The English personal pronouns are a subset of English pronouns taking various forms according to number , person , case and grammatical gender . Modern English has very little inflection of nouns or adjectives , to the point where some authors describe it as an analytic language , but the Modern English system of personal pronouns has preserved some of the inflectional complexity of Old English and Middle English .
45-399: Spanish pronouns in some ways work quite differently from their English counterparts . Subject pronouns are often omitted, and object pronouns come in clitic and non-clitic forms. When used as clitics, object pronouns can appear as proclitics that come before the verb or as enclitics attached to the end of the verb in different linguistic environments. There is also regional variation in
90-443: A coordinating conjunction such as and or or , traditional grammar prescribes that the pronoun should appear in the same form as it would take if it were used alone in the same position: Jay and I will arrive later (since I is used for the subject of a verb), but between you and me (since me is used for the object of a preposition). However, in informal and less careful usage this rule may not be consistently followed; it
135-582: A child needs its mother ). Outside of these very limited contexts, use of it as a pronoun for people is generally avoided, due to the feeling that it is dehumanizing. Traditionally, in English, if the gender of a person was not known or ambiguous, then the masculine pronouns were often used by default (e.g. a good student always does his homework ). Increasingly, though, singular they is used in such cases ( see below ). Animals are often referred to as it , but he and she are sometimes used for animals when
180-504: A dative. The ablative case is found in Albanian ; it is the fifth case, rasa rrjedhore . In Sanskrit , the ablative case is the fifth case ( pañcamī ) and has a similar function to that in Latin. Sanskrit nouns in the ablative often refer to a subject "out of" which or "from" whom something (an action, an object) has arisen or occurred: pátram vṛkṣā́t pátati ' the leaf falls from
225-500: A pesar de , debajo de , a causa de , etc.), however, el cual is often preferred entirely: El cual is further generally preferred entirely when, as the object of a preposition, it is separated from its antecedent by intervening words. The more words that intervene, the more the use of el cual is practically obligatory: The bare form cual is used as the relative adjective ("in which sense", "with which people", etc.), which only inflects for number: The pronoun quien comes from
270-419: A sentence: Possessive pronouns ( mine , ours , etc.) replace the entity that was referred to previously (as in I prefer mine ) or serve as predicate adjectives (as in this book is mine ). For details see English possessive . As they are pronouns they cannot precede any noun. The basic personal pronouns of modern English are shown in the table below. Other English pronouns which have distinct forms of
315-674: Is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages; it is sometimes used to express motion away from something, among other uses. The word "ablative" derives from the Latin ablatus , the ( suppletive ) perfect, passive participle of auferre "to carry away". The ablative case is found in several language families, such as Indo-European (e.g., Sanskrit , Latin , Albanian , Armenian , Punjabi ), Turkic (e.g., Turkish , Turkmen , Azerbaijani , Uzbek , Kazakh , Kyrgyz , Tatar ), Tungusic (e.g., Manchu , Evenki ), Uralic (e.g., Hungarian ), and
360-483: Is a pro-drop language with respect to subject pronouns. Like French and other languages with the T–V distinction , Spanish has a distinction in its second person pronouns that has no equivalent in modern English. Object pronouns come in two forms: clitic and non-clitic, or stressed. With clitics, object pronouns are generally proclitic , but enclitic forms are mandatory in certain environments. The personal pronoun " vos "
405-410: Is common to hear Jay and me will arrive... and between you and I . The latter type (use of the subjective form in object position) is seen as an example of hypercorrection , resulting from an awareness that many instances of and me (like that in the first example) are considered to require correction to and I . Similar deviations from the grammatical norm are quite common in other examples where
450-498: Is morphosyntactically plural: it is used with a plural verb form, as in "they laugh" or "they are". See the singular they section for more information. Apart from the standard forms given above, English also has a number of non-standard, informal and archaic forms of personal pronouns. A more complete table, including the standard forms and some of the above forms, is given below. Nonstandard, informal and archaic forms are in italics . For further archaic forms, and information on
495-523: Is not intended: When used without a precise antecedent, lo que has a slightly different meaning from that of el que , and is usually used as the connotation of "that which" or "what": The pronoun el cual can replace [el] que . It is generally more emphatic and formal than [el] que , and it always includes the definite article. It is derived from the Latin QVALIS , and it has the following forms: el cual , la cual , los cuales , las cuales , and
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#1733085914644540-433: Is now considered non-standard. It can represent a subject. In this case, it is rather formal and is largely restricted to non-defining clauses. Unlike el cual , it does not inflect for gender, but it does inflect for number, and it also specifies that it does refer to a person: Quien is particularly common as the object of a preposition when the clause is non-defining, but is also possible in defining clauses: Donde
585-464: Is short for I am (sitting here) , but it would sound formal and pedantic, unless followed by am .) A particular case of this type occurs when a pronoun stands alone following the word than . Here the objective form is again predominant in informal usage ( they are older than us ), as would be expected if than were analyzed as a preposition. However traditionally than is considered a conjunction , and so in formal and grammatically careful English
630-484: Is the formal Spanish equivalent for the English pronoun "whose". However, "cuyo" inflects for gender and number ( cuyos m. pl. , cuya f. sg. , or cuyas f. pl. ) according to the word it precedes. For example: "cuyo" in this example has changed to "cuyas" in order to match the condition of the following word, "calificaciones" f. pl. In Old Spanish there were interrogative forms, cúyo , cúya , cúyos , and cúyas , which are no longer used. ¿De quién...?
