It indicates non-persons or certain situations, mentioned in the previous context (E.g. Some were dancing, some tried to sing. A big man, bottle in hand, lay by the armchair. Clouds or smoke hung under the ceiling. Suddenly I felt sick of it all).
Besides its anaphoric use, it is also used with demonstrative force when preceding the words it points to (E.g. It’s my husband. It’s Mary. It was a red rose).
It may also have the force of a purely formal element of the sentence, as the formal subject or object devoid of any lexical meaning. Its function is to point to the real subject or object which comes after the predicate and is expressed either by an infinitive (an infinitive phrase) or by a gerund (a gerundial phrase), or else by a clause. (E.g. It was nice to stop here. It was useless trying to see him. It was clear to everybody that she was not well. May I take it that you will keep your word?)
When it refers to the predicative (or any part in this position) it selves as means of producing emphasis: the word in the predicative position becomes prominent and therefore becomes the information focus of the sentence: (E.g. It was he who did it. Именно он это сделал. (Как раз он это сделал). It was there that we met. Именно там мы встретились. (Там-то мы и встретились). It was to this room that Soames went. Именно в эту комнату пошел Соме).
The Impersonal Pronoun It
It functions as a purely structural element -the subject of impersonal sentences describing various states of nature and environment, or things, time, measure, or distance, etc., as in (E.g. It was raining; It was cold that day; It’s spring already; It’s 10 o’clock; It’s still sixty miles to the river).
Possessive Pronouns
They indicate possession by persons (my, mine, your, yours, their, theirs) or non-persons (its, their, theirs). They comprise two sets of forms: the conjoint forms - my, your, his, her, our, their, which always combine with nouns and premodify them as attributes and the absolute forms - mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs, which do not combine with nouns, but function as their substitutes. Thus, they may be adjective-pronouns when used as conjoint forms and noun-pronouns when used as absolute forms. There is no absolute form corresponding to the pronoun it.
Both conjoint and absolute forms may function with reference to persons and non-persons; pointing back (with anaphorical force) and forward (with anticipatory force). (E.g. My friends are waiting for me. I liked this house and its wonderful garden. Where are the dogs? — Mine is under the table. The coat isn't mine, it’s yours. Hers was a wonderful room).
A peculiarity of the English language is that possessive pronouns, not the article, are used with reference to parts of the body, personal belongings, relatives, etc. (E.g. I raised my eyebrows. He rose up and put his hands in his small pockets. Where are you going to spend your leave? I can’t see my way ahead).
Reflexive Pronouns
Indicate identity between the person or non-person they denote and that denoted by the subject of the sentence. They are: myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, structurally derived either from the possessive pronouns (myself, yourself, ourselves, yourselves), or from personal pronouns (himself, herself, itself, themselves); the pronoun oneself is derived from the indefinite pronoun one.
Reflexive pronouns derived from possessive and personal pronouns have the categories of person, number, and gender in the 3d person singular only. The generalising reflexive pronoun oneself has none of these.
(E.g. Oh, I can do it myself. He felt himself grow hot to the roots of his hair).
If these are several homogeneous subjects denoting different persons including the 1st, the 1st person plural reflexive is used: (e.g. You, mother, and I must now think about ourselves ). If there is no 1st person, the 2nd person plural reflexive is used: (e.g. You and mother must now think of yourselves ).
If the subject is the indefinite pronoun one, the corresponding reflexive is use (E.g. One must not deceive oneself. If the subject is expressed by any other indefinite pronoun himself or themselves is used: Has anybody hurt himself?)
The most common functions of the reflexive pronouns are those of an apposition and objects (direct, indirect, prepositional) (E.g.Cedric himself knew nothing whatever about it.) (apposition) I have all kinds of beautiful sentiments myself. (apposition)I learned to dress myself many years ago. (direct object)
“How well you talk,” said the Miller’s wife pouring herself a large glass of warm ale. (indirect object) She talks only about herself. (prepositional object))
Less common are the functions of the subject, predicative, attribute, and adverbial modifiers: (E.g.My wife and myself welcome you, sir.) (subject) In some minutes she became herself again. (predicative )She showed me a large picture of herself as a bride. (attribute) My brother was a Robbins like myself. (adverbial modifier of comparison) He lived in a tiny cottage all by himself. (adverbial modifier of manner))
Reciprocal Pronouns
Indicate a mutual relationship between two or more than two persons, or occasionally non-persons (each other, one another) who are at the same time the doer and the object of the same action. Thus, they loved each other means that the doer A loved the object В and at the same time the doer В loved the object A.
The pronoun each other generally implies that only two persons are involved, one another usually being preferred when more than two persons are involved.
Both of them are composite words and have only one grammatical category - the category of case (each other’s, one another’s).
Reciprocal pronouns in their common case form function as objects (E.g.Now they hate each other. They often quarrelled with one another).
The possessive case forms are used as attributes: (E.g. They stood silent, in each other’s arms).
Demonstrative Pronouns
Point to persons or non-persons or their properties: this (these), that (those), such. The first two of them have the category of number. This (these) and that (those) function both as noun-pronouns and adjective-pronouns; such functions only as an adjective-pronoun:
| This is my brother Rob. That is very kind of you. | (noun-pronouns) |
| Thishouse is too large just for one person. She issuch a silly little tiring. | (adjective-pronouns) |
The general demonstrative meaning of this (these) is of relatively near reference in time or space, while that (those) implies distant reference in time or space. Both of them are commonly used anaphorically, pointing to things, persons, or situations denoted in the preceding context, as in the following examples with this and that: (E.g. He tried the door. This did not yield. A tall blonde came forward. This was the barman’s wife. “I often wondered how you were getting on.” –“ That was very kind of you.”)
Sometimes, however, these pronouns may be used with anticipatory force, pointing to something new, or something still to come (E.g. I know this – you’re a traitor. This time I'll win. I’ve never seen this dress of yours).
When used with words denoting periods of time (a day and its parts, week, month, year, century) the pronoun this implies that these periods include the moment of speaking (E.g. This year he is going abroad. I had no breakfast this morning. I haven’t seen her this week).
When used with the words town, country, government the pronoun this implies ones in which the speaker lives or is staying at the moment of speaking. Phrases like in this town, in this country, this government, etc., should be translated into Russian by the actual names of the town or country as in the following:
(E.g. Englishman: I do like this country - Я очень люблю Англию)
or by a possessive pronoun: (E.g. Я очень люблю свою (нашу) страну.)
The pronoun that (those) pointing to something relatively remote in space or time may refer to something already known or past (E.g. Do you see that red roof over there? That’s my house. Oh! that was a sad mistake).
That (those) can be used either as a noun-substitute or as a sentence-substitute.
(E.g. The perfume of the rose is more subtle that that of the lily).
Syntactically the pronouns this and that can be subject, predicative, object, or attribute.
(E.g. This was my old dear car again. His story was like that. Do you remember this? The woods are so beautiful at this time of year).
When used as attributes both this and that exclude the use of the article. The pronoun such points to a certain quality in things, persons, or situations. It is more often used anaphorically, although can also be used in its anticipatory function.
(E.g. I like such little towns as this. He could not love her. Such was everyone’s verdict. You can buy there such things as buns, sausage rolls, and plum cakes.)
Such never precedes the definite article, though it often occurs with the indefinite one, which is placed after such. (E.g. I’ve never seen such a beauty).
