Collins Cobuild English Grammar (24 page)

Read Collins Cobuild English Grammar Online

Authors: Collins

BOOK: Collins Cobuild English Grammar

12.99Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

some

Like all noun phrases, they can be used as the subject, direct object, or indirect object of a clause, or the object of a preposition.

Both
were offered jobs immediately.
Children? I don’t think she has
any
.
I saw one girl whispering to
another
.

1.155
Although
a
,
an
,
every
, and
no
are indefinite determiners, they cannot stand alone as pronouns.

To refer back to a noun phrase that includes the determiner
a
or
an
, you can use the pronoun
one
. Similarly, you use
each
to refer back to a noun phrase that includes
every
, and
none
to refer back to a noun phrase that includes
no
.

Note that
another
and
others
are pronouns, but
other
cannot be a pronoun.

all
,
both
, and
each
for emphasis

1.156

All
,
both
, and
each
can be used in addition to nouns or personal pronouns for emphasis, in a similar way to the use of
reflexive pronouns
described in paragraphs
1.116
to
1.118
.

The brothers
all
agreed that something more was needed.
He loved them
both
.
Ford and Duncan
each
had their chances.

They come after an auxiliary verb, a modal, or
be
.

They
were both
still working at their universities.
The letters
have all
been signed.
The older children
can all
do the same things together.

Each
can also come at the end of the clause.

Three others were fined £200
each
.

numbers

1.157

Numbers
can also be pronouns. For example, the answer to the question
How many children do you have
? is usually
Three
rather than
Three children
.

‘How many people are there?’ – ‘
Forty-five
.’
Of the other women,
two
are dancers.
They bought eight companies and sold off
five
.

For more information on numbers, see paragraphs
2.213
to
2.231
.

other pronouns

1.158
The number
one
is a special case. Like other numbers, it is sometimes used to refer to one of a group of things.

One
is also used to refer back to a noun phrase with the determiner
a
.

Could I have a bigger
one
, please?

It can also be used for emphasis after another determiner.

There are systems of communication right through the animal world;
each one
is distinctive.

One
can be used as a
personal pronoun
. This use is explained in paragraph
1.121
.

1.159
Note that
the one
and
the ones
can be used to refer to a noun alone, rather than to the whole of the noun phrase. They are nearly always used with a modifier such as an adjective, or some form of information after the noun, such as a prepositional phrase.

‘Which poem? – ‘
The one
they were talking about yesterday.’
There are three bedrooms. Mine is
the one
at the back.
He gave the best seats to
the ones
who arrived first.

1.160
You use
the other
,
the others
,
others
, or
another
to refer to different members of a group of things or people.

Some writers are greater than
others
.
One runner was way ahead of all
the others
.

1.161
If you want to say something about a member of a group of people or things you can use
one
. You can then refer to the rest of the group as
the others
.

The bells are carefully installed so that disconnecting one will have no effect on
the others
.
They had three little daughters,
one
a baby,
the others
twins of twelve.

You use
the one
and
the other
to refer to each of a pair of things.

The same factors push wages and prices up together,
the one
reinforcing
the other
.

If you do not wish to specify exactly which of a group you are talking about, you refer to
one or other
of them.

It may be that
one or other
of them had fears for their health.

Definite and indefinite determiners

1.162
In English, there are two main ways in which you can use a
noun phrase
. You can use it to refer to someone or something, knowing that the person you are speaking to understands which person or thing you are talking about.

The man
began to run towards
the boy
.
Young people don’t like
these operas
.
Thank you very much for
your comments
.
…a visit to
the Houses of Parliament
.

Alternatively, you can use a noun phrase to refer to someone or something of a particular type, without saying which person or thing you mean.

There was
a man
in the lift.
I wish I’d bought
an umbrella
.
Any doctor
would say she didn’t know what she was doing.

In order to distinguish between these two ways of using a noun phrase, you use a special class of words called
determiners
. There are two types of determiner,
definite determiners
and
indefinite determiners
. You put them at the beginning of a noun phrase.

Using the definite determiner
the

1.163

The
is the most common definite determiner; it is sometimes called the
definite article
.

This
,
that
,
these
, and
those
are often called
demonstratives
or
demonstrative adjectives
. For more information on these, see paragraphs
1.184
to
1.193
.

My
,
your
,
his
,
her
,
its
,
our
and
their
are
possessive determiners
. They are also sometimes called
possessive adjectives
or just
possessives
. For more information about these, see paragraphs
1.194
to
1.210
.

Here is the list of definite determiners:

the

~

this

that

these

those

~

my

your

his

her

its

our

their

Note that in English you cannot use more than one definite determiner before a noun.

1.164
Because
the
is the most common definite determiner, you can put
the
in front of any common noun.

She dropped
the can
into
the grass
.
The girls
were not in
the house
.

In these examples, the use of
the can
means that a can has already been mentioned;
the grass
is definite because it has already been stated that
she
is outside, and the presence of grass may also have been stated or is presumed;
the girls
, like
the can
, must have been mentioned before; and
the house
means the one where the girls were staying at the time.

pronouncing
the