Ngữ pháp 1 ngô quỳnh hoa

Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

COURSE OUTLINE
Subject

GRAMMAR 1

Units of credit

2 (30 periods)

Suggested self- study

90 periods

Instructor

NGO QUYNH HOA

Contact details


Cell phone: 0983791306

The subject outline contains important information. Please ensure that you
read it carefully. It is also strongly recommended that you keep this copy of
your subject outline for future reference.
Course Description: Understanding and utilizing the proper parts of speech in writing is
often difficult for students because there is less focus on it. The purpose of this course is to
focus on the basics of identifying, using with the correct parts of speech.
Learning Goals: By the end of the course, students will be able to:

- Master their knowledge and understanding of parts of speech
- Identify, describe and explain the different parts of speech.
- Identify, describe and explain the formation, functions and classification
of each part of speech
- Use 8 kinds of parts of speech properly in writing and speaking.
Assignments: Students will write exams, participate in small group activities,
and give oral presentations. Grades will be assigned according to the following
percentages:
Assessment for the subject will be on the basis of:
(a)

Class attendance

Required assessment

Yes

10%

Yes

10%

(> 2 absences in the
tutorial sessions: FAIL)
(b)

Oral presentation

Required assessment
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

(c)

Participation/small
group activities

Required assessment

Yes

15%

(d)

Mid –term tests

Required assessment

Yes

15 %

(e)

Final Exam

Required assessment

Yes

50%

Proposed schedule
Time
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15

Contents
Course introduction
Unit 1: Nouns
Unit 1: Nouns (cont.)
Unit 2: Articles

Unit 3: Pronouns
Unit 4: Prepositions
Unit 5: Adjectives
Unit 5: Adjectives (cont.)
Unit 6: Conjunctions
Unit 7: Verbs
Unit 7: Verbs (cont.)
Unit 7: Verbs (cont.)
Unit 8: Adverbs
Unit 8: Adverbs (cont.)
Revision

Textbooks:
- Developing grammar in context (Mark Nettle and Diana Hopkins)
- Oxford Practice Grammar- Advanced (George Yule)
Reference books:
- Exploring Grammar in Context (Ronald Carter, Rebecca Hughes and
Michael McCarthy)
- A Practical English Grammar (A.J.Thomson & A.V.Martinet)

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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

UNIT 1: NOUNS IN ENGLISH
A.

Definition

 A noun is a word used to refer to people, animals, objects, substances, states,
events and feelings. Nouns can be a subject or an object of a verb, can be
modified by an adjective and can take an article or determiner.
For example:
-

Table
Pencil
The dog
A white house

 Nouns also denote abstract and intangible concepts.
For example:
-

Birth
Happiness
Evolution
Technology, etc.

B.

Functions of Nouns

I.

Subject (S) - a noun or pronoun partnered with a predicate verb

A subject
1. does an action with an action verb

2. exists with a verb of being

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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

3. is renamed or described after a verb of being or a linking verb

4. is acted upon with a passive verb

II.
Object of Preposition (OP) - a noun or pronoun answering "whom" or
"what" after a preposition in a prepositional phrase.

III. Direct Object (DO) - a noun or pronoun answering "whom" or "what"
after an action verb. A direct object "receives" or is the "object" of the action.

IV. Retained Object (RO) - a noun or pronoun answering "whom" or "what"
after a passive verb.

V.
Indirect Object (IO) - a noun or pronoun answering "to whom/what" or
"for whom/what" after an action verb.
An indirect object



always precedes a direct object

never has the word “to” or “for” stated
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

VI. Subjective Complement (SC) - a noun, pronoun, or adjective that
renames or describes (equals) the subject after a linking verb.

VII. Objective Complement (OC) - a noun, pronoun, or adjective that
renames or describes (equals) the direct object.
Test for OC: insert "to be" between the DO and the OC

VIII. Appositive (App) - a noun or pronoun that renames another noun; An
appositive is usually placed next to the noun it renames...

Gourmet renames the noun Joe. Therefore, gourmet is an appositive of Joe.

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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

C.

