與名詞 (名詞除了字尾加 "-s" 來產生複數及加 "省略符號 -s" 來產生所有格外通常不改變型態) 不同的是,人稱代名詞 (代表人事物) 根據它們在句子中不同的用法而改變型態。因此,I 被用做句子的主詞 (I am happy.),me 以不同的方式被用做受詞 (He hit me. He gave me a book. Do this for me.),而 my 被用做所有格 (That's my car.)。其他人稱代名詞亦然:單數的 you 和 he/she/it 以及複數的 we,you 和 they。這些型態被稱為「格」;請參考人稱代名詞的格。
What 通常也是當不定關係代名詞用:
- She will tell you what you need to know.
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不定代名詞 (Indefinite Pronouns)
不定代名詞 (everybody/anybody/somebody/all/each/every/some/none) 無法代替特定的名詞,但它們的功能是當名詞用:Everyone is wondering if any is left.
我們在使用不定代名詞時所遭遇的主要困難之一是,"everybody" 讓人覺得它是指一個人以上,但卻使用單數動詞 (Everybody is accounted for.)。如果你把這個字想成意謂「每一個體」(every single body),這項困惑和混淆往往就消失無蹤了。再者,不定代名詞 none 可以是單數或複數,視上下文而定。some 也可以是單數或複數,視它是指可數或不可數名詞而定。
除上述外,我們還有其他不定代名詞;它們就是兼做限定詞用的字:
enough, few, fewer, less, little, many, much, several, more, most, all, both, every, each, any, either, neither, none, some
- Few will be chosen; fewer will finish.
- Little is expected.
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加強語氣代名詞 (Intensive Pronouns)
加強語氣代名詞 (如 myself, yourself, herself, ourselves, themselves) 是由人稱代名詞加 self 或 selves 所組成,係在強調名詞:I myself don't know the answer. 加強語氣代名詞可能放在它所指的名詞前面,但這相當罕見:Myself, I don't believe a word he says.
反身代名詞 (Reflexive Pronouns)
反身代名詞 (字型與加強語氣代名詞一樣) 表示句子的主詞也接受動詞的動作:Students who cheat on this quiz are only hurting themselves. You paid yourself a million dollars? She encouraged herself to do well.
當代名詞結合在一起時,反身代名詞為第一人稱
Juanita, Carlos, and I have deceived ourselves into believing in my uncle.
若沒有第一人稱時則為第二人稱:
You and Carlos have deceived yourselves.
不定代名詞 one 有其自己的反身代名詞 ("One must have faith in oneself."),但其他不定代名詞則以 himself 或 themselves 做為反身代名詞。專家的建議:使用複數的反身代名詞以避免累贅的 himself 或 herself 結構。
- No one here can blame himself or herself.
- The people here cannot blame themselves.
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注意:目前有一種趨勢,那就是不當和不必要地使用反身代名詞及加強語氣代名詞。Bob and myself I are responsible for this decision. These decisions will be made by myself me. |
疑問代名詞 (Interrogative Pronouns)
疑問代名詞 (who/which/what) 引導疑問句:What is that? Who will help me? Which do you prefer? Which 通常用在比 what 更特定的情況。假設我們參加一項測驗,如果我問 "Which questions give you the most trouble?",我指的是測驗中的特定問題。如果我問 "What questions give you most trouble"?,我是問何種問題最讓你頭痛。疑問代名詞亦可做為限定詞:It doesn't matter which beer you buy. He doesn't know whose car he hit. 在這種限定詞角色中,它們有時也被稱為疑問形容詞 (interrogative adjectives)。
與關係代名詞一樣,疑問代名詞引導名詞子句;又與關係代名詞一樣,疑問代名詞在它們所引導的子句中扮演主詞的角色:
- I already told the detective what I know about it.
- We know who is guilty of this crime.
