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Now lets us revise all about pronouns... |
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GENERIC PRONOUNS |
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We often use you to mean people in general. |
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1. |
You can
learn a language faster if you go to live in a country
where it is spoken. |
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We can also use one + 3rd person singular of
the verb to mean people in general. One is more formal than
you and is rarely used in spoken English. |
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2. |
One
should never criticize without being sure of the facts. |
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We can also be used to make a general
statement which includes the reader or listener. |
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3. |
When
we talk
about an accent,
we must not confuse this with pronunciation. |
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In informal English, we also often use they to
talk about other people in general, or people in authority, e.g. They
always say... (they = people in general). They should make it
compulsory... (they = the government). |
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4. |
They
always say that it's never too late to learn a new
language. |
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5. |
They
should make it compulsory for people to learn two
foreign languages at school. |
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We often use they, them, and their
to refer to one person who may be male or female, instead or using he
or she, his or her, etc. |
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6. |
If someone goes to live in a
foreign country,
they will have to get used to a different way of
life. |
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7. |
Could the person who left
their bag
in the library please come and see me? |
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REFLEXIVE AND RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS |
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We often use reflexive pronouns when the subject and
object of a verb are the same person. We don't usually use reflexive
pronouns with wash, shave, feel, relax,
concentrate NOT relax yourself
. |
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1. |
You need to look after
yourself
with that cold. |
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2. |
He's very egocentric. He always
talks about
himself. |
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We also use reflexive pronouns after most
prepositions when the complement is the same as the subject. After
prepositions of place, we use object pronouns, not reflexive pronouns,
e.g. She put the bag next to her on the seat NOT
next to herself . |
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3. |
I managed to complete the
crossword! I was really pleased with
myself. |
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We can also use reflexive pronouns to emphasize the
subject, e.g. We decorated the house ourselves (= we did it, not
professional decorators). |
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4. |
We decorated the house
ourselves.
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5. |
I'm not going to do it for you. Do
it yourself! |
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By + reflexive pronoun = alone, on your own. |
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6. |
I don't feel very comfortable
going to the cinema
by myself. |
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We use each other or one another for
reciprocal actions.
Example: A does the action to B and B does the action to A.
And now compare these two examples:
They bought themselves some new shoes.
(= A bought some for A, and B bought some for B).
They bought each other some new shoes.
(= A bought some for B and B bought some for A). |
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7. |
My ex-husband and I don't talk to
each other
any more. |
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8. |
My mother and sister don't
understand one
another at all. |
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IT AND THERE |
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We use it + be to talk about time,
temperature, and distance. |
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1. |
It's five
miles to London /
It's 10
o'clock |
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We also use it + be as a 'preparatory'
subject before adjectives. It was great to hear from you is more
natural than To hear from you was great. |
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2. |
It was
great to hear that you and Martina are getting married!
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3. |
It used to be
difficult to buy fresh pasta in the UK, but now you can
get it everywhere. |
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We use there + be + noun to say if
people and things are present or exist (or not). You cannot use It...
here. NOT It used to be a shop in
that street . |
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4. |
There's a
big crowd of people in the town centre. |
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5. |
There used to be
a shop in that street, but there isn't one any more.
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6. |
There are
three meetings this week. |
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On the next page you will be able to practise
this grammar. |
Pulsa este
ícono
para abrir y
consultar
las
respuestas correctas.
