On the Significance of English Grammar
1) The nominative case of personal pronouns is used as subject or subject complement in sentences, for example:
John waited for a while, but finally he went home.
John waited for a while, and finally he went home.
John hopes that the passenger is Mary, and it is indeed her.
John hopes that the passenger is Mary, and it is really her.
Note: in complex sentences, if the subject of the main clause and the subordinate clause are the same, the pronoun subject should be used in the subordinate clause and the noun subject should be used in the main clause, for example:
When he arrived, John went straight to the bank.
John went straight to the bank as soon as he arrived.
2) The objective case of personal pronouns can be used as an object or a preposition in a sentence, but it can also be used as a subject complement in spoken English. The first person can also be used as the subject in ellipsis sentences, for example:
I saw her with them. At least, I thought it was her.
I saw her with them, at least I thought it was her. (her is the object, they are prepositional objects, and her is the subject complement)
A.who broke the vase? Who broke the vase?
B.- me. -Me. I am the subject complement = it's me. )
Note: in the above two examples, her and me are subject complements respectively. Accusative is often used in modern English, and she and I should be used in formal style.
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2.2 Substitution of personal pronoun subject and objective case
1) The objective case replaces the nominative case.
A. In short conversations, when personal pronouns are used alone or not, more objects are used.
-I like English. -I like English.
-Me, too. -I like it, too.
-More wine? Would you like some more wine?
-Not me. -I don't want it.
In informal comparison, the objective case is usually used instead of the nominative case. However, if the predicate of comparative adverbial is retained, the subject can only use the nominative case.
He is taller than me.
He is taller than me.
2) nominative case replaces accusative case
A, except and nominative after preposition but can sometimes be used instead of objective case.
B. the nominative case is often used in telephone language.
-I want to talk to Mary. -I want to talk to Mary.
-This is her. -I'm Mary.
Note: the personal pronoun after the verb be or to be depends on the noun or pronoun before it.
I thought it was her. I thought it was her. (nominative-nominative)
I thought it was her. (accusative-accusative)
I was mistaken for her. I was mistaken for her. (nominative-nominative)
They took me for her. They took me for her. (accusative-accusative)
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2.3 pronoun reference problem
1) indefinite pronouns any one, everyone, nobody, anyone, someone, everyone, who and person can be replaced by He, His and He in formal occasions.
Nobody came, did they? Nobody came, did they?
2) The reference of animal nouns is generally replaced by it or them, and sometimes he, he and she are used to express intimacy.
Give the cat some food. She is hungry. Give the cat some food. She is hungry.
3) A term that refers to a car, a country or a ship. It is often used when it is emotional.
2.4 the order of parallel personal pronouns
1) When singular personal pronouns are juxtaposed as subjects, the order is:
Second person address-> third person-> first person
You-> He/she; It-> I
You, he and I should come back on time.
2) When plural personal pronouns are used as subjects, the order is:
First person-> second person address-> third person
We-> You-> they
Note: In the following cases, the first person comes first.
A. When admitting mistakes and taking responsibility,
It was John and I who made her angry.
It was John and I who made her angry.
B. When the elder speaks to the younger generation, when the chief speaks to the subordinate, if the chief is the first person, for example, you and I will work hard to finish it.
C. When the coordinate subjects only have the first person and the third person,
D. When other personal pronouns or nouns are modified by attributive clauses.
2.5 Possessive pronouns
1) Possessive pronouns have both the function of indicating ownership and the function of reference, for example:
John cut his finger; It is obvious that there is a broken glass on his desk.
John cut his finger. Obviously, there is a broken glass on his desk.
There are two kinds of possessive pronouns: adjectives (my, your, etc. ) and nouns (mine, yours, etc. ). Adjective possessive pronouns belong to determiners.
Nominal possessive pronouns are equivalent to omitting the possessive structure of-'of the central noun in usage, for example:
Jack's hat means that this hat belongs to Jack.
His hat means that this hat is his.
2) The syntactic function of nominal possessive pronouns.
A. As the subject, for example:
May I use your pen? Your effect is better.
