Pronouns

Pronouns

Read clear grammar explanations and example sentences to help you understand how pronouns are used. Then, put your grammar knowledge into practice by doing the exercises.  

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So this means ( without / in case / in case of ) for all the 3 conditionals But for ..for 2nd and 3rd Without your help, I wouldn't have done it ..this means I did it cause you helped me cause it's something in the past and if I say without your help, I won't do it ans this one means if you don't help me I won't do it so..how can the 2nd one ( I wouldn't do it ) Has a present or future result ? I still don't get it.i mean 2nd condition is used to talk about improbable situations or imaginary so how could it has a different meaning than example 1 ? Last thing can you give me 1 example in which we use in case ( of ) with 3rd or 2nd condition cause I can't use it in the past

Submitted by Adya's on Thu, 29/03/2018 - 07:12

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Hi I couldn't find an appropriate section to submit this question, so I am putting it here, with the request that please respond to it. Of the following two, which one is correct? 1. Neither did he come nor sent any gifts. 2. Neither did he come nor send any gifts. Thanks Sanjay
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Submitted by Peter M. on Thu, 29/03/2018 - 08:57

In reply to by Adya's

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Hi Adaya's,

If you want to use the inverted emphatic form then the second sentence is correct. The form 'send' is used because inversion is used in both halves but the auxiliary is omitted to avoid repetiton:

Neither did he come nor (did he) send any gifts.

 

This is a very formal structure used for rhetorical effect. A more common way to say this would be as follows:

He neither came nor sent any gifts.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by uchiha itache on Sun, 25/03/2018 - 23:44

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Electric or electrical ? I am very confused and I never know when to use any of them Why is it called and electric car and it is called electrical devices/goods/equipment?!

Hello uchiha itache,

Both words are adjectives but there is a difference in meaning.

Electric describes things that are powered by electricity, so we can talk about electric cars, electric toothbrushes, electric guitars and electric motors.

Electrical describes things that are related to electricity in some way, so we can talk about electrical engineering, electrical faults and electrical connectors.

However, note that there is a lot of overlap in how these are used. I think in modern English the distinction is eroding so you can find examples where they are used interchangeably (e.g. you can find both electric circuits and electrical circuits).

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Ellenna on Sat, 24/03/2018 - 15:19

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Hello. I've heard that it's not correct to use "to be going to go", but I met in some books this combination. So, is it wrong to say "Where are you going to go on your next vacation?", and I need to say "Where are you going on your next vacation?", or both are possible? Could you help me with this please. Thank you.

Hello Ellenna,

Grammatically speaking there is nothing wrong with 'going to go'. Because it repeats 'go' some people consider it to be a stylistically inelegant or clumsy and prefer to use 'going to'. However, there is nothing linguistically wrong with 'going to go'. It is purely a question of style and personal preference.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by SonuKumar on Thu, 22/03/2018 - 10:11

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Sir, Could you please suggest me something that teaches how to pronounce the second N third form of verb because there are some verbs which are a little hard to pronounce ? We, in India, make a vegetable with potatoes, peas and carrots. I want to know if you also make it in your contruy if yes, then in which sequence do you call this vegetable's name, I mean what is the collocation for it ?

Hello SonuKumar,

You can find pronunication examples in most online dictionaries, such as this one.

I'm not sure what you mean by your second question. Do you mean a meal made with potatoes, peas and carrots? If so, that is how we would say it. Each of those is an example of a vegetable.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Imran 26 on Sat, 17/03/2018 - 08:31

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Sir, I want to learn English Tenses with British Council, unfortunately I couldn't find any section in the page of this site. Please let me know if there any page or section available for the Tenses of English Grammar.
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Sat, 17/03/2018 - 16:08

In reply to by Imran 26

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Hi Imran,

Tenses are a property of verbs, so you can find out more about them in the Verbs section. Although there is no section for the future, you can find out about the different forms we use to talk about the future on the talking about the future page.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by JenA on Thu, 15/03/2018 - 12:51

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"Budapest, ... is located near the Danube, is a very beautiful city." Is it which or where? Please also give an explanation to why.

Hello JenA,

'which' is the correct answer here. 'where' can be used in situations where you could say 'at which', but that doesn't work here because the relative pronoun is acting as the subject of the clause.

