{"id":557,"date":"2016-02-20T03:47:13","date_gmt":"2016-02-20T08:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/?page_id=557"},"modified":"2016-02-22T03:47:37","modified_gmt":"2016-02-22T08:47:37","slug":"indefinite-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/?page_id=557","title":{"rendered":"INDEFINITE PRONOUNS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/?page_id=513\">English Grammar<\/a> &gt; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/?page_id=520\">Nouns<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, place or thing. In English, there is a particular group of indefinite pronouns formed with a quantifier or distributive preceded by<em>\u00a0every, some, any and no<\/em>.<\/p>\n<style><!--\n.demo {\nborder:1px solid #C0C0C0;\nborder-collapse:collapse;\npadding:5px;\n}\n.demo th {\nborder:1px solid #C0C0C0;\npadding:5px;\nbackground:#F0F0F0;\n}\n.demo td {\nborder:1px solid #C0C0C0;\npadding:5px;\n}\n--><\/style>\n<table class=\"demo\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th><\/th>\n<th>Person<\/th>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Thing<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>All<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0everyone, everybody<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0everywhere<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0everything<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Part (positive)<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0someone, somebody<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0somewhere<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0something<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Part (negative)<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0anyone, anybody<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0anywhere<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0anything<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>None<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0no one, nobody<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0nowhere<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0nothing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Indefinite pronouns with <em>some<\/em> and <em>any<\/em> are used to <a href=\"http:\/\/a\">describe indefinite and incomplete quantities<\/a> in the same way that <em>some<\/em> and <em>any<\/em> are used alone.<\/p>\n<p>Indefinite pronouns are placed in the same location as a noun would go in the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Noun, Indefinite pronoun<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I would like to go <strong>to Paris<\/strong> this summer. I would like to go <strong>somewhere<\/strong> this summer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jim<\/strong> gave me this book. <strong>Someone<\/strong> gave me this book.<\/li>\n<li>I won&#8217;t tell your secret to <strong>Sam<\/strong>. I won&#8217;t tell your secret to <strong>anyone<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>I bought <strong>my school supplies<\/strong> at the mall. I bought <strong>everything<\/strong> at the mall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>AFFIRMATIVE<\/p>\n<p>In affirmative sentences, indefinite pronouns using <em>some<\/em> are used to describe an indefinite quantity, the indefinite pronouns with <em>every<\/em> are used to describe a complete quantity, and the pronouns with <em>no<\/em> are used to describe an absence. Indefinite pronouns with <em>no<\/em> are often used in affirmative sentences with a negative meaning, but these are nevertheless not negative sentences because they are lacking the word <em>not<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Everyone<\/strong> is sleeping in my bed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Someone<\/strong> is sleeping in my bed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No one<\/strong> is sleeping in my bed.<\/li>\n<li>I gave <strong>everything<\/strong> to Sally.<\/li>\n<li>He saw <strong>something<\/strong> in the garden.<\/li>\n<li>There is <strong>nothing<\/strong> to eat.<\/li>\n<li>I looked <strong>everywhere<\/strong> for my keys.<\/li>\n<li>Keith is looking for <strong>somewhere<\/strong> to live.<\/li>\n<li>There is <strong>nowhere<\/strong> as beautiful as Paris.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Any<\/em> and the indefinite pronouns formed with it can also be used in affirmative sentences with a meaning that is close to <em>every<\/em>: whichever person, whichever place, whichever thing, etc.<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They can choose <strong>anything<\/strong> from the menu.<\/li>\n<li>You may invite <strong>anybody<\/strong> you want to you birthday party.<\/li>\n<li>We can go <strong>anywhere<\/strong> you&#8217;d like this summer.<\/li>\n<li>He would give <strong>anything<\/strong> to get into Oxford.<\/li>\n<li>Fido would follow you <strong>anywhere<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>NEGATIVE SENTENCES<\/p>\n<p>Negative sentences can only be formed with the indefinite pronouns that include <em>any<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I don&#8217;t have <strong>anything<\/strong> to eat.<\/li>\n<li>She didn&#8217;t go <strong>anywhere<\/strong> last week.<\/li>\n<li>I can&#8217;t find <strong>anyone<\/strong> to come with me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many negative sentences that include an indefinite pronoun with <em>any<\/em> can be turned into affirmative sentences with a negative meaning by using an indefinite pronoun with <em>no<\/em>. However, there is a change in meaning with this transformation: the sentence that includes an indefinite pronoun with <em>no<\/em> is stronger, and can imply emotional content such as defensiveness, hopelessness, anger, etc.<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I don&#8217;t know <strong>anything<\/strong> about it. = neutral<\/li>\n<li>I know <strong>nothing<\/strong> about it. = defensive<\/li>\n<li>I don&#8217;t have <strong>anybody<\/strong> to talk to. = neutral<\/li>\n<li>I have <strong>nobody<\/strong> to talk to. = hopeless<\/li>\n<li>There wasn&#8217;t <strong>anything<\/strong> we could do. = neutral<\/li>\n<li>There was <strong>nothing<\/strong> we could do. = defensive\/angry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>NEGATIVE QUESTIONS<\/p>\n<p>Indefinite pronouns with every, some and any can be used to form negative questions. These questions can usually be answered with a &#8220;yes&#8221; or a &#8220;no&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Pronouns formed with <em>any<\/em> and <em>every<\/em> are used to form true questions, while those with <em>some<\/em> generally imply a question to which we already know or suspect the answer.<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is there <strong>anything<\/strong> to eat?<\/li>\n<li>Did you go <strong>anywhere<\/strong> last night?<\/li>\n<li>Is <strong>everyone<\/strong> here?<\/li>\n<li>Have you looked <strong>everywhere<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These questions can be turned into false or rhetorical questions by making them negative. The speaker, when posing a question of this type, is expecting an answer of &#8220;no&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is<strong>n&#8217;t<\/strong> there <strong>anything<\/strong> to eat?<\/li>\n<li>Did<strong>n&#8217;t<\/strong> you go <strong>anywhere<\/strong> last night?<\/li>\n<li>Is<strong>n&#8217;t everyone<\/strong> here?<\/li>\n<li>Have<strong>n&#8217;t<\/strong> you looked <strong>everywhere<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Some<\/em> and pronouns formed with it is only use in questions to which we think we already know the answer, or questions which are not true questions (invitations, requests, etc.) The person asking these questions is expecting an answer of &#8220;Yes&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are you looking for <strong>someone<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Have you lost <strong>something<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Are you going <strong>somewhere<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Could <strong>somebody<\/strong> help me, please? = request<\/li>\n<li>Would you like to go <strong>somewhere<\/strong> this weekend? = invitation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These questions can be made even more definite if they are made negative. In this case, the speaker is absolutely certain he will receive the answer &#8220;Yes&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>EXAMPLES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aren&#8217;t you looking for <strong>someone<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Haven&#8217;t you lost <strong>something<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Aren&#8217;t you going <strong>somewhere<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<li>Couldn&#8217;t <strong>somebody<\/strong> help me, please?<\/li>\n<li>Wouldn&#8217;t you like to go <strong>somewhere<\/strong> this weekend?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>English Grammar &gt; Nouns Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, place or thing. In English, there is a particular group of indefinite pronouns formed with a quantifier or distributive preceded by\u00a0every,&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-557","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":593,"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/557\/revisions\/593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}