Pronouns

  • B2+-C1
  • Grammar
  • Pronouns

In this article, you will learn about generic pronouns (such as one or they), reflexive and reciprocal pronouns (e.g. themselves, each other), and it and there.

generic pronouns
  1. You can learn a language faster if you go to live in a country where it is spoken.
  1. One should never criticise without being sure of the facts.
  1. When we talk about an accent, we must not confuse this with pronunciation.
  1. They always say that it’s never too late to learn a language.
  2. They should make it compulsory for people to learn two foreign languages at school.
  1. If someone goes to live in a foreign country, they will have to get used to a different way of life.
  2. Could the person who left their bag in the library please come and see me?
  1. We often use you to mean people in general.
  1. We can also use one + 3rd person singular of the verb to mean people in general.
  2. One is more formal than you and is rarely used in spoken English.
  1. We can also be used to make a general statement which includes the listener / reader.
  1. 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).
  1. We often use they, them, and their to refer to one person who may be male or female, instead of using he or she, his or her, etc.
reflexive and reciprocal pronouns
  1. You need to look after yourself with that cold.
  2. He’s very egocentric. He always talks about himself.
  1. I managed to complete the last level of the game! I was really pleased with myself.
  1. We decorated the house ourselves.
  2. There’s no way I’m going to do it for you. Do it yourself!
  1. I don’t feel very comfortable going to the cinema by myself.
  1. My ex-husband and I don’t talk to each other any more.
  2. My mother and sister don’t understand one another at all.
  1. 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.
  1. We also use reflexive pronouns after most prepositions when the complement is the same as the subject.
  • Grammar checkpoint
    ⚠ 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.
  1. We can also use reflexive pronouns to emphasise the subject, e.g. We decorated the house ourselves (= we did it, not professional decorators).
  1. By + reflexive pronoun = alone, on your own.
  1. We use each other or one another for reciprocal actions, i.e. A does the action to B and B does the action to A.
    • Compare They bought themselves some new shoes (= A bought some for A, B bought some for B). They bought each other some new shoes (= A bought some for B and B bought some for A).
it and there
  1. It’s five miles to London. It’s 10 o’clock.
  1. It was great to hear that you and Elena are getting married!
  2. It used to be difficult to buy fresh pasta in the UK, but now you can get it everywhere.
  1. There’s a big crowd of people in the town centre.
  2. There used to be a cinema in that street, but there isn’t one any more.
  3. There are three meetings this week.
  1. We use it + be to talk about time, temperature, and distance.
  1. 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.
  1. 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 cinema in that street</em.
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Nigel Bailey

Nigel is a qualified Teacher of English as a Foreign Language and has been teaching in Poland since 2003. He has been teaching over the Internet since 2008 and has taught more than 1,000 students in this way.

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We use both it and there as a kind of preparatory subject with the real subject placed after the verb.

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