You can learn more about relative clauses on this and this page.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by uchiha itache on Thu, 15/03/2018 - 12:43

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Do we call it a lost treasure or a missing treasure? What I understand is, lost treasure is a treasure in a lost ship ( it's called lost cause no one knows its place ) but a missing one means that someone found a lost ship and didn't find the treasure in it so it's missing ( cause it's not in the place where it's expected to be ) Am I right or not? I'm not really sure

Hello uchiha itache,

What you explain makes sense to me, but for the general public I don't think there is a big difference between 'lost' or 'missing' treasure, as most of us don't really encounter treasures. This Wikipedia entry uses both adjectives separated by 'or', which suggests there may be some difference, but it's not clear to me exactly what that might be.

In any case, unless you're speaking to a group of specialist treasure-hunters, either would probably be fine. I'd probably go with 'lost'.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by uchiha itache on Wed, 14/03/2018 - 08:49

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Hello! I want to know the difference between seem and seem to be . I'm confused I read a sentence in practical English usage saying ( he seem older than he is and it also said that it would be wrong if u used here (seem to be) because it would suggest that he is really older than he is) but I read on Cambridge saying ( he is 16, bet he seems (to be) younger than he is ) which is right and how can I differ between them?
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Submitted by Peter M. on Thu, 15/03/2018 - 07:10

In reply to by uchiha itache

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Hello uchiha itache,

Both seem and seem to can be used to describe our impression, which may or may not be correct. For example:

She seems intelligent.

She seems intelligent but she is really quite stupid.

She seems to be intelligent.

She seems to be intelligent but she is really quite stupid.

 

 

He seems to be older than he is.

This sentence is not incorrect but it requires a context in which we are still not completely sure about the answer. For example, you might say this if a person claims to be 18 but you find some information which suggests that he is really 23. By using seems to be you show that you are still not 100% certain of the truth. By contrast, if you are completely certain of the person's age then you would say use be:

He is older than he seems.

He is older than he claims.

He is older than he says

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks a lot . I do get it better but there's still something I don't understand You said we use both both seem and seem to be to describe our impression. And you also gave me same examples with both of them. Does this mean they're exactly the same? I read that seem is used for subjective impressions and seem to be is used for objective facts..but actually I don't know what both of them ( subjective and objective ) mean . The boy seems older than he is The boy seems to be older than he is They are used to give exactly the same meaning?? One last thing is...is it fine to say it seems like it's going to rain instead of it looks like it's going to rain? If so, please tell me if there's a difference in the meaning .

Hello uchiha itache,

I don't think there is a fixed difference between seem and seems to be. I think there is a tendencey to use seem to be when there is some kind of supporting evidence (documents, another person's information etc), but I don't think this is fixed.

With regard to your other question I don't think there is any difference between seem and think in this context. Both could be used when looking at the sky and both could be used when reading a weather forecast.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by souba73 on Tue, 13/03/2018 - 12:29

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Hi, Kindly help me to fill in the blank: Each boy & each girl got ............... dues. 1.His 2.her 3.his/her 4.their 5. none of this
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Submitted by souba73 on Wed, 21/03/2018 - 12:55

In reply to by souba73

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Dear Teachers, Could you kindly reply to my query?

Hello souba73,

Sorry about that! We usually ask that our users tell us what they think the answer is, and why, but here I'll just tell you the answer. The correct answer is 4.

In the future, though, please explain to us what you think the answer is.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by sofyan33 on Tue, 13/03/2018 - 04:55

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Hi British Council, My company wants to hold an english course for employees. Can you help us, how to list courses here?

Submitted by uchiha itache on Mon, 12/03/2018 - 18:42

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Do we say ( I miss you ) or ( I missed you ) ?! And if both are right, please tell me everything they could mean

Hello uchiha itache,

Both are possible. 'Miss' is a present form and we would use it if we are still missing the person. 'Missed' is a past form and we would use it if the missing was true in the past but is not true now (perhaps because the person we missed has returned).

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Md.Habibullah on Thu, 08/03/2018 - 01:50

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Sir, What kind of verb we usually should take after "who"? Is there any certain dictation?
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Thu, 08/03/2018 - 07:04

In reply to by Md.Habibullah

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Hi Md.Habibullah,

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any restrictions on the kind of verb that can follow 'who'. Did you have something specific in mind?

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by awahab on Tue, 06/03/2018 - 17:54

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Hi Kirk and Habibullah, Should it be not? "He is among the few who wants to continue working on the project."

Hello awahab,

'the few' is the plural subject of the verb 'want'. 'wants' is a singular form, so it is not correct. The correct form is the plural form 'want'.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Ellenna on Sat, 03/03/2018 - 20:22

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Hi. I would be happy if you explain to me the difference between "help me" and "help me out". I've been trying to figure it out by reading definitions in dictionaries, but there aren't many explanations and examples.

