Personal pronouns. in English they have two cases: nominative (usually as subject) and object (in a sentence as additions).
Face |
Nominative case |
Object case |
Singular |
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I [ aI] I |
me [ mJ] me, me |
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you [ jH] you |
you [ jH] you, you |
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he [ hJ] he she [ SJ] she is it [ It] he she it |
him [ hIm] him, him her [ hW] her, her it [ It] him, her, him, her |
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Plural |
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we [ wJ] we |
us [ As] us, us |
|
you [ jH] you |
you [ jH] you, you |
|
they [ DeI] they |
them [ Dem] them, them |
I [ aI] - I |
Pronoun I always written with a capital (capital) letter, regardless of the place it occupies in a sentence. If it is in the same sentence with other personal pronouns (or nouns), then it is placed after them:
you [ jH] - you you |
In English, there is no distinction between a polite form of address You and more familiar - you like the Russian language. Pronoun you has one form for singular and plural, and the predicate after it is always plural.
Note: When they want to provide understanding of the pronoun you how plural numbers, then in British English they say: you two / three ..., you lot, you people, and in American - you folks, you all's, you guys (regardless of the gender of the interlocutors).
he [ hJ] - he she [ SJ] - she is |
Pronoun he replaces a noun denoting males. Pronoun she replaces a noun denoting females. Speaking of animals, pronouns he or she they use it only when they want to emphasize their gender, as well as in various fairy tales, fables, or in descriptions of the habits and character of their pets, thus distinguishing them from the general mass.
Exception: In England, when talking about a ship (of any size and purpose) or a car, they use the pronoun she(but speaking, for example, about an airplane - it). The names of most countries are also considered feminine nouns: England, Russia, etc.
it [ It] - he she it |
Pronoun it replaces a noun denoting an inanimate object, abstract concept, animal or plant, and also replaces a noun baby, child – child if they do not focus on the field of the child. Translated into Russian by the words he she it depending on the gender of the corresponding noun in Russian.
I looked at the window. It was closed. |
I took a look at window. It was closed. |
Where is your cat? – It is on the sofa. It is sleeping. |
Where's your cat(your cat)? – He (she is) on the sofa. He (she is) is sleeping. |
they [ DeI] - they |
Pronoun they replaces both animate and inanimate plural nouns:
Personal pronouns in the nominative case perform the function subject and nominal part of compound predicate.
1
As subject:2 As nominal part of compound predicate it is possible to use personal pronouns in nominative, as well as in object cases. At the same time, the forms of the nominative case are considered book-official, and the forms of the objective case are considered colloquial.
Who is there? – It is I. = It is me . (colloquial form) Who's there? - It I.
Objective case. |
Pronouns without preposition.
Typical model: indirect object without preposition+ direct complement .
Personal pronouns in the objective case perform the function:
1 direct complement(accusative case, answer the question whom? what?)
He saw me in the street. |
He saw me on the street. |
I love you. |
I love you. |
Do you know him? |
You know his? |
take it! |
Take her/it! (e.g. notebook) |
2 or unprepositional indirect object(dative case answering the question to whom?):
In the last example, "book" is a direct object. A pronoun without a preposition that answers a question whom? - to whom?, is a non-prepositional indirect object and always comes before a direct object (unlike a pronoun with a preposition).
3 and also used in short replicas:
Who broke the vase? – Not me! / Me. Who broke the vase? - Not I! / I .
I am feeling tired. - Me too.I am (very) tired/(feeling tired). - I too.
Preposition pronouns.
Typical model: direct complement + indirect object with preposition .
Combining a pronoun in the objective case with a preposition is a prepositional indirect object and always comes after a direct object.
1 pronoun combination with a pretextto corresponds dative case in Russian ( to whom?):
2 pronoun combination with prepositionsby andwith corresponds in Russian creative case( by whom? how?):
3 Pronouns in the objective case, used with any prepositions, are translated into Russian by pronouns in various oblique cases (gen. who?, what?; dates to whom; to what?; creates. who?, what? and prepositional About who about what?) depending on the preposition followed by the pronoun:
This letter is for you. |
This letter For you. |
tell me everything about them. |
Tell me everything about them. |
She looked at us in silence. |
She silently looked on us. |
After any preposition, you should use a pronoun in the form of an objective case, for example: From whom? From whom?-From me. From me .; To whom? To whom?-To me. Co. to me .; With whom? With whom?- With me. So me .
