖Old and young disbelieve one another's truths.

Each other could be justified if you envisage an old person disbelieving a young person.

▫️If you're picked up for writing each other instead of one another, there's a fair chance you can fight back by claiming you had two people (or things) in mind.

▫️If you're picked up for writing one another instead of each other (i.e., for using one another with an antecedent of two), then you're toast.

▪️More generally, if you're picked up for using the wrong reciprocal pronoun, then you have a world-class grammar pedant on your hands.


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#reciprocal_pronouns

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✨More about #reciprocal_pronouns:

📖Michael Swan, Practical English Usage. Fourth edition. Oxford Univ.


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#reciprocal_pronouns

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7️⃣ Relative Pronouns


🔻What Are #Relative_Pronouns?

In English grammar, a #relative_pronoun is a pronoun that introduces an adjective clause (also called a relative clause) which follows a noun:

(1) To identify it.

➖The man who won the lottery is outside.

(2) To tell us something interesting about it.

➖Inspector Smith, who won the lottery, is outside.

The standard #relative_pronouns in English are which, that, who, whom, and whose.

✨Who and whom refer only to 👉🏻people.
✨Which refers to 👉🏻things, qualities, and ideas—never to people.🚫
✨That and whose refer to 👉🏻people, things, qualities, and ideas.

➖The girl who stole your phone is outside.

➖I rode the bike that Jack gave me back home.

➖Mrs Miggins, who owns a pie shop, is outside.

➖I rode my bike, which now had two flat tyres, back home.


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#relative_pronouns

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✨Here are the 5️⃣ most frequently asked questions related to #relative_pronouns:👇🏻

(1️⃣) Do you put a comma before which?

The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. This applies to all relative pronouns, not just which. (Actually, it doesn't apply to that, but we'll cover that point later.) Look at these two examples using who:

➖The man who won last week’s lottery gave all his money to a donkey sanctuary.

➖My neighbour, who won last week’s lottery, gave all his money to a donkey sanctuary.

These two sentences are nearly identical, but one has commas and one doesn’t. They are both correct.☑️

It all depends whether the adjective clause (the bold text) specifies its noun. If it does (like in the first example, where it specifies the man), then don’t use commas. If it doesn’t (like in the second example, where it’s just additional information about my neighbour), then use commas. Now look at this example:

➖My neighbour who won last week’s lottery gave all his money to a donkey sanctuary.

This is also correct. This time the adjective clause is specifying my neighbour. We’re now talking about my lottery-winning neighbour as opposed to any neighbours who didn’t win the lottery. So, you have to think carefully about whether an adjective clause specifies or doesn’t.

💡Here’s a good tip:

Treat the commas like brackets. If you’d happily put brackets around the adjective clause, then use commas because the clause will just be additional information. If you'd happily delete the clause, then it must be just additional information, meaning you should offset it with commas.

So, the question was about using a comma before which, but the answer used examples with who. There is a good reason for that. Lots of Americans, and increasingly Brits, insist on using that instead of which without a comma (i.e., when which heads an adjective clause that specifies its noun). Look at these examples:

➖The dog which bit the postman has returned.☑️
➖The dog that bit the postman has returned.☑️

Both of these are correct, but lots of people find the top one a little awkward. (When a clause specifies its noun, it is called a #restrictive_clause. When it’s just additional information, it’s called #nonrestrictive_clause.)

So, which can head a #restrictive_adjective_clause (without commas) or a #nonrestrictive one (with commas), but, if you’re writing to Americans, use that for the former.

➖My dog gives a trust which is total.
➖My dog gives a trust that is total.
(These are both #restrictive_adjective_clauses.)
➖My dog gives total trust, which is very endearing.
(This is a #nonrestrictive_adjective_clause.)

You can’t use that to head a #nonrestrictive_adjective_clause. So, if the question had been “Do you put a comma before that?” It would have been a much quicker answer. No.


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(2️⃣) Can you use whose for inanimate things?

Yes. Who is used for people. Which is used for things. Whose is used for people and things.

➖Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. (Author Erma Bombeck)

➖An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself. (French philosopher Albert Camus)

(In each example, whose is used with a person.)

➖An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. (French poet Victor Hugo)

➖I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul. (from Hamlet by William Shakespeare)

(In each example, whose is used with a thing.)

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(3️⃣) When do you use whom?

✨Here’s the rule: 👉🏻 Use who when it’s the subject of verb, otherwise use whom.

➖Never lend your car to anyone who calls you mum.
(Who is the subject of the verb calls.)

➖Never lend your car to anyone whom you have given birth to. (Author Erma Bombeck)
(Whom is NOT the subject of a verb.)

➖I'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food is a form of expression. (Maya Angelou)
(Who is the subject of the verb likes. Sharing food is the subject of the verb is. Whom isn’t the subject of anything; therefore, whom is correct.)


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(4️⃣) Can you use that for people?

That, like whose, can be used for people or things.

➖The dog that bit the postman.
(Here, that is used with a thing (dog).)

➖The postman that bit the dog.
(Here, that is used with a person (postman).)

Try to use who instead of that with people (especially in #formal writing) because a fair proportion of your readers might find that with people a little uncouth.

➖The postman who bit the dog.
(This is far more acceptable…well, grammatically at least.)


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(5️⃣) Should you avoid ending a sentence in a preposition?

Here's the quick answer: 👉🏻NO.
Here's the longer answer: 👇🏻

When whom or which is the object of a preposition, you can start the adjective clause with the preposition.

➖We have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend. (Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracian)
(The preposition is on.)