675-590: Is ultimately from a combination of the obsolete adverb onde ("whence" or "from where") and the preposition de . Onde is from Latin UNDE , which also meant "whence" or "from where", and over the centuries it lost the "from" meaning and came to mean just "where". This meant that, to say "whence" or "where from", the preposition de had to be added, and this gave d'onde . The meaning of d'onde once again eroded over time until it came to mean just "where", and prepositions therefore had to be added once more. This gave rise to
720-1123: Is used in some areas of Latin America, particularly in Central America, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, the state of Zulia in Venezuela, and the Andean regions of Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. The table below shows a list of personal pronouns from Peninsular, Latin American and Ladino Spanish . Ladino or Judaeo-Spanish, spoken by Sephardic Jews , is different from Latin American and Peninsular Spanish in that it retains rather archaic forms and usage of personal pronouns. Only in countries with voseo ( Argentina, Uruguay, Eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and across Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, southern parts of Chiapas in Mexico) Primarily in Spain; other countries use ustedes as
765-492: Is used instead. In practice, cuyo is reserved to formal language. A periphrasis like Alejandro es un estudiante que tiene unas calificaciones siempre buenas is more common. Alejandro es un estudiante que sus calificaciones son siempre buenas (example of quesuismo ) can also be found even if disapproved by prescriptivists . Cuyo is from CVIVS , the genitive (possessive) form of QVI . Relative pronouns often have corresponding interrogative pronouns. For example: In
810-509: The Dravidian languages. There is no ablative case in modern Germanic languages such as German and English . There was an ablative case in the early stages of Ancient Greek , but it quickly fell into disuse by the classical period . The ablative case in Latin ( cāsus ablātīvus ) appears in various grammatical constructions, including following various prepositions, in an ablative absolute clause, and adverbially. The Latin ablative case
855-574: The dative . The genitive case with the prepositions ἀπό apó ' away from ' and ἐκ/ἐξ ek/ex ' out of ' is an example. German does not have an ablative case but, exceptionally, Latin ablative case-forms were used from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century after some prepositions , for example after von in von dem Nomine : ablative of the Latin loanword nomen . Grammarians at that time, Justus Georg Schottel , Kaspar von Stieler , Johann Balthasar von Antesperg and Johann Christoph Gottsched , listed an ablative case (as
900-491: The 14th century, about a century after the plural they . Even when used with singular meaning, they takes a plural verb: If attacked, the victim should remain exactly where they are . Due to this supposed grammatical inconsistency, use of singular they was discouraged by some grammarians during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in favor of using generic he . Since the 1970s, however, this trend has reversed, and singular they now enjoys widespread acceptance. In
945-614: The 1960s, the accents should be used only when it is necessary to avoid ambiguity with the demonstrative determiners . However, the normal educated standard is still as above. Foreign learners may safely adhere to either standard. There is also no accent on the neuter forms esto , eso and aquello , which do not have determiner equivalents. The main relative pronoun in Spanish is que , from Latin QVID . Others include el cual , quien , and donde . Que covers "that", "which", "who", "whom" and
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#1733085914644990-456: The Latin QVEM , "whom", the accusative of QVIS , "who". It too can replace [el] que in certain circumstances. Like the English pronouns "who" and "whom", it can only be used to refer to people. It is invariable for gender, and was originally invariable for number. However, by analogy with other words, the form quienes was invented. Quien as a plural form survives as an archaism that
1035-420: The above types are the indefinite pronoun one , which has the reflexive oneself (the possessive form is written one's , like a regular English possessive ); and the interrogative and relative pronoun who , which has the objective form whom (now confined mostly to formal English) and the possessive whose (which in its relative use can also serve as the possessive for which ). Note that singular they