Polysemy of the pronoun it. |
Pronoun it may be personal, index and impersonal:
1 Personal pronoun. Translation: he she it or his her etc.
a) If the pronoun it comes first in a sentence, replacing the previously mentioned inanimate noun, then it translates nominative case - he she it , for example:
b) If the pronoun it follows the predicate, taking the place of the direct complement, then it is translated. object case pronouns, namely his her, to him etc.
2 index pronoun. translate as " this is ".
What is it ? - It is a tree. |
Whatthis is ? - it - wood. |
Can be used instead of the previously mentioned words:
Instead of the previously mentioned concepts and descriptions:
3 Impersonal service word. Does not translate.
a) If the pronoun it comes first in a sentence, but does not replace a previously mentioned noun, it is formal subject of an impersonal sentence It is typical for sentences that talk about weather, time, distance, various measurements, etc.
It is cold. It is dark. It is raining. It is snowing.Cold. Dark. It's raining. Snowing.
It was winter. It was winter.
Time, distances and various measurements:
What day of the week is it ? What day of the week is today?
It 's Saturday. It 's the 12th of February. = It 's February 12th.It's Saturday now. 12th of February.
It 's 10 o'clock. Ten o'clock.
It is two miles to the station.The station is two miles away.
And other impersonal suggestions:
It 's too late. Too late.
b) Pronoun it can be a formal subject when the present subject is expressed infinitive, gerund (-ing form) or subordinate clause and is at the end of the sentence: In Russian, in these cases, they do without a formal subject:
It is dark to read. |
|
It was useless trying to see him. |
Was useless try to see him. |
It 's hard to know what he really thought. |
It's hard to know what does he really think. |
in) in passive structures. With some passive verbs as the formal subject:
It is known… |
Known… |
It is reported that the plane landed. |
Reportthat the plane has landed. |
4 Included in amplifying turnover composition it is (was) ... who / that(does not translate). Here it refers to the predicative (part of the compound predicate), which becomes the informational focus of the sentence.
It was he who did it. |
Exactly hedid it. |
It is here that we meet every Sunday. |
Exactly herewe meet every Sunday. |
Used in set expressions:
It 's wonderful! |
Fabulous! |
It 's great! It 's super! |
Great! Super! |
It 's no use. It 's no good. |
Useless. |
It doesn't matter. |
No matter. It does not matter. |
In many languages, including ours, all nouns are divided into three gender categories: masculine, feminine, and neuter. In English, the vast majority of nouns denoting objects belong to the middle gender (it), but by no means he and not she. For those who take their first steps in English, it is very difficult to readjust, but with time and practice, such reservations disappear.
So, there is a category of gender in English, it's just that words are divided into genders differently than in Russian. How to determine the gender of a noun in Russian, or, say, in German? Memorization only. Of course, if you speak this language from birth, then you subconsciously learn the gender of the words (the words "coffee" and "birthday" do not count). In English, everything is much easier, because there are basic rules.
Names own are divided into two genders: masculine (masculine) and feminine (feminine), and are replaced by personal pronouns he or she.
Nouns denoting animals, refer to the middle gender (neutral) and are replaced by a personal pronoun it.
Nouns that mean inanimate objects, belong to the middle gender and are replaced by a personal pronoun it.
As you can see, due to these simple rules, learning English is much easier compared to learning Russian. But there are exceptions to every rule, which we will analyze with you.
- personal pronouns: he(he is masculine) she(she is feminine) it(it is neuter).
- object pronouns: him(his), her(her), it(his).
- possessive adjectives: his(his), her(her), its(his is the neuter gender), and possessive pronouns: his(him and hers(her).
When talking about people, they use the pronouns he or she, depending on gender.
When talking in general about a certain person whose gender is unknown or unimportant, then he / his / him is used. The pronoun he in this case can refer to both a man and a woman. This usage is found in the formal style of communication.
If anybody calls, tell him to call back later. - If someone calls, tell him to call back later.
Opponents of gender inequality (and there are many) try to avoid this use of the pronoun he, so they often talk about an unknown person he or she/his or her/ him or her:
When a customer pays by his or her credit card, he or she must enter a pin code. - When a customer pays with their credit card, he or she must enter a PIN code.
