Do indefinite pronouns require specific antecedents?
1 Answer
No, indefinite pronouns do NOT require specific antecedents.
Explanation:
Indefinite pronouns are used in place of nouns for people, things, or amounts that are unknown or unnamed.
The indefinite pronouns are: all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, enough, everybody, everyone, everything, few, fewer, less, little, many, more, most, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, none, one, other, others, several, some, somebody, someone, something, such, and they (people in general).
Examples:
Everyone has left for the day.
- It's unnecessary to name each person referred to.
Most have left for the day.
- It's unnecessary to name the persons or the exact number having left.
Several are working late.
- It's unnecessary to give an exact number.
You will note that some of the indefinite pronouns can function as other parts of speech. The words are pronouns when they take the place of a noun; for example:
Several are working late.
- The pronoun "several" takes the place of the noun for the number of people.
Several people are working late.
- The word "several" is now an adjective describing the noun "people".
I must thank the one who did this.
- The pronoun "one" takes the place of a yet unknown or unnamed person.
Have a banana. There is one left.
- The word "one" is a noun, a word for an exact quantity.
I have one day to finish this assignment.
- The word "one" is an adjective describing the noun "day".
The children will be home soon, They will want lunch.
- The personal pronoun "they" takes the place of the noun "children" as the subject of the second sentence.
They say it will rain tomorrow,
- The indefinite pronoun "they" is a word for people in general who report the weather.