Noun Plurals

 We are going to explain some rules that will help you to form the plural
forms of the nouns. The general rule is to add "-s" to the noun in singular.
For example:

-

Book - Books
House - Houses
Chair - Chairs

 When the singular noun ends in: -sh, -ch, -s, -ss, -x, -o we form their plural
form by adding "-es".
For example:
-

sandwich - sandwiches
brush - brushes
bus - buses
box - boxes
potato - potatoes

 When the singular noun ends in "y", we change the "y" for "i" and then add
"-es" to form the plural form. But do not change the "y" for "ies" to form the
plural when the singular noun ends in "y" preceded by a vowel.
For example:
-

nappy - nappies
day - days
toy - toys

 However, there are many Irregular Nouns which do not form the plural in
this way:
For example:

-

Woman - Women
Child - Children
Sheep - Sheep

 Nouns may take an “s” ("apostrophe s") or "Genitive marker" to indicate
possession. If the noun already has an -s ending to mark the plural, then the
genitive marker appears only as an apostrophe after the plural form.
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

For example:
-

my girlfriend's brother
John's house
The Browns' house
The boys' pens

 The genitive marker should not be confused with the “„s " form of contracted
verbs, as in John's a good student = John is a good student.

D.

Noun Gender

 Many common nouns, like "engineer" or "teacher", can refer to men or

women. Once, many English nouns would change form depending on their
gender. For example: A man was called an "author" while a woman was
called an "authoress".
For example:
-

E.

David Garrick was a very prominent eighteenth-century actor.
Sarah Siddons was at the height of her career as an actress in the
1780s.
The manager was trying to write a want ad, but he couldn't decide
whether he was advertising for a "waiter" or a "waitress"

Types of Nouns
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

Proper nouns are the names of specific things, people, or places, such as
John, France. They usually begin with a capital letter.
Common nouns are general names such as person, mansion, and book.
They can be either concrete or abstract.
Concrete nouns refer to things which you can sense such as clock and
telephone.
Abstract nouns refer to ideas or qualities such as liberty and truth.

Countable nouns refer to things which can be counted (can be singular or
plural)
Uncountable nouns refer to some groups of countable nouns, substances,
feelings and types of activity (can only be singular)

I.
COUNTABLE NOUNS

Definition: A Count Noun is a noun which can be modified by a numeral
and occur in both singular and plural form, as well as co-occurring with
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

quantificational determiners like every, each, several, most, etc. Countable
nouns are individual objects, people, places, etc. which can be counted. Count
nouns can be made plural, usually by adding -s or -es at the end.
For example:
-

She saw seven cows in the garden
There is a cow in the garden.
Every cow is an animal.

Examples:
Usually count nouns
Persons
child/ren
teacher/s

student/s
plumber/s
lawyer/s
psychologist/s
historian/s
economist/s
biologist/s
reporter/s
dean/s
coordinator/s
researcher/s

Places
store/s
mall/s
park/s
bar/s
office/s
school/s
home/s
station/s
church/es
deli/s
cafeteria/s
shop/s
airport/s

Things
shoe/s
car/s

door/s
house/s
key/s
letter/s
chair/s
box/es
cow/s
poster/s
glass/es
ball/s

 Some nouns, like the word time, beauty, fire, death, gossip can be used as
either a count noun, or a non-count noun.
For example:
-

-

-

How much time did it take for you to drive to school?
Here, time is a non-count noun, because it refers to a category that
contains smaller items (think of it as a "group" of minutes).
How many times did you take the test before you passed?
Here, time is a count noun; because you can count exactly how
many separate times you took the test.
They had a death in the family.
Death is a tragic thing.
Supermarkets have aisles for different foods.
The animals at the zoo wanted food.

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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

 The "much" and "many" Rule
Many is used with count nouns.
For example:
-

How many papers do you have to write?
There were too many books required for that class.

Much is used with non-count nouns.
For example:
-

How much homework did you have last night?
I had to read so much literature for my English class.

 You can use "some" and "any" with countable nouns.
For example:
-

Some dogs can be dangerous.
I don't use any computers at work.

 You only use "many" and "few" with plural countable nouns.
For example:
-

Many elephants have been hunted.
There are few elephants in England.

 You can use "a lot of" and "no" with plural countable nouns.
For example:
-

No computers were bought last week.
A lot of computers were reported broken the week before.

II.
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
 Definition: An uncountable noun (or non-count noun) is a type of common
noun that cannot be modified by a number without specifying a unit of
measurement. In general, non-count nouns are considered to refer to
indivisible wholes (which are not individual objects and cannot be counted).
For this reason, they are sometimes called MASS nouns. Uncountable nouns
are used to describe a quality, action, thing or substance that can be poured or
measured. Non-Count nouns also refer to a whole category made up of
different varieties or a whole group of things that is made up of many
individual parts. Uncountable nouns are always singular. Use the singular
form of the verb with uncountable nouns.
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

For example:
-

There is some water in that pitcher.
That is the equipment we use for the project.