1080-454: The animal's sex is known and is of interest, particularly for higher animals, especially pets and other domesticated animals. Inanimate objects with which humans have a close relationship, such as ships, cars and countries considered as political, rather than geographical, entities, are sometimes referred to using feminine pronouns such as she and her . This may also be extended to other entities, such as towns. The singular they emerged by
1125-459: The early 21st century, use of singular they with known individuals emerged for some non-binary people, or when the sex or social gender of a person is unknown or unspecified. This is a way of producing gender-neutral language while avoiding other pronouns like he or she , he/she , or s/he . In English, genitive pronouns agree with the gender of the antecedent or referent. This is in contrast to many languages in which such pronouns agree with
1170-776: The evolution of the personal pronouns of English, see Old English pronouns . The pronoun you (and its other forms) can be used as a generic or indefinite pronoun , referring to a person in general. A more formal equivalent is the indefinite pronoun one (reflexive oneself , possessive one's ). For example, you should keep your secrets to yourself may be used in place of the more formal one should keep one's secrets to oneself . The masculine pronouns, he , him , and his are used to refer to male persons. The feminine pronouns she , her , and hers are used to refer to female persons. It and its are normally used to refer to an inanimate object or abstract concept; however, babies and young children may sometimes be referred to as it (e.g.
1215-426: The forms el que , la que , los que , las que and the neuter lo que . Unlike in English, the preposition must go right before the relative pronoun "which" or "whom": In some people's style of speaking, the definite article may be omitted after a , con and de in such usage, particularly when the antecedent is abstract or neuter: After en , the definite article tends to be omitted if precise spatial location
1260-514: The gender of the head noun of the NP in which they appear. For example, in She saw her brother , the genitive pronoun her agrees with antecedent she . Both are feminine. In Italian, in contrast, the same sentences is Lei ha visto suo fratello . Here suo is a third-person, singular, masculine genitive pronoun. It agrees with fratello (brother), not with the feminine antecedent lei . As noted above, most of
1305-421: The location is intended: Como can be used instead of other relative pronouns when manner is referred to: Note that mismo tends to require que : Cuando tends to replace the use of other relative pronouns when time is referred to, usually in non-defining clauses. Note that just que , or at the most en que , is normal with defining clauses referring to time. En el que and cuando are rarer. "Cuyo"
1350-469: The modern usage of donde for "where" and a donde for "to where", among others. Note that all this means that, etymologically speaking, de donde is the rather redundant "from from from where", and a donde is the rather contradictory "to from from where". This tendency goes even further with the vulgar form ande (from adonde ), which is often used to mean "where" as well. In the Ladino dialect of Spanish,
1395-470: The neuter lo cual . It can be used as a formal, emphatic replacement for que in non-defining clauses, for both subjects and direct objects, and it can also be used as a formal, emphatic replacement for el que as the object of some prepositions. Moreover, it is often preferred to el que entirely in certain contexts. In non-defining clauses, the fact that it agrees for gender and number can make it clearer to what it refers. The fact that it cannot be used as
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1440-411: The null pronoun in their functions of subject and direct-object relative pronouns: Note from the last example that unlike with other relative pronouns, personal a does not have to be used with que when used as a personal direct object. When que is used as the object of a preposition, the definite article is added to it, and the resulting form ( el que ) inflects for number and gender, resulting in
1485-411: The object (complement) of a preposition . For example: Sue kicked him , someone gave him the ball , Mary was with him . When used as a predicative expression , i.e. as the complement of a form of the copula verb be , the subjective form was traditionally regarded as more correct (as in this is I , it was he ), but nowadays the objective form is used predominantly ( this is me , it
1530-400: The personal pronouns have distinct case forms – a subjective (nominative) form and an objective (oblique, accusative) form. In certain instances variation arises in the use of these forms. As a general rule, the subjective form is used when the pronoun is the subject of a verb, as in he kicked the ball , whereas the objective form is used as the direct or indirect object of a verb, or