Hi Ellenna,

'Help' by itself has a very general meaning. 'Help out' means either to do part of someone's work or task or to participate in a common effort, or else to give someone money.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by learnEnglish_SFE on Sat, 03/03/2018 - 19:47

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Really Britshcouncil is the best to learn and improve our skills
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Submitted by Imran 26 on Fri, 23/02/2018 - 11:14

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Hello Sir, Would you let me know the difference between Passage & Paragraph? I had appear in examination few years ago there was a question like that " Make a summery of below passage".
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Sat, 24/02/2018 - 10:41

In reply to by Imran 26

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Hello Imran 26,

When a writer writes a narrative text, they divide it into sections such as sentences, paragraphs and chapters. The writer is the one who makes the divisions between the different sections.

A passage is a piece of a text that someone else has taken out of the text. For example, perhaps your English teacher takes just a sentence or two from a story you read in class. The writer didn't intend for those couple of sentences to stand alone -- it's your teacher who chose them, not the writer.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Imran 26 on Mon, 19/02/2018 - 09:06

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Hello Sir, In Pakistan when we talk about Grammar in English, The Grammar books writer make a content in their English Grammar Books for new learns are Parts of Speech, then Tenses, then narrations and after that active/passive voice. They says there are 8 Parts of Speech as Noun,Pronoun,Adjective, Adverb,Preposition,conjections and Interjection. sir, is the above sequence for new learner in English Grammar are correct? do you think native speakers also follow this sequence for English Grammar?
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Mon, 19/02/2018 - 13:52

In reply to by Imran 26

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Hello Imran 26,

This is an interesting question. There are lots of different ideas on how to teach grammar and it's also important to consider what the learners' background is. For example, do the students already speak English and are just learning the grammar?

I'm afraid these are all issues that we don't really get involved in here on LearnEnglish. On our sister site, TeachingEnglish, though, I'm sure you could find some interesting discussion of this topic -- for example, searching for 'teaching grammar', I found this page on how to teach grammar.

I hope this helps you.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Md.Habibullah on Sun, 18/02/2018 - 13:57

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He is among the few who want to continue working on the project. Sir,is there any grammatical error?

Hello Md.Habibullah,

That sentence is grammatically correct -- good work!

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Imran 26 on Sat, 17/02/2018 - 07:55

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I would like to say thanks to British council for provide us such an amazing plat form where we can learn English in congenial environment and special thanks to Sir, Kirk & Sir, Peter and all the team of British Council they are ready to help us and teach us with and amazing way. I truly say that their teacher are really caring, kind and too sincere with us. Thank you all of you.

Hello Imran 26,

Thank you for your lovely comment. It's nice to know we're helping people!

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Ellenna on Wed, 14/02/2018 - 20:13

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Could you help me with the following, please: When you write a formal letter, can you open it like "Dear Mr Robert Smith" or it should be "Dear Mr Smith". Thank you.

Hello Ellenna,

In a formal letter you should avoid using the addressee's first name in this way. In other words, you should use 'Dear Mr Smith', not 'Dear Mr Robert Smith'.

One exception to this is when you don't know the addressee's gender, though in this case you don't use the title. For example, the name 'Jordan' is commonly given to both boys and girls in English, so if you needed to write to 'Jordan Smith' and didn't know their gender, you could say 'Dear Jordan Smith'. Note that it's not 'Dear Mr Jordan Smith'.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

 

Submitted by SonuKumar on Mon, 12/02/2018 - 07:17

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Sir, I have enough money I have enough of the money They used 10 percent eggs They used 10 percent of the eggs I have more personnel I have more of the personnel I think these are interchangeable and two different ways of writing the same thing isn't it or is there any difference in them ?
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Submitted by Peter M. on Mon, 12/02/2018 - 07:51

In reply to by SonuKumar

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Hello SonuKumar,

The use of 'the' here is no different to the use of 'the' elsewhere. It tells us that we are talking about a particular set or group of items, not about something in general.

I have enough money (general)

I have enough of the money (which we brought with us)

 

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Imran 26 on Mon, 12/02/2018 - 05:34

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Sir, 1-Price List for Self-finance materials/Price List of Self-finance materials. What is the correct preposition here for/of?
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Submitted by Peter M. on Mon, 12/02/2018 - 07:52

In reply to by Imran 26

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Hello Imran 26,

There is no fixed rule for this but I would say 'for' is the most natural choice.

 

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team