Pronouns

Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. We often use them to avoid repeating the nouns that they refer to. Pronouns have different forms for the different ways we use them.

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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Hello, dear teacher!!! Please, could you explain this simole sentence for me: I'm sorry but she's just kind of lost interest in buying the car. In this sentence where "she's" is "s" of has or is? and is "lost" participle or past simple(verb or adjective)? What elemet do normally follows after "kind of", i mean verb, adjective, noun?

Hello Yerlan,

In your sentence she's is a contracted form of she has. The verb lost is a past participle. Together this forms the present perfect (she's lost = she has lost), which is used because the action took place in the recent past and has a result which is relevant now (she owns a new car).

Kind of is a very flexible phrase and can be used before many different types of word:

He's kind of nice. [before an adjective]

He kind of ran away. [before a verb]

It's kind of a family tradition. [before a noun]

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Kirk, thank you a lot.

Hello dear team, Please see these sentences. Are they true grammatically? A court is a place where people play tennis. That is the race which millions of people watch. 1992 is the year when the Olympics were held in Barcelona. You will never forget the day when you were born. Thank you

Hello Hosseinpour

Those are all fine -- good work!

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, I'd very much like me a shoutout on the Radio. I'd very much like a shoutout for me on the Radio. Or I'd very much like myself a shoutout on the Radio. I'd very much like a shoutout for myself on the Radio. Which ones are correct the two with 'Me' or the two with 'Myself' or are four of them correct ?

Hello SonuKumar

All of them could be acceptable in informal, non-standard English. I'd say the most correct one in standard English would be the second one.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Sir, Pronoun and possessive pronounce are same things or it may different?

Hello Imran 26,

Pronoun is the name of one part of speech (type of word) in English. Possessive pronouns are one kind of pronoun, but there are many other kinds.

You can read about the various types of pronoun and how they are categorised linguistically, on the relevant wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronoun

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Good Afternoon, Adjectives with '-ing' and '-ed' in this topic, I could not understand what is the difference between -ing and ed with the adjective. Can you provide some explanation and example for me to understand better? Thank You,

Good afternoon, I am prefering to learn about grammar part and need to think myself which one is wrong and write the answer for the grammar question. In this case, you can provide some suggestion for me to improve my grammar skill and similiar to what i looking for? thank you

Hello Backlight

There might be some exercises here in our Grammar reference that would be similar to what you are looking for, but there are so many, I'm afraid I can't recommend specific ones to you. If I understand what you are looking for, the best thing would be to find a teacher who can help you, as correcting sentences that usually requires some explanation. But if you search the internet for grammar exercises, you might find some sites that would have what you are looking for.

Good luck!

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello. When people eat, however, they often confuse or combine information from the tongue and mouth with what is happening in the nose. Can I replace "what is happening" with "the thing that happens"?

Hello amirfd

Yes, that is grammatically correct. The way it is written sounds more natural, however.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, I feel like a room without a roof. Dose it mean that I feel like I'm a room without a roof or I like a room without a roof ? He recognises the body as that of his friend. Can I also write like this: He recognises the body as of his friend or his friend's ?

Hello SonuKumar, In your first example, 'I feel like...' describes a person's emotional or mental state, not what they like or don't like. ~ In your second example, you can say either of these: > ...the body as that of his friend > ...the body as his friend's ~ Peter The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, take the level test, say that I am in the intermediate but I feel that in grammar I am not very good. Is it recommendable to start from the basics?

Hi Carolina19 It's difficult to give you specific advice without knowing you better, but in general I'd encourage you to start with reading or listening resources. We have a lot of new pages at the B2 level in our Skills section (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills), for example, or there are lots of videos at the intermediate level in the Video zone (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/video-zone) and Word on the Street (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/word-street) and audio in LearnEnglish podcasts (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-podcasts). Whenever you find some grammar that you don't understand or that you want to review, you can probably find it here in the English Grammar section. If you can't find more information about it, please feel free to ask us for help in the Comments section on the page you are working on and we'll help you. But if you want to focus on grammar from the beginning, this section is a good place to start. Please note that the pages here are not organised in a sequence, but rather by topic. If you have trouble finding something, please let us know. I hope this helps orient you. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask us. All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Sir , Please let me know about Infinitives ?

