Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Here are the different types of pronoun in the English language.
Subject Pronouns
Subject pronouns replace the noun that is the subject of the sentence.
He would like to sit down.
They are not happy with their meal.
That building is so big it blocks the sun.
She hadn't thought about how many people would be coming to dinner.
We willen graag aan een tafel bij het raam zitten.
Object Pronouns
Object pronouns replace the noun that is the object of the sentence.
Kom met ons naar de bioscoop.
Breng haar naar het ziekenhuis als ze ziek is
Amelia zal het niet mee naar huis nemen.
Je vriend wil met je spelen.
Vertel hem dat ik heb bedankt.
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns replace nouns as either the subject or the object of a sentence.
Die fiets is niet van haar.
His one is not the same.
Theirs is the green one.
That’s mine!
The red house is ours.
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject of the sentence is the same as the object of the verb in the sentence.
She hurt herselfplaying tennis.
They can cook for themselves this weekend
He blamed himself for the accident.
You can show yourself out.
Intensive Pronouns
These pronouns emphasize the subject. An intensive pronoun is different from a reflexive pronoun because it can be removed without altering the meaning of the sentence.
The President himself ordered them to stop.
The event itself went really well.
The lawyers themselves couldn't even figure it out.
We would love to make all of the arrangements ourselves.
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, amount, or thing. They are placed in the same position in a sentence that nouns take.
| Everyone | He told everyone to take out their pens. |
| Everybody | Everybody needs to take a holiday once in a while. |
| overal | Ze zochten overal naar de verloren kat. |
| Alles | Ik deed alles wat ik kon maar het was niet genoeg. |
| Someone | Is er iemand die me kan helpen? |
| Iemand | Iemand heeft zijn tas laten liggen. |
| Somewhere | Laten we ergens leuks naar toe gaan dit weekend. |
| Something | Hij liet iets vallen toen hij naar buiten liep. |
| Anyone | Iedereen kan een nieuwe taal leren met LingQ |
| iedereen | Heeft iemand hier zijn Eerste Hulp? |
| Someone | Is er iemand die me kan helpen? |
| Iemand | Iemand heeft zijn tas laten liggen. |
| Somewhere | Laten we ergens leuks naar toe gaan dit weekend. |
| Something | Hij liet iets vallen toen hij naar buiten liep. |
| Anyone | Iedereen kan een nieuwe taal leren met LingQ. |
| iedereen | Heeft iemand hier zijn Eerste Hulp? |
| Anywhere | Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back. |
| Anything | Do you have anything you want to say to me? |
| No one | Sorry, no one here is interested. |
| Niemand | Nobody wants to eat here, let’s go somewhere else. |
| Nergens | I have nowhere to go. |
| Nothing | There is nothing to do here, it's so boring. |
Vragen
Questions are formed when we use indefinite pronouns with the words "every", "some", and "any". The answer to these questions is usually "yes" or "no".
Heeft iedereen al gegeten?
Heeft u iets interessants gedaan vandaag?
Is hij overal geweest waar hij heen moest gaan?
Negative Questions
These questions can be made negative by using the following structure. The expected answer to these questions is "no".
Didn’t everyone eat already?
Heeft u niets interessants gedaan vandaag?
Hasn’t he been everywhere he needed to go?
Questions with the indefinite pronoun "some" can be made negative in the following way. The expected answer to these kinds of questions is "yes".
Aren’t you looking for something like this?
Don’t I know you from somewhere?
Shouldn’t somebody be watching the children?
Wouldn’t someone like to try these cakes?