Examples:
Usually non-count nouns
Things
Qualities
water
dependability
stuff
honesty
money
loyalty
advice
sincerity
proof
integrity
equipment
dust
homework
fun
information
ink
luck

Actions
Fields of Study
walking/to
walk psychology

typing/to
type history
jumping/to
jump social
work
thinking/to
think economics
swimming/to swim
biology
English
anatomy
philosophy
religion
theology

 Some nouns, like the word time, beauty, fire, death, gossip can be used as
either a count noun, or a non-count noun.
For example:
-

-

-

How much time did it take for you to drive to school?
Here, time is a non-count noun, because it refers to a category that
contains smaller items (think of it as a "group" of minutes).
How many times did you take the test before you passed?
Here, time is a count noun; because you can count exactly how many
separate times you took the test.

They had a death in the family.
Death is a tragic thing.
Supermarkets have aisles for different foods.
The animals at the zoo wanted food.

 The "much" and "many" Rule
Many is used with count nouns.
For example:
-

How many papers do you have to write?
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

-

There were too many books required for that class.

Much is used with non-count nouns.
For example:
-

How much homework did you have last night?
I had to read so much literature for my English class.

 You can use "some" and "any" with uncountable nouns.
For example:
-

I usually drink some wine with my meal.
I don't usually drink any water with my wine.

 You only use "much" and "little" with uncountable nouns.
For example:
-

I don't usually drink much coffee.
Little wine is undrinkable though.

 You can use "a lot of" and "no" with uncountable nouns.
For example:
-

A lot of wine is drunk in France.
No wine is drunk in Iran.

EXERCISES
Exercise 1: Underline all the words that without further alteration can fit into
the following sentences. If necessary, consult a good dictionary.
Example: Tom is always offering advice/assistance/idea/suggestion. [idea and
suggestion are count nouns. We could say: He is always offering ideas,
suggestions. But not *He is always offering ideal/suggestion.]
1. You shouldn't judge him on one achievement/failure/progress/success.
2. It was difficult for him to find career/employment/job/work.
3. His new job is something to do with advertisement/advertising/publicity/
marketing.
4. Buy now - it's a real bargain/saving/savings/reduction.
5. There is a/an fortune/income/money/wealth to be made from computers these

days.
6. I need a new clothes/clothing/suit/underwear.
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

7. Modern ammunition/arms/equipment/weapons/weaponry is sophisticated.
8. You'll have to get a leave/pass/permission/permit to get into the factory.
9. Did you have a good experience/fortune/luck/time while you were away?
10. One scene/scenery/view/countryside particularly stays in my mind.
Exercise 2: Complete the pairs of sentences below, using the following words,
once as a count and once as a noncount noun. Use a dictionary to help you if
necessary.
business - cheese - dinner - experience - glass - ice - life - noise - painting paper - pleasure - worry
1. Where can I get A PAPER? I want to know what's happening. I also need
PAPER to wrap up some parcels with.
2. Do you sell ............................ ? I mean, could you cut a piece so that I could
replace a broken window? Also I'm hoping to find ........................... to replace
one I broke when I was washing up.
3. Shopping in this huge store is quite ......................... . They sell everything, but
some of the sales staff are very young and lack .......................... so they don't
know where anything is.
4. Still. I find it...............................to shop here. I mean I don't exactly shop for
....................., but I like the atmosphere.
5. I shall have to come back another day and go to the art department. Tom and
Molly have asked for....................... as a wedding present. I don't think they like
(modern)............................ much.
6. So it's ............................. to know what to choose. Silly. isn't it ? Choosing a
picture shouldn't be a cause for ...............