1575-457: The plural regardless of level of formality. A disused equivalent of vuestro(s)/vuestra(s) is voso(s)/vosa(s) . Note: Usted and ustedes are grammatically third person even though they are functionally second person (they express you / you all). See Spanish personal pronouns for more information and the regional variation of pronoun use. According to a decision by the Real Academia in
1620-480: The pronoun onde is still used, where donde still means "whence" or "where from", and in Latin America, isolated communities and rural areas retain this as well. Como is from QUOMODO , "how", the ablative of QUI MODUS , "what way". Cuando is from QUANDO , "when". Donde can be used instead of other relative pronouns when location is referred to. Adonde is a variant that can be used when motion to
1665-448: The pronoun does not stand alone as the subject or object, as in Who said us Yorkshiremen [grammatical: we Yorkshiremen ] are tight? When a pronoun stands alone without an explicit verb or preposition, the objective form is commonly used, even when traditional grammarians might prefer the subjective: Who's sitting here? Me . (Here I might be regarded as grammatically correct, since it
1710-466: The pronoun often takes the form that would appear if than were followed by a clause: they are older than we (by analogy with ...than we are ), but she likes him better than me (if the intended meaning is "...than she likes me"). For more examples of some of these points, see Disjunctive pronoun . Ablative In grammar , the ablative case (pronounced / ˈ æ b l ə t ɪ v / AB -lə-tiv ; sometimes abbreviated abl )
1755-436: The second line, que helps to answer what qué was asking for, a definition of "this". Below is a list of interrogative pronouns and phrases with the relative pronouns that go with them: English personal pronouns Unlike nouns which are not inflected for case except for possession ( woman/woman's ), English personal pronouns have a number of forms, which are named according to their typical grammatical role in
1800-406: The sixth case after nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and vocative) for German words. They arbitrarily considered the dative case after some prepositions to be an ablative, as in von dem Mann[e] ' from the man, of the man ' and mit dem Mann[e] ' with the man ' , while they considered the dative case after other prepositions or without a preposition, as in dem Mann[e] , to be
1845-518: The subject or direct object in defining clauses also makes it clear that a defining clause is not intended: When used as a personal direct object, personal a must be used: In such situations as well as with the object of monosyllabic prepositions, the use of el cual is generally purely a matter of high style. This is used sparingly in Spanish, and foreigners should thus avoid over-using it: In more everyday style, this might be phrased as: After multisyllabic prepositions and prepositional phrases (
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1890-544: The tree ' . It is also used for nouns in several other senses, as for actions occurring "because of" or "without" a certain noun, indicating distance or direction. When it appears with a comparative adjective, ( śreṣṭhatamam ' the best ' ), the ablative is used to refer to what the adjective is comparing: ' better than X ' . The modern Armenian ablative has different markers for each main dialect, both originating from Classical Armenian . The Western Armenian affix -է -ē (definite -էն -ēn ) derives from
1935-420: The use of pronouns, particularly the use of the informal second-person singular vos and the informal second-person plural vosotros . Personal pronouns in Spanish have distinct forms according to whether they stand for a subject ( nominative ), a direct object ( accusative ), an indirect object ( dative ), or a reflexive object. Several pronouns further have special forms used after prepositions . Spanish
1980-413: Was him ), and the use of the subjective in such instances is normally regarded as very formal or pedantic; it is more likely (in formal English) when followed by a relative clause ( it is we who sent them to die ). In some cases the subjective may even appear ungrammatical, as in * is that we in the photograph? (where us would be expected). When a pronoun is linked to other nouns or pronouns by
2025-456: Was derived from three Proto-Indo-European cases: ablative (from), instrumental (with), and locative (in/at). In Ancient Greek , there was an ablative case ( ἀφαιρετικὴ πτῶσις aphairetikē ptōsis ) which was used in the Homeric, pre-Mycenaean, and Mycenean periods. It fell into disuse during the classical period and thereafter with some of its functions taken by the genitive and others by
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