Pronouns (ProN) and Pronoun Phrases (ProNP)

This chapter discusses pronouns and pronoun phrases. Pronouns are a closed class of function words that stand in the place of a complete noun phrase or other nominal and may function in the same ways as noun phrases and other nominals. A pronoun must have a referent within the discourse, within shared knowledge or experience, or within the shared physical context of the speaker or writer and their audience. Some pronoun forms are marked for case (nominative; objective; possessive), number (singular; plural), person (first; second; third), gender (masculine; feminine; neuter; gender neutral), and animateness (animate; inanimate). Indefinite pronouns are the only sub-class that routinely can take both modifiers and determiners (e.g. a large one with sprinkles ). Despite their similarities, possessive pronouns (e.g. mine ) should not be confused with possessive determiners (e.g. my ). Because there are so many irregularities in the White Mainstream English pronoun system, it is one of the portions of English grammar with the most diverse and distinctive range of forms, as speakers of different varieties strive to regularize possessive pronouns (e.g. mines ), reflexive pronouns (e.g. hisself ), and the plural of you (e.g. y’all ; youse ).