7. Did you hear ............................ ? Of course, there's a lot of .................. , but I
heard something that sounded like a bomb.
8. They did have a terrorist bomb go off here some years ago, but they were
open next day. ' ............................. as usual.' I‟ve sometimes thought I'd like to
start ............... but it must be a nightmare these days.
9. Oh. I must go to the food department. They sell (very special) .............. made
from goat's milk, one I can't get in my local grocer's. You don't like ............... '?
You don't know what you're missing.
10. And what am I going to cook for .................. this evening? I think
something simple, because tomorrow we're going to ..................... organized by
Bill Brown's family to celebrate his ninetieth birthday.
11. He's led (very active) ................ and climbed almost every mountain you can
think of. But now. poor old chap, he can hardly walk. Still, that's .....................
12. Well, I think we've just time for the restaurant. I'm going to have . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . What about you ? Are you going to have tea, or will you have your
favorite gin and tonic with .................... ?
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

Exercise 3:
Complete the following using the correct plural forms.
Example: I want a chocolate mousse.
Answer: We haven't any edible MICE. Sorry!
1 I want a Christmas card with a snowman on it.
I'm afraid we're out of cards with ....................
2 And I need some sort of bookshelf.
We have some good value wooden ............. at $49.99.
3 And where can I get a silk scarf and a pure linen handkerchief?

We have some beautiful silk .......... , but we only sell cotton ..............
4 And can you ask your food department to send me a large plaice ?
I don't think they've any ............. at all today.
5 Oh, and I need a dozen eggs - no, make it two ...............
6 And I want a story about spacecraft.
I'm afraid there's no demand for ................ about ..............
7 Oh, and I need a hundred pins.
We sell pins in packets of two ............ at 99p. You do seem to want some rather
peculiar things.
8 Yes, well, that's the lot. I've only got about a pound in cash, but I suppose I
can pay by credit card?
All this is rather a tall order! Give me a cheque for ninety-nine ............ 50p.
Exercise 4:
Write out all the possible alternatives in the following.
1 Some/this/these folk don't/doesn't know how to spend its/their money.
Answers: Some folk don't know how to spend their money.
These folk don't know how to spend their money.
(folk is normally plural]
2 This/these belongings of John's was/were found in the cupboard.
3 This/these family need/needs help.
4 I paid CHF100 for this/these binoculars, but it/they isn't/aren't very good.
5 The police has/have a hard job to do.
6 What was/were the news on television last night?
7 There is/are a couple of people outside who/which want/wants to talk to you.
8 The Prime Minister's office has/have issued a statement.
9 The outskirts of the town is/are rather dull.
10 A majority of the strikers want/wants to return to work.
11 Our MP's majority was/were higher this time than last time.
12 Why is/are there remains of food on the table?
13 The public has/have a right to know what money is being spent in its/their

name.
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

Exercise 5: Genitive or of-construction
Use the information given to complete the sentences using a genitive. In some
sentences you will have to use a noun derived from another word in the
sentence.
Example: Henry behaved very badly, which upset all of us.
Answer: We were all upset by HENRY‟ S BAD BEHAVIOUR.
1 My parents insisted on taking the dog on holiday. This caused problems.
There were problems because of (2) ................................................
2 My uncle says he was educated during the school holidays.
............................. , he says, took place in the school holidays.
3 My aunt has her initials on all her things.
....................................................... things have her initials on.
4 Bill has been omitted from the team. It is a great surprise to us all.
We are all surprised at .................................. ...........................
5 Bill has been very loyal to them. It impresses me.
I am impressed by .............................
6 My grandmother is always losing her spectacles, and expects us to find them.
We're always looking for ...................................
7 The people who advised my grandfather were not exactly helpful.
My ............................................................................
8 My mother is very disappointed - that's obvious.
............................ is obvious.

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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

UNIT 2: ARTICLES
A. Definition
 An article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns.
 English has two articles: the & a/an. “The” is used to refer to specific or
particular nouns; “a/an” is used to modify non-specific or non-particular
nouns. We call “the” the definite article and “a/an” the indefinite article.
the = definite article
a/an = indefinite article
 For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. If I
say, "Let's read a book," I mean any book rather than a specific book.
 Here's another way to explain it: “The” is used to refer to a specific or
particular member of a group. For example, "I just saw the most popular
movie of the year." There are many movies, but only one particular movie
is the most popular. Therefore, we use the.
 "A/an" is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the
group. For example, "I would like to go see a movie." Here, we're not
talking about a specific movie. We're talking about any movie. There are
many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in
mind.

B. CLASSIFICATION
1. Indefinite Articles: a and an
 "A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any
member of a group. For example:
-

"My daughter really wants a dog for Christmas." This refers to any dog.
We don't know which dog because we haven't found the dog yet.
"Somebody call a policeman!" This refers to any policeman. We don't
need a specific policeman; we need any policeman who is available.
"When I was at the zoo, I saw an elephant!" Here, we're talking about a
single, non-specific thing, in this case an elephant. There are probably
several elephants at the zoo, but there's only one we're talking about here.

 Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next
word. So...


a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo;
a dog
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.







an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an
apple; an idiot; an orphan
a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like
'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a
university; a unicycle

an + nouns starting with silent "h": an hour
a + nouns starting with a pronounced "h": a horse
o In some cases where "h" is pronounced, such as "historical," you
can use an. However, a is more commonly used and preferred.
A historical event is worth recording.

 If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an
depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the
article:
-

a broken egg
an unusual problem
a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant
'y' sound)

 Remember, too that in English, the indefinite articles are used to indicate
membership in a group:
-

I am a teacher. (I am a member of a large group known as teachers.)
Brian is an Irishman. (Brian is a member of the people known as Irish.)
Seiko is a practicing Buddhist. (Seiko is a member of the group of people
known as Buddhists.)

2. Definite Article: the
 The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the
noun is specific or particular. The signals that the noun is definite, that it
refers to a particular member of a group. For example:
- "The dog that bit me ran away." Here, we're talking about a specific

dog, the dog that bit me.
- "I was happy to see the policeman who saved my cat!" Here, we're
talking about a particular policeman. Even if we don't know the
policeman's name, it's still a particular policeman because it is the one
who saved the cat.
- "I saw the elephant at the zoo." Here, we're talking about a specific
noun. Probably there is only one elephant at the zoo.
3. Count and Noncount Nouns
“The” can be used with noncount nouns, or the article can be omitted entirely.
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.




"I love to sail over the water" (some specific body of water) or "I love to
sail over water" (any water).
"He spilled the milk all over the floor" (some specific milk, perhaps the
milk you bought earlier that day) or "He spilled milk all over the floor"
(any milk).

"A/an" can be used only with count nouns.



"I need a bottle of water."
"I need a new glass of milk."

Most of the time, you can't say, "She wants a water," unless you're implying,
say, a bottle of water.
4. Geographical use of the
There are some specific rules for using “the” with geographical nouns.
Do not use the before:









names of most countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however, the
Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States
names of cities, towns, or states: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami
names of streets: Washington Blvd., Main St.
names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of
lakes like the Great Lakes
names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of
mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the
Matterhorn
names of continents (Asia, Europe)
names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island
chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands

Do use “the” before:






names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific
points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole
geographical areas: the Middle East, the West
deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the
Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula

5. Omission of Articles
Some common types of nouns that don't take an article are:
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.






Names of languages and nationalities: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian
(unless you are referring to the population of the nation: "The Spanish are
known for their warm hospitality.")
Names of sports: volleyball, hockey, baseball
Names of academic subjects: mathematics, biology, history, computer
science

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions: Fill in the blank with the appropriate article, a, an, or the, or leave
the space blank if no article is needed.
1. I want ____ apple from that basket.
2. ____ church on the corner is progressive.
3. Miss Lin speaks ____ Chinese.
4. I borrowed ____ pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.
5. One of the students said, "____ professor is late today."
6 Eli likes to play ____ volleyball.
7. I bought ____ umbrella to go out in the rain.
8. My daughter is learning to play ____ violin at her school.
9. Please give me ____ cake that is on the counter.
10. I lived on ____ Main Street when I first came to town.
11. Albany is the capital of ____ New York State.
12. My husband's family speaks ____ Polish.
13. ____ apple a day keeps the doctor away.
14. ____ ink in my pen is red.
15. Our neighbors have ____ cat and ____ dog.
Exercise 2:
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

Directions: Write the following paragraphs, inserting a, an, and the where
needed.
1. I have horse of my own. I call her Pretty Girl. She is intelligent animal, but
she is not thoroughbred horse. I could never enter her in race, even if I wanted
to. But I do not want to. She is companion, for my own pleasure. I took her
swimming day or two ago.
2. Horse knows when he is going to race. How does he know? His breakfast was