May I use your pen? Yours works better than mine.
B. As an object, for example:
I love my motherland as much as you love your motherland.
I love my motherland as much as you love your motherland.
C. as a prepositional object, for example:
You should interpret what I said with my meaning, not yours.
You should interpret what I said according to my meaning, not according to your own.
D. as a subject complement, for example:
My life is yours. It's all yours. It's all yours. My life belongs to you, to you, to you.
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2.6 dual possessive case
Possessive pronouns cannot be prefixed with a, an, this, that, The, the, some, any, severe, no, each, every, for example, to modify nouns, and double possessive cases must be used.
The formula is:
Nominal possessive pronoun. For example:
A friend of mine.
Each of his brothers.
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2.7 Reflexive pronouns
1) list
I, you, you, her, him.
Myself, yourself, herself.
We are one of them.
We ourselves
2) Become an object
A. some verbs need reflexive pronouns
Absence, bathing, entertainment, blame, dry, cut, enjoy, hurt, introduce, act
We had a good time last night. We had a good time last night.
Please help yourself to some fish. Please help yourself to some fish.
B. used for transitive verbs+objects+prepositions
Be proud of something, feel annoyed, and do something yourself.
I couldn't dress myself at that time. I couldn't dress myself at that time.
Note: Some verbs are not followed by reflexive pronouns, such as getting up, sitting down, standing up, waking up, etc.
Please sit down. Please sit down.
3) as a predicative; appositive
Be myself: I am not myself today. I don't feel well today.
The matter itself is not important. The matter itself is not important.
4) Without emphasis, prepositions such as but, except and for can be followed by reflexive pronouns or personal pronouns. For example:
No one was hurt except myself.
note:
A. Reflexive pronouns themselves cannot be the subject alone.
I like this car myself.
I drive by myself. I drive by myself.
B. But among the coordinate subjects connected with and, or, nor, the second subject can be a reflexive pronoun, especially myself.
Charles and I both saw it.
5) Reflexive pronouns should be used when the second person is called the object.
You should be proud of yourself. You should be proud of yourself.
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2.8 reciprocal pronoun
1) There are only two phrases in interactive pronouns: the other side and the other side. They indicate that the actions or feelings described by verbs in a sentence exist mutually among the objects involved, for example:
It is obvious that people from different cultures always imitate each other.
Obviously, people from different cultures always learn from each other.
2) Syntactic functions of interactive pronouns:
A. as a verb object;
People should love each other. People should love each other.
B. it can be used as a prepositional object;
Wang Wang barks, roosters crow and frogs croak at each other. Bark, cock crowing, frog duet.
Description: According to traditional grammar, when there is a relationship between two people or things, the other person is used, and when there is a relationship between more than two people or things, the other person is used. In modern English, there are many examples of the alternate use of two groups of words, such as:
He put all the books together.
He put all the books side by side.
He put all the books together.
He put all the books side by side.
Usually these small groups are independent of each other.
These small groups are usually independent of each other.
C. Reciprocal pronouns can add -'s to form the possessive case, for example:
Students borrow notes from each other.
Students borrow notes from each other.
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2.9 demonstrative pronouns
1) demonstrative pronouns are divided into singular (this/that) and plural (these/that), which can be used as both determiners and pronouns, for example:
Singular or plural
Qualifier: This girl is Mary. These people are mine.
Teachers.
Pronouns: This is Mary. This is mine.
Teachers.
2) The syntactic function of demonstrative pronouns;
A. Become a theme
This is the way to do it.
This is the way to do it.
B. As an object
I like this better than that.
I like this or even that.
C. as a subject complement
My point is.
This is my opinion.
D. as a prepositional object
I won't refuse.
I didn't refuse.
There is nothing to worry about.
That's not terrible.
Description 1:
Demonstrative pronouns can refer to things and people when they are used as subjects, but they can only refer to things but not people when they are used as other sentence components, such as:
That's my teacher. That's my teacher. (that is, the subject refers to people)
He is going to marry this girl. He is going to marry this girl. (This is a qualifier)
He is going to marry this. (this
I bought this. I'll take this one. This refers to something and can be used as an object.