➖I operated on the assumption that there was an absolute scale of values against which art could be measured. I didn't trust my own subjective responses. (Playwright Tom Stoppard)
(The preposition is against.)

Starting an adjective clause with a preposition is done to avoid ending the sentence with a preposition, which is still considered by many to be a grammar crime. Let's be clear on this. It's okay to end a sentence in a preposition, but some of your readers might think it's wrong or too informal. So, in #formal writing, try to avoid ending a sentence in a preposition. Don't think of it as a rule. Think of it as a word game. However, if avoiding a sentence-ending preposition makes your sentence sound stilted, then either reword your sentence or stop playing and leave your preposition at the end.


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🔻Who, Which, That, and the Zero Relativizer


"Three #relative_pronouns stand out as being particularly common in English: who, which, and that. The zero relativizer [or dropped relative pronoun] is also relatively common. However, . . . the #relative_pronouns are used in very different ways across registers. For example: In general, the #relative_pronouns that begin with the letters wh- are considered to be more literate. In contrast, the pronoun that and the zero relativizer have a more colloquial flavor and are preferred in conversation."
(Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, and Geoffrey Leech, Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Pearson, 2002)

That and zero are the preferred choices in conversation, although relative clauses are generally rare in that register. Fiction is similar to conversation in its preference for that. In contrast, news shows a much stronger preference for which and who, and academic prose strongly prefers which.


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#relative_pronouns

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8️⃣ Reflexive Pronouns


🔻What Are #Reflexive_Pronouns?

In English grammar, a #reflexive_pronoun is a pronoun ending in -self or -selves that's used as an object to refer to a previously named noun or pronoun in a sentence. It can also simply be called a reflexive. They usually follow verbs or prepositions.

#Reflexive_pronouns have the same forms as #Intensive_pronouns (#emphatic_pronouns): myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, oneself, and themselves. Unlike #intensive_pronouns, #reflexive_pronouns are essential to the meaning of a sentence.

➖John pinched himself.

(The #reflexive_pronoun himself tells us that John did something to John.)

Using a #reflexive_pronoun means you do not have to repeat the subject (shown here in italic). Repeating the subject would be clumsy.

➖Alison still does not trust herself.
➖The members argued amongst themselves for an hour.
➖We often ask ourselves why we left London.

(Note: The subject is known as the antecedent of the #reflexive_pronoun.)

✨Sometimes, the subject can be implied.

➖The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.
➖Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.

These could also have been written:

➖The ability of you to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.
➖[You should] never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.


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#reflexive_pronouns

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🔻Why Should I Care about #Reflexive_Pronouns?

The most common mistake involving #reflexive_pronouns is using one when the subject of the verb is not doing something to itself.

➖He did it to myself.✖️
➖I did it to myself.☑️
➖He did it to himself.☑️

Most often, writers make this mistake because they think myself sounds more #formal than me.
➖He insulted the doctor and myself.
➖Please pass any comments to the director or myself.
(This example has an implied subject. "Please [will you] pass any comments to the direct or myself.")
Remember that you cannot be the antecedent of myself. Only I can be the antecedent of myself.)

🔹Here are better versions:👇🏻
➖He insulted the doctor and me. (but a little awkward sounding)
➖Please pass any comments to the director or me. (but a little awkward sounding)

Even though the two examples above are correct, they grate on the ear a little, and this doubtless contributes to writers feeling the urge to replace me with myself. Putting me first takes the edge off that ear-grating.

➖He insulted me and the doctor. (and nicer on the ear)
➖Please pass any comments to me or the director. (and nicer on the ear)

Ironically, lots of people who mistakenly use myself, yourself, etc. do so believing a #reflexive_pronoun sounds more highbrow than the correct #personal_pronoun (me, you, etc.). This has given rise to the term "ubercorrect" grammar, which includes the use of incorrect terms like "between you and I" and "from my wife and I".

Here's the bottom line! You can only use the word myself when the subject is I.
➖I love myself.
➖I asked myself a question.
➖I did it myself.
(Here, myself is an #emphatic_pronoun (i.e., one used for emphasis) and not a #reflexive_pronoun (i.e., one used to reflect back on the subject), but the "bottom line" rule still applies.)

Myself and yourself are not highbrow alternatives for me and you.😌

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#reflexive_pronouns

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🔻More about #Reflexive_Pronouns?

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9️⃣Intensive (or emphatic) Pronouns


🔻What Are #Intensive_Pronouns?

In English grammar, an #intensive_pronoun is a pronoun ending in -self or -selves that serve to emphasize its antecedent. They are also known as #intensive_reflexive_pronouns.

#Intensive_pronouns often appear as appositives after nouns or other pronouns.

#Intensive_pronouns have the same forms as #reflexive_pronouns. Unlike #reflexive_pronouns, #intensive_pronouns are not essential to the basic meaning of a sentence.

➖She will do it herself.

(The #intensive_pronoun herself emphasizes that she will do it. Her husband won't do it. Her son won't do it. SHE will do it.)

➖The boys baked these scones themselves.

(The #intensive_pronoun themselves emphasizes that the boys baked the scones, i.e., not their mothers.)

➖I heard the lie myself.

(The #intensive_pronoun myself emphasizes that I heard the lie.)

⚠️Note: It's not always about people:

➖The dog opened the cupboard itself.

You can test if it's an #intensive_pronoun by removing it and seeing if you get the same effect by emphasizing the thing you're trying to emphasize with your voice (shown here in uppercase).

➖SHE will do it.
➖I  heard the lie.
➖THE DOG opened the cupboard.


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#intensive_pronouns

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