Hello Imran 26, You can read about infinitives on this page: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar/infinitive ~ You can also search for pages related to the topic by typing 'infinitive' into the search window on this page. Look for the magnifying glass at the top right. https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/search/apachesolr_search/infinitive ~ Peter The LearnEnglish Team

hello how can i find my all comments and replies from you.

Hello INS-PRAKASH, New comments appear on the last page of the comments section once they have been approved, so if you go there you will see your comment. All comments are read before they are published, so there is usually a short delay between posting your comment and it appearing on the site. You can also go to your account page and click on 'Track'. This should show recent activity. ~ Peter The LearnEnglish Team

Hello sir please help to clarify, Which one is correct? The team are divided in its opinion. The team are divided in their opinions.

Hello Akash Rathore The first one is not consistent and is not grammatical. 'are' as a plural verb and 'its' as a singular determiner are in conflict. The second one is OK. 'The team is divided in its opinions.' is also correct. All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Sir, how are you doing? sir i would like always to learn English so that i can join global citizens in expressing myself, i always end up being embarrass by my friends just because i lack grammatical construction and my pronunciation is very very terrible. i am not able to sometimes to differentiate pronunciation of letter (F) and letter (p) among other many words. all in all my English is completely terrible. can you please advice on how quick i can able to learn very fast?

Hello Aturjong Jr.

We're very glad to have you hear. I would recommend you read our Getting started and Frequently asked questions pages first. There you can find lots of advice on how to get the most out of our site.

Then if you have any specific questions about something on a page, you are welcome to ask them in a comment there.

Welcome and good luck!

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Does the use of 'the way' in the following sentence have any error? Please note that there is a clause "is it right to do so?" at the end. [My question to you is that the way I slaughtered the hen while holding her tongue out, is it right to do so?] Secondly, 'her' has been used for "a hen" , is this ok in this sentence?

Hello Zeeshan Siddiqii,

I think there is a problem with using 'the way' (a noun) and 'do so' (a question about an action) together. We would usually use its for a hen rather than she, though she is not incorrect.

I would suggest any one of several alternatives:

My question to you is this: Is the way I slaughtered the hen while holding its tongue out right?

My question to you is this: I slaughtered the hen while holding her tongue out; was it right to do so?

My question to you is this: Was I right to slaughter the hen while holding its tongue out?

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Great guidance. Thank you very much. If I say, "Some people think this act i.e. slaughtering the hen while holding her tongue out, necessary." and then we add what we believe: This is torturing the animal unnecessarily. Does this sentence [This is torturing the animal unnecessarily] sound natural? Or should there be some change in this?

Hello Zeeshan Siddiqii,

My only suggestion would be to use a linking device to show the contrast:

However, in my view / in our view this is...

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Sir! Thanks for the response to my question. I can now use the both.

Thanks million sir. Your answer lives up to my satisfaction. I'm learning a lot from you. I am confused between this these two words: Alone, lone , and how to properly use them in the sentence. Which one is correct and why: He has done it alone He has done it lone. Thanks for the help.

Hello hawa100,

'Lone' is an adjective which is used only before a noun: a lone wolf, a lone hunter, a lone protester.

'Alone' as an adjective is used only in two ways. First, after the verb 'be': I was alone in the house. Second, after a noun to mean 'only': She alone knows the truth.

'Alone can also be an adverb: I worked alone all night.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, Could I say that "My Aim in life" might be a multiple purpose in my life but "The Aim of my life" specified or just one purpose in life?

Hello Imran 26,

No, both phrases refer to a single (or most important) aim. You would use plural forms to talk about more than one aim:

My aims in life are...

The aims of my life are...