In everyday communication, when they mean a person whose gender is unimportant or unknown to the speaker, they use the pronoun they. Especially often they use after the words person, somebody, anybody:
Somebody called me, but when I answered, they hung up the phone. - Someone called me, but when I answered they hung up.
When a person enters university, they should become more responsible. - When a person enters a university, he should become more responsible.
Concerning animals, then sometimes you can meet the pronouns he and she in relation to our smaller brothers. He and she they use when they talk about their pets, or fairy-tale characters. These pronouns, used in relation to the animal, emphasize that the speaker endows the animal with a mind, some human qualities, feelings:
Some inanimate nouns denoting cars, motorcycles sometimes replaced by the pronoun she. The same goes for ships and boats:
I took a ride in Bob "s car. She is so fast! - I took a ride in Bob's car. She is so fast!
We have not seen the St. Mary since she sailed to the north. We haven't seen Saint Mary since she sailed north.
She can also refer to titles countries, but this is rarely seen, usually used it:
Canada develops diplomatic relations with other countries. Recently she has signed a new agreement. - Canada develops diplomatic relations with other countries. She recently signed a new agreement.
There are pairs of masculine and feminine nouns:
bachelor/spinster- bachelor / unmarried woman
boy/girl- boy/girl
brother/sister- brother/sister
father/mother- dad mom
gentleman/lady- gentleman/lady
grandfather/grandmother- grandfather grandmother
grandson/granddaughter- grandson, granddaughter
husband/wife- husband wife
king/queen- king/queen
man/woman- man Woman
monk/nun- monk/nun
nephew/niece- nephew niece
sir/madam- sir/madam
son/daughter- son daughter
uncle/aunt- Uncle Aunt
widower/widow- widower/widow
The same goes for animals. For some species, there are different names for males and females:
bull/cow- bull/cow
rooster/hen- rooster/hen
ganger/goose- gander / goose
pig/sow- wild boar/sow
ram/ewe- ram/sheep
stallion/mare- stallion / mare
If it is necessary to indicate the gender of the animal, but there is no separate word for this, use the pronouns he or she:
he-elephant- elephant
she-elephant- elephant
he cat- cat
she-cat- cat
And in other animals, the names of females are formed using the suffix -ess:
lion/lionness- lion/lioness
tiger/tigress- tiger/tigress
Some profession names also change their gender with the suffix -ess and the words man/woman :
actor/actress- actor/actress
steward/stewardess- steward/stewardess
waiter/waitress- waiter/waitress
policeman/policewoman- police man/cop woman
postman/postwoman- male postman / female postman
salesman/saleswoman- male salesperson/female salesperson
However, all the same opponents of gender inequality insist that the names of professions be the same for both sexes. As a result, all police officers began to be called policeofficers, sellers - salespeople, stewards and stewardesses - flightattendants. But still there are words that can mean both a woman and a man: chairman(chairman) spokesman(speaker). But more and more often instead of a word man neutral word is used person or word woman: chairperson, spokesperson.
Sometimes gender can be identified using the words man, woman, male, female. Have you ever thought about the fact that there are professions that are associated with a certain gender? For example, soldier(soldier) , boxer(boxer) and footballer(football player) evoke a male image in our minds, and activities such as nurse(nurse), model(model), babysitter(nanny for children) are usually associated with women. In life, the opposite happens: women are boxers, and men are nurses. Then you should note the gender:
Woman boxer, woman footballer, male babysitter, male model
Some nouns can change their gender, for example, the words friend (friend / girlfriend), teacher (teacher / teacher), student (student / student) and others like that. How to determine the gender of such nouns in a sentence? With the help of context and pronouns.
My friend is a big fan of Sting. She knows all his lyrics by heart! - My friend is a big fan of Sting. She knows the lyrics of all his songs.
Have you met the new teacher? They say he is very strict. - Have you already met the new teacher? They say he is very strict.
This is the student who passed her exams with flying colours. She is the best student in the college. - She is a student who did well in her exams. She is the best student in the college.
As you can see, if at the beginning it is not clear what gender the person is, then in the future everything becomes clear when the speaker uses the pronoun.
By remembering the simple rules that we talked about in this article, you will not have to return to this topic again. I wish you success!
If you need professional help in learning English, our teachers are ready to help you. Try it and a positive result will not be long in coming!