Note 2:
That and these can be the antecedents of attributive clauses, but this and these cannot. At the same time, only those used as antecedents can refer to people. Try to compare:
He appreciates things that look beautiful. He appreciates things that look beautiful.
He admits this. Who looks beautiful? He envies those who are beautiful in appearance. (think of people)
He admitted who danced well. (that can't refer to people when used as an object)
He admitted who danced well. He admires those who dance well. (think of people)
He admits that although it looks beautiful. He envies those beautiful things. (although it refers to)
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2. 10 interrogative pronoun
1) interrogative pronouns play the role of noun phrases in sentences and are used to form interrogative sentences. There are the following interrogative pronouns:
Refers to: who, who, whose.
Meaning: What?
It can refer to both people and things: which one?
2) The interrogative pronoun in the sentence should precede the predicate verb, and the sex and number have not changed, and the case has not changed except who. What, which and who can also be used as determiners. Try to compare:
Question pronoun: Whose books are these on the desk?
Whose book is the desk?
What is the direction of American territorial expansion?
In which direction is the territorial expansion of the United States?
Qualifier: Whose books are these on the desk?
Whose book is the desk?
What event caused most of the east of the Mississippi River to become a part of the United States? What event made most of the land east of the Mississippi River belong to the United States?
Description 1:
Which and what refer to different scopes, whether they are interrogative pronouns or determiners. What is an infinite range, and which is a certain range, such as:
Which girls do you like best?
Which girls do you like?
What girl do you like best?
What kind of girl do you like?
Note 2:
The objective situation of who is who. In written language, it is used as a verb object or a preposition object. Who can be used instead in spoken English, but only who can be used after prepositions, for example:
Who did you meet in the street?
Who did you meet in the street? (as a verb object)
Who are you taking this book to?
Who are you taking this book to? (As a prepositional object, put it at the beginning of a sentence)
Who did you talk to on campus?
Who are you talking to on campus? As the object of preposition, after the preposition is placed, it cannot be replaced by who. )
Note 3:
When interrogating preposition objects with interrogative pronouns, prepositions and interrogative pronouns used to be put together at the beginning of sentences. In modern English, interrogative pronouns are at the beginning of sentences and prepositions are at the end of sentences, for example:
What do most people live and work for?
What is the purpose of most people's life and work? (old style)
What are you looking for?
What are you looking for? (Modern English)
Note 4:
Interrogative pronouns can also lead to nominal clauses, such as:
I don't understand what he is implying.
I don't know what his intentions are.
Can you tell me whose blue shirt is on the bed?
Can you tell me whose blue shirt is on the bed?
I agree with most of what you said, but I can't agree with you completely.
I agree with most of what you said, but I don't entirely agree.
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2. 1 1 relative pronoun
1) Relative pronouns are used to guide attributive clauses. It stands for antecedent and makes some sentence elements in clauses, such as: the girl I am talking to is my cousin. (in this sentence, who not only stands for the antecedent the girl, but also acts as the object of the preposition to in the clause. )
2) Relative pronouns can be divided into nominative, accusative and possessive cases, and can also be divided into reference and accused. In restrictive attributive clauses, that can refer to both people and things, as shown in the following figure:
Restrictive, non-restrictive and restrictive
Of a person or thing.
Who which that nominative case
Carnival. Who's that, that, that
Whose/whose/whose?
For example:
This is the pencil whose nib is broken.
This is the pencil whose nib is broken.
Which refers to something and is used as an attribute in restrictive attributive clauses.
He came back to get the book he had forgotten. He came back to get the book he left behind.
(refers to the object in the restrictive attributive clause, which can be omitted)
3) The antecedent of a relative pronoun can be a sentence, for example:
He said that he saw me there, which was a lie.
He said that he saw me there, which was a complete lie.
Note: Relative pronouns that can be omitted when used as objects or predicates in clauses, such as:
I have forgotten a lot of Latin I used to know.
I used to know Latin, but now I have basically forgotten it.
He has changed. He is not who he used to be.
He has changed a lot. He is not the man he used to be.