scanty. (He is angry about that.) He does not have saddle on his back. He is
being led, not ridden, to grandstand. He is led under grandstand into unusual,
special stall. Horse is nervous. Sometimes he does not know what to do when
starting gate flies open and track is before him. If he does not begin to run
instantly, other horses are already ahead of him. During race, when he sees
another horse just ahead of him, he will try to pass him. Sometimes jockey holds
him back to save his energy for last stretch. Eventually horse gets to run as fast
as he can.
Exercise boy, watching owner's favorite jockey riding horse he has exercised
day after day, says nothing. Secretly, he is planning for day when he will be
jockey himself, and his horse will be first to cross finish line.
3. Most people have fewer hours to give to time-consuming activities of clubs
than they used to have, but most people in small town belong to club or two.
One of clubs is likely to be social and benevolent organization, such as Rotary
or Elks. Business people are likely to belong, also to either Kiwanis Club or
Lions. Such business people's organizations may meet as often as once a week in
one of private dining rooms of town's leading hotel for lunch. They have good
lunch, hear good program, and continue their fundraising program for worthy
organization, such as local hospital.

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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

UNIT 3: PRONOUNS IN ENGLISH
A.

Definition:

 A pronoun usually refers to something already mentioned in a sentence or
piece of text. A pronoun is a word that substitutes a noun or noun phrase used to
prevent repetition of the noun to which they refer. One of the most common
pronouns is it.
B.
Rule for Pronouns

A pronoun must agree with the noun it refer. Therefore, if the noun is
singular, therefore the pronoun must be singular; if the noun is plural, use a
plural pronoun; if the noun is feminine, use a feminine pronoun, and so on.
For example:
The train was late, it had been delayed.
The trains were late, they had been delayed.
C.

Types of pronouns


English Pronouns are divided into sub-categories. These are
Demonstrative, Personal, Reflexive, Possessive, Interrogative, Negative,
Reciprocal, Relative and Quantifier
Type

About
Takes the place of a specific or named
Personal Pronoun
person or thing.
Reflexive
Adds information by pointing back to
Pronoun

a noun or another pronoun.
Demonstrative
Points out a specific person, place, or
Pronoun
thing.
Begins a subordinate clause and
Relative pronoun relates the clause to a word in the
main clause.
Interrogative
Is used to ask a question.
Pronoun
Possessive
Used to substitute a noun and to show
Pronoun
possession or ownership.
Negative
Pronoun
Reciprocal
Express an interchangeable or mutual
20

Example
I, you, he, she,
etc..
myself, yourself,
etc..
this, that, these,
those
who, whose,
which, that, etc..

who, what, where,
etc..
mine, yours, his,
etc..
nothing, no,
nobody, etc..
each other, one


Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

pronoun
Quantifier

I.

action or relationship.

another
some, any,
something, much,
etc.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS
1. Definition: Personal pronouns refer to the person who is doing the action
or to whom the action affects. In that way we distinguish two types of
personal pronouns: Personal "Subject Pronouns" and Personal "Object
Pronouns".
Personal Pronouns
Subject form

Object form
I
Me
You
You
He
Him
She
Her
It
It
We
Us
You
You
They
Them
2. Personal Subject Pronouns
We use the Personal Subject Pronouns to refer to the person who is doing
the action of the verb or the verb speaks about. A subjective personal
pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the
sentence.
- John is listening to music.
=> He listens to music every day.
* In this case, "he" substitutes "John" which is the subject of the
sentence.
- Are you the delegates from Paris?
- After many years, they returned to their homeland.
3. Personal Object Pronouns
 We use the Personal Object Pronouns to refer to the person whom the

action of the verbs affects. An objective personal pronoun indicates that
the pronoun is acting as an object of a verb, compound verb, preposition,
or infinitive phrase.
- Seamus stole the sulkies‟ skin and forced her to live with him.
* The objective personal pronoun "her" is the direct object of the verb
"forced" and the objective personal pronoun "him" is the object of the
preposition "with."
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

- Deborah and Roberta will meet us at the newest café in the market.
* Here the objective personal pronoun "us" is the direct object of the
compound verb "will meet."
- Christopher was surprised to see her at the drag races.
* Here the objective personal pronoun "her" is the object of the
infinitive phrase "to see."
 A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and changes its
form to indicate person, number, gender, and case.
4. Possessive Pronouns
 We use the Possessive Pronouns when we want to substitute a group of
words that are indicating a possession relation.
Subject Possessive
I
Mine
You
Yours
He
His

