Level: beginner
Some of the indefinite pronouns in English are:
| anybody | everybody | nobody | somebody |
| anyone | everyone | no one | someone |
| anything | everything | nothing | something |
We use indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things without saying exactly who or what they are. We use pronouns ending in -body or -one for people, and pronouns ending in -thing for things:
Everybody enjoyed the concert.
I opened the door but there was no one at home.
It was a very clear day. We could see everything.
- Indefinite pronouns 1
We use a singular verb after an indefinite pronoun:
Everybody loves Sally.
Everything was ready for the party.
When we refer back to an indefinite pronoun, we normally use a plural pronoun:
Everybody enjoyed the concert. They stood up and clapped.
I will tell somebody that dinner is ready. They have been waiting a long time.
| Be careful! |
|---|
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In negative clauses, we use pronouns with no-, not pronouns with any-:
We do not use another negative in a clause with nobody, no one or nothing:
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- Indefinite pronouns 2
We can add 's to an indefinite pronoun to make a possessive:
They were staying in somebody's house.
Is this anybody's coat?
We use else after indefinite pronouns to refer to other people or things:
All the family came, but no one else.
If Michael can't come, we'll ask somebody else.
I think this is somebody else's coat.
Hello Maahir,
Nowadays, many people prefer to say 'they' in a situation like this in an effort to include people who are not men. For many years, though, 'he' was used to mean the same thing in this case.
My guess is that more people would prefer to see 'they' here than people who would prefer to see 'he'. The people who prefer 'they' would probably argue that using 'he' is sexist.
But of course, in the end, which pronoun you use is your choice.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Shoaib50,
It is possible to use somebody (~one/~thing/~where etc) in interrogative sentences. Generally, we do this when we want to imply that the answer is 'yes':
In your example 'anyone' is not a subject; it is the object of the preposition 'with'.
It is possible to use indefinite pronouns with 'any' as subjects. We use them when we want to emphasise that we are making no selection:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ivans,
Many people use 'they' to refer to one person whose gender is unknown, so 'Anyone can do it if they try' is fine. Traditionally, 'he' could refer to both men and women, 'he tries' could also be correct, though I'd say more people would say 'they' these days. The same rule applies to the second sentence as well.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi MonsieurPirato,
You're right, all can refer to people! Here are some more examples.
So, it's not just an archaic usage. But, it tends to be used in a context which makes clear that it refers to people and not things. Without that context, it may be misinterpreted, as you said. For example, my first understanding of your example sentence is that all refers to things, not people.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Maggie,
In some grammars, especially more traditional ones, 'him' is indeed the correct answer here. This is because the pronoun 'he' (in all its forms, including 'him') can be used to refer to people whose gender we don't know.
More and more people don't like using 'he' in this way since it seems to exclude women and so many people now use 'they' (see the 'he', 'she' and 'they' section) in its place, i.e. when they are referring to a person whose gender is unknown.
For the purposes of your class, I'd recommend you follow what your teacher says.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Jualvess,
The sentence should be 'Nobody in my family is innocent'.
'Anyone' is generally used in questions and negatives, but not as the subject. In certain contexts it can be used as the subject with the meaning 'there are no restrictions on who is included'. For example:
However, we do not use as the subject of negative verbs.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Fidan_Gassim,
Anything is usually found in questions and negatives, but it is possible to use it in an affirmative sentence when you want to say that you can accept whatever there is. For example:
In your example, it is possible to use anything with this meaning.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello bienne,
Yes, that is correct. The list is not comprehensive. You could also add either, neither, both, all, any and various other pronouns to the list.
I've updated the page to make it clear that the list is not comprehensive.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi xeesid,
Both sentences are grammatically possible, but the second one is better. The speaker wants to emphasise 'not all', and this appears at the start of sentence 2 so it will communicate this meaning more effectively. Sentence 1 has 'not' near the end of the sentence and separated from 'all', so the meaning is less clear.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello knownman,
I would say 'is' in both cases, but there are probably others who would argue that 'are' is correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello H_L,
That's quite right. Well done!
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Natavan Gojayeva,
There are several possible questions. The most likely are questions about 'nobody':
You could also ask about other elements in the sentence:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello redream
Yes, that is correct. They both mean exactly the same thing.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Helo will-ea,
Indefinite pronouns always have singular verbs.
Your first example does not have a plural verb, but rather a verb in the subjunctive mood. This is a form which is used in certain constructions, including following sense verbs such as 'hear'. The present subjunctive form is the same as the base form and does not change for the third person. You can see this if you change 'somebody' to 'him':
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi TimW,
In American English, 'the' is used before 'flu' in the way you suggest, but most often it is not in British English. You can see a couple examples of this in the example sentences for the word 'flu' in the Cambridge Dictionary.
Thanks very much, though, for taking the time to tell us about this.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Andrew international,
The context is always important. This sentence sounds like an order in a restaurant and the 'that is' refers to the person's order. You could rephrase it as 'So your order is eggs, peas and chips'.
This is a common way of summarising orders and requests in shops, restaurants and so on.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi sajjakarthik,
As Peter remarks, whether this is correct or not depends on the context. If you are pointing at some eggs, peas and chips and telling someone what they are called in English, or if you were pointing at a piece of abstract art and telling someone what you see in it, this would be correct. But if you're in a restaurant, summarising and order, it would not be correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi again hawa100,
'will' and 'would are used differently, so in most cases you cannot exchange them without changing the meaning. Please see our will or would page for an explanation.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello hawa100,
Indefinite pronouns do not identify people or things specifically but in general and non-specific terms. They include words like everyone, everybody, everything, no-one, nobody, nothing, anyone, anybody, anything, someone and so on.
Distributive pronouns refer to members of a group separately and not collectively. They include each, any, either, neither and others.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team