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, I am a English teacher in school, today I was dictating to my student an Essay on topic "My aim in life" . My students say why there is preposition used "in", they say it might be " My Aim of life". please let me know what is the correct one that I could teach them.

Hello Imran 26,

This is really a question of convention rather than rules. The phrase 'aim in life' is a common expression, as are 'purpose in life', 'goal in life' and 'ambition in life'.

You can use 'of' but note that we would then say 'the aim' (as 'of' identifies the noun) and use a possessive adjective: 'the aim of my life', 'the purpose of my life' and so on. However, as I said, 'in life' is the normal expression here.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you for being helpful. You're doing great job. I am satisfied with the answers. I have another concern and I would appreciate it if you could help me out. They have taught me that after the word " than" and " as" we always use the subject case. Example: So which of the following sentences is correct or wrong and why? 1.She is smarter than he. 2. Do as I do 3. Your job is more difficult than mine. 4. Your job is more difficult than I. 5. Your job is more difficult as mine. 6. You job is more difficult as I. Thanks for the help.

Hello hawa100

In informal situations,normally object forms are used after 'than' and 'as' (e.g. 'She is smarter than him').

Subject forms are more common in formal situations (e.g. sentences 1 and 2). When subject forms are used, a verb often follows them (as in 2).

The subject and object forms of the possessive pronoun 'mine' are identical. Sentence 3 is therefore correct and appropriate in both formal and informal situations.

Sentences 4 and 6 do not make sense because you are comparing a job with a person.

Sentence 5 is not correct because 'as' is not used after a comparison with 'more'. You could say either 'Your job is as difficult as mine' or 'Your job is more difficult than mine', but you cannot mix these two kinds of comparison.

Hope that clears it up for you.

Best wishes

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi What could be the opposite of 'fast colour'? Thanks

Thank you sir once again for the help. I am still confused between the two: In front of people. And Before people. Could you please detail a little bit the both for me with examples ?

Hello hawa100

You can say both things. As Peter says, 'before' is probably better because it is often used to say that something happens in the presence of people. But you can use both of them and they describe a situation in which a person is talking and there are other people in front of her. It's not clear whether she is talking to those people or if they happen to be in the same general location as her.

For example, perhaps she is a politician explaining her campaign to a news reporter, but there are other people listening. She is not exactly speaking to those people, but they are there and hear her.

I would probably say this another way, depending on what I meant, but it is correct.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi sir! Thank you very much for the quick response. I am sorry. My question was about the physical position. When it comes to that, when to use in front of and before? Example: So which of the following sentence is correct? Thank you for giving me opportunity to comment on this topic before you. Or Thank you for giving me opportunity to comment on this topic in front of you.

Hello hawa100,

Both in front of and before can be used to describe location. However, before carries a sense of 'in the presence of' as well as the physical location, and so fits this context rather better, I would say.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Sir! I would like to know If it's correct to say in front of people or before people. Which of the two sentences is correct? She was giving her opinion before people. She was giving her opinion in front of people.

Hello hawa100

The most common preposition here is 'to': 'She was explaining her opinion to people'. 'before' and 'in front of' suggest that it's her physical position that is important instead of her communication with those people.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Recently, I was reading a one act play in which there were two characters, an old man and a boy of fourteen. The old man says to the boy that young kids come here to steal apples, but he (the boy) is not so young. What does the old man mean, the kids coming there to steal apples are younger than this boy or older?

Hi Adya's

I'm afraid it's difficult for me to say, as I haven't read the play. It's not clear to me, for example, whether the old man is including the boy he's speaking to in the category of 'young kids' or not. Some old people will call any child a 'young kid' since they are so much older than the young people.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Sir, I am learning Cambridge Dictionary for Noun section , there are major class of Noun are " Common Noun, Proper Noun, Concrete Noun & Abstract Noun". Sir I gotta know that what About Collective Noun,Count Noun & Uncounted Noun? is they are class of Noun also ?

Hi Imran 26,

I would suggest our pages on count nouns and uncount nouns for those two. Collective nouns are words like 'team' or 'family' that refers to a group of people or things.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team