A legal entity is a certain legal fiction. Grammatically, an inanimate person. It operates through its management bodies, which can be individual (for example, the General Director, otherwise it can be called the sole executive body, and the State Duma is animated) or collective.Legal entities are created, among other things, in order to separate the property liability of the founder of the sole proprietorship or legal entity (that is, so that, for example, the founder’s own property is not transferred to third parties for debts). The scope of rights for legal entities and individuals is different. They may or may not match.
For example, the Charter or the Memorandum of Association of a legal entity. It (they) should be used. A legal entity is an inanimate person who assumes rights and obligations, participates in litigation, etc. through authorities or representatives.
If we are talking about governing bodies: if their functions are performed by people (animate), then either he / she or they and who instead of which, although which is also acceptable. Depending on what you want to emphasize: the collective decision of the people who make up the Board or depersonalize to an inanimate Board of Directors, etc.
Agreements and parties to the Agreement.
You have never been embarrassed by Sellers / Buyers and then they throughout the contract ... (This just emphasizes that the legal entity is a collective, for example, a joint-stock company).
The owner of the property in the Agreements, for example, purchase and sale, becomes not a person who acts on behalf of the legal entity without a power of attorney (in the Russian Federation, by virtue of the law, the General Director and other persons specified by law), or the founders of the legal entity or other persons by proxy, but the legal entity itself , i.e. inanimate face. Therefore, it or they are appropriate. Emphasizing that, for example, equipment purchased by a legal entity through its manager does not become the property of the legal entity, but still the legal entity. Although the lawyer's understanding of the contract, for me, but maybe. and for others, if there he / she does not affect the company, it is much worse when the patent becomes not a patent, but a certificate, and the State Registration Bulletin without transliteration is simply the Official Gazette translated into English, and STC - supplemental type certificate - a certificate on additional types of activities (for air contracts ...), and not an additional type certificate, as it should be, and this contract becomes this one, etc. etc.
Other contracts: they are always based on the construction of the contract of sale, therefore, even if this is a different type of contract, the services are provided to you by the legal entity, i.e. an inanimate person, and not the director who entered into this agreement. Although I emphasize once again - he / she will not affect the understanding of the essence of the contract, but only the knowledge of the subject by the translator.
See below the commentary of the speaker in English. language (this is from Kudoz):
It or she/he buyer / seller: referred to as "it" or "he"? it (or possibly "they")
Explanation:
Definitely not "he" - that would never be right if the party is an organization of some sort.
Some people treat a government, company, etc. as being an inanimate entity and so use "it"; others treat it as a group of people, and so use "they"; personally, I think the latter solution sometimes sounds slightly more natural - or at least, leads to fewer odd-sounding phrases!
But if we think of each of these as "a party to the contract", then the use of the singular seems OK - just imagine if you went through your text and replaced each occurrence of the pronouns with "the 1st Party" or "the 2nd Party".
On balance, I think it really has to be "it": "The Company agrees to pay damages; it will however endeavor to minimize these at all times."
Today we will consider such an important thing in the practical grammar of the English language as the use of personal pronouns 3rd person singular in relation to inanimate objects. So, we are interested in is it possible to use the personal pronouns He or She when speaking about an inanimate object? In English-speaking countries, usually He or She, in relation to an inanimate object, is spoken only in a joking manner.
For example, sailors use the pronoun she when referring to a ship. Recently, there has been a tendency among English-speaking motorists to talk about their car using He or She. But it looks more like a joke, or like an accent, emphasizing a special relationship to your transport. It is believed that in English to say about the car "she" or "he" is the same as in Russian to call it by name. Although, this also happens. At the same time, Americans, newborns of unknown sex and young children, as well as animals, can sometimes call it. It is worth saying that although animals are most often called it, nevertheless, he and she are still used for animals when the sex of the animal is known, and this rule is especially applicable to pets. Also in English, where the animal, according to the general rule of the neuter gender - it, there are generic divisions for individual animals - they are used to indicate the exact gender. Inanimate objects with which people have a "close relationship", such as ships, are sometimes referred to as she. Countries that are viewed as political rather than geographical entities are sometimes also used with she. This rule also applies to cities.
In general, you should not think that everything that is inanimate is it. Since in English nouns denoting all inanimate objects, concepts, as well as some living beings (animals and children) are neuter, they are all replaced by the pronoun it. Therefore, the pronoun it corresponds in Russian to pronouns of all three genders and is translated into Russian he, she, it, depending on the gender of the noun it replaces.
