Collins Cobuild English Grammar (173 page)

Andrew found an old camera in a rubbish bin.
He
cleaned
it
up and used
it
to win several photography awards.
Tom and Jo are back from Australia. In fact I saw
them
in town the other day.
They
were buying clothes.
I held
her
very close. My cheek was against
hers
.

Personal pronouns
are explained in paragraphs
1.95
to
1.106
.
Possessive pronouns
are explained in paragraphs
1.107
to
1.110
.

There are also other pronouns that can be used to refer back. These include pronouns such as
another
and
many
which have the same form as indefinite determiners. These are explained in paragraph
1.154
.

…programs that tell the computer to do one thing rather than
another
.

You can also use a
quantity expression
or a
cardinal number
.

The women were asked to leave.
Some
of them refused.
These soldiers were ready for anything.
Many
of them had already been involved in fighting. …the Guatemalan earthquake which killed 24,000 people and injured
77,000
.

Quantity expressions
are explained in paragraphs
2.175
to
2.207
.
Numbers
are explained in paragraphs
2.208
to
2.231
.

determiners

10.4
     Another common way of referring back to something is to use a
definite determiner
such as
the
or
its
in front of a noun.

A man and a woman were walking up
the
hill.
The
man wore shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals.
The
woman wore a blue dress.
Thanks, said Brody. He hung up, turned out the light in
his
office, and walked out to
his
car.

Definite determiners
are explained in paragraphs
1.162
to
1.212
.

Some
indefinite determiners
can also be used to refer back to something.

A dog was running around in the yard. Soon
another
dog appeared.

Here is a list of indefinite determiners that are used to refer back to something:

another

both

each

either

every

neither

other

These are explained fully in paragraphs
1.223
to
1.250
.

10.5
     As indicated above, pronouns and determiners used to refer back are explained in
Chapter 1
, where other pronouns and determiners are explained.

The
demonstratives
this
and
that
are often used to refer back to whole sentences and sections of text. These uses are set out in the following section (paragraphs
10.7
to
10.17
). The same section also explains other words that are used to refer back in a specific way.

other ways of referring back

10.6
     There are also several other ways of referring back to something that has already been mentioned. These involve

the use of various nouns to refer back to sections of text

These are explained in paragraphs
10.18
to
10.23
.

the use of
so
and
not
as substitutes for several types of word or structure that you want to avoid repeating

This use of
so
and
not
is explained in paragraphs
10.24
to
10.27
.

the use of
such
, adjectives, and adverbs to make comparisons with things that have already been mentioned.

This is explained in paragraphs
10.28
to
10.39
.

Referring back in a specific way

demonstratives referring to things

10.7
     
This
and
that
, and the plural forms
these
and
those
, are used to refer back clearly to a thing or fact that has just been mentioned.

They can be used both as pronouns and as determiners.

More and more money is being pumped into the educational system, and we assume
this
will continue.
I did a parachute jump a few months ago.
This
event was a lot more frightening than I had anticipated.

Note that
this
and
that
are not very often used as pronouns to refer to people. When they are used like this, they are only used in front of the verb
be
.

‘A kind young man helped me to my seat.’ – ‘
That
was John.’

10.8
     When you use
this
or
these
, you are linking yourself with the thing you are referring to.

After you’ve decided on your goals, make a list. Anything that is worth doing should go on
this
list.
Only small trees are left. Many of
these
are twisted and stunted.
Over 2 million animals were destroyed. The vast majority of
these
animals did not need to die.

In contrast, when you use
that
or
those
, you are distancing yourself slightly from the thing you are referring to.

There’s a lot of material there. You can use some of
that
.
There’s one boss and
that
boss is in France.
There were only strangers around to observe him, and not many of
those
.

10.9
     Although
this
and
that
are singular pronouns, you can use them to refer back to a number of things or facts that have just been mentioned, instead of using a plural pronoun.

He’s got a terrible temper, but despite all
this
he’s very popular.
He had played rugby at school, and had briefly been a professional footballer.
That
was to his favour when the job came up later.

demonstratives referring to sentences

10.10
   Demonstratives can also be pronouns or determiners that refer back to a whole sentence or a number of sentences.

‘You’re the new doctor, aren’t you?’ – ‘
That
’s right.’
‘I’ll think about it,’ said Mum.
That
statement was the end of most of their discussions.
I accept neither of
these
arguments.

Note that when
these
and
those
are pronouns referring back to a whole statement they are only used in front of the verb
be
.

It was hard for me to believe
these
were his real reasons for wanting to get rid of me.
She put her arms around him. Thanks, Ollie.
Those
were her last words.

previous

10.11
   You can also use the adjective
previous
before a noun to refer back to a section of text.

As explained in the
previous
paragraph, the bottle needs only to be washed in cold water.
I think we can now answer the question posed at the end of the
previous
chapter.

above

10.12
   In written English you can also refer to what you have just mentioned by using
above
. You can put
above
before or after the noun.

I have not been able to validate the
above
statement.
…the figures discussed in the paragraph
above
.

You can also use
the above
without a noun phrase after it.

Keep supplies of rice and spaghetti. Also, to go with
the above
, Parmesan cheese and tins of tomatoes.

former
and
latter

10.13
   When you have just referred separately to two things or groups of things, you can refer to the first one as
the former
and the second one as
the latter
. These expressions are used mainly in formal written English.

It used to be said that the oil exporting countries depended on the oil importing countries just as much as
the latter
depended on
the former
.
I could do one of two things–obey him, or get my own protection. I chose
the latter
.