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相互代名詞 (Reciprocal Pronouns)
相互代名詞就是 each other 和 one another。相互代名詞是一種讓你將相同觀念結合的便利工具。如果 Bob gave Alicia a book for Christmas and Alicia gave Bob a book for Christmas,我們可以說 they gave each other books (或 they gave books to each other)。再舉一例:My mother and I give each other a hard time. 如果是兩個人以上,我們可以說 they gave one another books. 相互代名詞也可使用所有格型態:They borrowed each other's ideas. The scientists in this lab often use one another's equipment.
代名詞與先行詞一致性
基本原則:一個代名詞通常是指句子中先前部分的人事物 (它的先行詞),所以在數方面 -- 單數或複數 -- 必須與先行詞一致。
1.不定代名詞 anyone, anybody, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, no one, 和 nobody 永遠是單數。 這有時會令一些寫作者感到困惑,因為他們認為尤其是 everyone 和 everybody 應該是指一個人以上。either 和 neither 的情況亦然,它們也永遠是單數,即使它們似乎是指兩件事。
2.代名詞與其先行詞必須一致的要求,可能產生性別問題。例如,如果有人這樣寫:"A student must see his counselor before the end of the semester.",當其中有女學生時,這可能產生不必要的困擾。在這種情況中,我們可以使用複數來避免此種問題:
Students must see their counselors before the end of the semester.
或者我們也可以這樣寫
A student must see his or her counselor. . . .
然而,太多的 his 和 her 最終可能變得令人厭煩,而讀者也會發現該寫作者的功力也不過如此而已。
3.為了遵照第 2 項規則,可能引發許多無意義的爭論。一般廣泛認為像 "Somebody has left their bag on the floor." 這樣的句子是正確的 -- 截至20世紀末仍被視為是正確的。但許多人反對這樣的寫法,因為 somebody 是單數,而 their 是複數。然而,把 their 這個字當做非特定性別 (中性) 的單數代名詞使用的人比比皆是,包括英國名小說家奧絲汀 (Jane Austen)、桂冠詩人史賓塞 (Edmund Spenser)、莎士比亞 (William Shakespeare) 及其他文學泰斗;事實上,這種單數的 "they"/"their"/"them"/"themselves" 結構在他們著作中俯拾即是。牛津英語辭典 [Oxford English Dictionary (OED)] 中也經常可以見到 "單數的 their" 的例句。
4.記住:當代名詞與其他人事物複合時,我們不必改變代名詞的型態。恪遵這個規則往往產生「聽起來不是很好的」句子。如果你寫了這樣一個句子 "This money is for me.",當有其他人參與其中時,你不可寫成 "This money is for Fred and I."。試試下面的句子:
- This money is for him and me.
- This arrangement is between Fred and him.
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這兩個句子都是正確的好句子。
5.英文文法中,最常被問到的問題之一是,如何正確使用代名詞 who 的各種型態:who, whose, whom, whoever, whomever。這個代名詞 (及其伴隨的動詞) 的數 (單數或複數) 是由此代名詞所指的人來決定;他可以指一個人或一群人:
- The person who hit my car should have to pay to fix the damages.
- The people who have been standing in line the longest should get in first.
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將 who 的各個型態與代名詞 he 和 they 的各個型態做個比較對我們可能也有幫助。它們的型態是相似的:
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主格 |
所有格 |
受格 |
單數 |
he
who |
his
whose |
him
whom |
複數 |
they
who |
their
whose |
them
whom |
為了正確使用 who 的各個型態,我們最好改寫句子以便在 he 和 him 之間作一選擇。如果你要的是 him,那就寫 whom;如果你要的是 he,那就寫 who。
- Who do you think is responsible? (Do you think he is responsible?)
- Whom shall we ask to the party? (Shall we ask him to the party?)
- Give the box to whomever you please. (Give the box to him.)
- Whoever shows up first will win the prize. (He shows up first.)
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大多數寫作者在使用 whose 時所發生的唯一問題是將它與 who's 搞混了;who's 看起來像個所有格,但實際上是 who is 的縮寫。就跟我們不可將 his 和 he's ( he is 或 he has 的縮寫) 混為一談一樣,我們也不可將 whose 和 who's 搞混了。
- Who's that walking down the street?
- Whose coat is this?
- I don't care whose paper this is. It's brilliant!
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