So, let's sum up. In relation to an inanimate object, the personal pronouns He, She are used if:
- She is used in relation to countries, especially when they are perceived as a political or cultural unity, and not a geographical concept. Last year Italy increased her exports by 10%. Italy increased its exports by 10% last year.
- The names of parts of mechanisms or moving objects are often replaced by a pronoun she. Peter took my watch and said, “She is 3 minutes slow”. Peter took my watch and said: “They are 3 minutes behind.” / Let's move this bed to the corner. Oh, she is heavy! Let's move this bed into a corner. Oh yes, it's heavy!
- Pronoun use she in relation to the ship. What a lovely ship! What's she called? What a beautiful ship! What is it called?
- Owners of cars, motorcycles, etc., pilots often talk about their aircraft and sailors about their ships. she, expressing, as a rule, a positive attitude - tenderness, care.
In most languages, nouns are assigned one of the categories of gender. The genus may be feminine, male or medium. The gender of a noun in English reflects the relation of living beings to the masculine or feminine gender. One of the distinguishing features of the English language is that only animate nouns have a gender, that is, explicitly indicating gender.
Most inanimate objects are neuter. This indicates a clear lack of gender characteristics in the object.
Category of gender in English
For those who are just starting out, it can be difficult to tune in the right way, but practice helps to solve this problem. In English, words are divided by gender in a different way. The rules are not that complicated. Below is a table that summarizes the basic rules for the distribution of nouns by gender.
Feminine Feminine - S.H.E. |
masculine Masculine-HE |
Neuter gender | indefinite gender |
|
|
|
- Female living entities are endowed with the category feminine feminine gender: girl, mother, lady, daughter, bride.
- The masculine sex of a living being is masculine masculine gender: father, boy, brother, husband, king.
- Concepts of an abstract type, weather phenomena, animals, inanimate things - this is the middle - neutral gender: fear, tiger, peacock, rain, profit.
- The indefinite gender is typical for both male and female if the nouns are neutral, or in the context it does not matter what gender they are. For example: cousin, assistant, child, actor, host.
How to distinguish the subtleties of gender formation
To distinguish gender in English, possessive pronouns are also used. The feminine gender has two pronouns: personal - she, possessive - her. Masculine: he and his. The neuter gender: it is the personal form and its is the possessive form.
There are a few exceptions that do not lend themselves to descriptions of the rules. A vivid example is the historically established concept of ship, boat, car (vessel, ship, boat, car). This noun is endowed with a feminine gender, respectively, it is feminine. Here is an example of how this word is used:
The "Leningrad" is a new ship. She is light and high speed.
"Leningrad" is a new ship.
It is lightweight and fast.Where is your car? She is under the tent.
Where is your car. She's under a canopy.
In the above example, it can be seen that the personal pronoun she is she, despite the fact that the ship is an inanimate creature with no signs of gender. How to remember this kind of exceptions? Only the memorization method will solve the problem.
The noun that denotes a domestic animal is neuter, the pronoun it is also used, but there are cases when she or he is used in relation to them.
I have a dog Viola. She has got puppies.
I have a dog Viola. She gave birth to puppies.
There are cases when the pronoun her is used in colloquial language. In this case, it does not specifically mean "her", but a pronoun of any kind. Such as:
turn her to the left.
In this context, the pronoun her can mean a replacement for the word car, car - a car. It can also be assumed that under her meant a door, furniture and more. Then the translation is:
Rotate/slide him/her to the left.
The feminine gender in English includes all concepts that originally express grace, grandeur, fertility, and are always understood in the context as feminine. And the concepts associated with strength and power, carrying destruction - are understood as a masculine gender.
The land has brought forth her fruits.
The earth has borne fruit.
War has shown his face.
The war showed its face.
If in a conversation they want to give some concept elegance, sophistication, then they add about people - boy or girl girl, man or woman woman, and about animals - he or she.
Woman-writer, girl-friend, she-elefant
The formation of feminine words from masculine occurs by adding the ending -ess: hostess, actress.
Conclusion
Based on this, we can conclude that the English language assumes a gender of a noun, which depends solely on gender and animation. The genus does not express the image of the object, according to which it is endowed with gender in other languages. Only sometimes inanimate objects are identified with living ones, then they take on a feminine gender.