She
Hers
It
Its
We
Ours
You
Yours
They
Theirs
- This is my book.
* In this example, we can substitute "my book" for the possessive
pronoun "mine". => This is mine.
- This is your disk and that's mine.
* Mine substitutes the word disk and shows that it belongs to me.
 A possessive pronoun indicates it is acting as a subject complement or a
subject of the sentence.
- The smallest gift is mine.
This is yours.
* Here the possessive pronouns acts as a subject complement.
- His is on the kitchen counter.
Theirs will be delivered tomorrow.
Ours is the green one on the corner.
* Here the possessive pronoun acts as the subject of the sentence.
 Note: Possessive pronouns are very similar to possessive adjectives.
- You can borrow my book as long as you remember that it's not yours.
=> The possessive "my" depends on the noun "book."
=> The possessive "yours" is a pronoun which stands in the place of
"your book".
22

Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

- When you drive to Paris, will you take your car or theirs?
=> The possessive "your" depends on the noun "car."
=> The possessive pronoun, "theirs," stands in the place of the noun
phrase, "their car."
II.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
1. Definition:
 Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that point to specific things. "This,
that, these, those " are Demonstrative Pronouns that substitute nouns
when the nouns they replace can be understood from the context. At the
same time, to indicate whether they are close or far, in space or time, from
the speaker in the moment of speaking.
 They also indicate whether they are replacing singular or plural words.
Some grammars describe them as members of the class of function words
called "determiners", since they identify nouns and other nominals.
o
o

"This" (singular) and "These" (plural) refer to an object or person NEAR
the speaker.
"That" (singular) and "Those" (plural) refer to an object or person further
AWAY.
-

-

-

-

This is unbelievable.
* In this example, "this" can refer to an object or situation close in
space or in time to the speaker.
That is unbelievable.
* In this example, "that" can refer to an object or situation farther in
space or in time to the speaker.
These are unbelievable.
* In this example, "these" can refer to some objects close in space or in
time to the speaker.
Those are unbelievable.
* In this example, "those" can refer to some objects farther in space or
in time to the speaker.

2. Position





Before the noun.
Before the word 'one'.
Before an adjective + noun.
Alone when the noun is 'understood'
-

Who owns that house? (distant - physical )
Is this John's house? (near - physical )
That's nothing to do with me. (distant - psychological )
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

-

This is a nice surprise! (near - psychological )

III.

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
1. Definition:
 An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun used in order to ask a question.
Some of them refer only to people, like "who" and others refer to people
and objects, etc like "what".
 They do not distinguish between singular and plural, so they only have
one form. Interrogative pronouns produce information questions that
require more than a "yes" or "no" answer.
- What is her phone number?
- What do you want?
 Interrogative pronouns are: What, Which, Who, Whose, Whom. In
addition, these pronouns may take the suffixes -ever and -so ever.
2. Forms:
As we can see in the next table, these pronouns could act as a subject, object
or possessive in a sentence.
Subject

Who
Which
That

Object
whom

Possessive
whose

a. WHAT can be used to ask about objects or people.
For example:
-

What time is it?
What is your name?
What do you want?

b. WHICH can be used to ask about objects or people?
-

Which chair are you talking about?
Which jumper do you like?
Which is your mother?

c. WHO can be used to ask about people.
-

Who are you?
Which is your mother?

Who has been sitting in my chair?

d. WHOSE can be used to ask about a possession relation.
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Grammar 1// Compiled by Ngo Quynh Hoa, MA.

-

Whose is this book?
Whose car did you drive here?

 WHOM can be used to ask about people. It is less usual and more formal
than "who"
For example:
-

Whom did you phone?
For whom will you vote?

 NOTE: Either "which" or "what" can also be used as an interrogative
adjective, and that "who," "whom," or "which" can also be used as a relative
pronoun.
-

The man whom she chose will do a wonderful job.
Who is in charge?
Which wants to see the dentist first?
Who wrote the novel Rockbound?

Whom do you think we should invite?
What did she say?

IV. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
1.
Definition: We use the relative pronouns to refer to a noun mentioned
before and of which we are adding more information. They are used to join two
or more sentences and forming in that way what we call "relative sentences".
Relative pronouns
Who, Whom, That,
Which
whoever,
whomever,
whichever
-

2.

People who speak two languages are called bilingual.
* In this example, the relative "who" introduces the relative sentence
"speak two languages" that describes or gives more information about the
noun "people".
Relative pronouns: Subject or Object

 As the relative pronouns relate to another noun preceding it in the sentence,
they connect a dependent clause to an antecedent (a noun that precedes the
pronoun.) Therefore, relative pronouns act as the subject or object of the
dependent clause.
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