Impersonal Pronouns
An impersonal pronoun does not refer to a specific person or thing. These pronouns help us talk about a thing or person without mentioning what or who.
What Are Impersonal Pronouns?
An impersonal pronoun is one that does not refer to a specific person or thing. These pronouns are usually used to refer to an unspecified person or people in general.
English Impersonal Pronouns
There are three impersonal pronouns in English:
Let us take a look at each one of them.
'One' as Impersonal Pronoun
You can use 'one' in different parts of a sentence and in different forms. Below you can find the uses and placements of 'one.'
1. 'One' as the Subject
'One' is often used as the subject of a sentence:
In this example, 'one' is the subject and it means everyone or people in general.
Tip!
This function of 'one' now is considered very formal and old-fashioned. It is much more usual to use you for people in general and I when you want to refer to yourself.
2. 'One' as the Object
You can use 'one' as the direct object of a sentence; in this case, of course, you would need a transitive verb followed by 'one' as its object:
Exercising too hard can make
In this case, 'make' is a transitive verb and 'one' is its direct object.
Using 'One' as the Object of a sentence
3. 'One' as a Possessive
'One' does not have a special possessive form like the rest of personal pronouns. In order to use it as possessive determiner, you simply add a possessive ‘s’. Notice that 'One’s' is only used as possessive determiner and not a pronoun (always comes before a noun). Take a look at this example:
No one can ever replace
One's is the possessive determiner, so it will be followed by a noun (own family).
4. 'One' as a Reflexive Pronoun
The reflexive form of 'one' is 'oneself.' 'Oneself' also does not refer to a specific person and you can use it to refer to a previously mentioned noun/pronoun:
One would need time to find
It can help to understand the meaning of this statement, if you define it as ''You would need time to find yourself again after such a trauma.''
It can also be used as the object of a sentence without a clear subject:
It's important to seek help for
'You' as Impersonal Pronoun
This 'you' is called 'generic you' in grammar. Some consider 'generic you' as the colloquial equivalent of 'one'; meaning that 'one' is more formal than 'you,' but you cannot use them interchangeably, because there is a small difference in what they refer to.
To be precise, when you use 'generic you' in a sentence, you are referring to 'you and everyone that is in your hypothetical situation.' 'You' as an impersonal pronoun can be used to refer to:
- An unspecified person:
If
In this example, 'you' refers to an unspecified person.
- People in general:
As you might guess, this sentence means 'people' cannot smoke in this area.
- You and everyone else in your hypothetical situation:
In this sentence, we can define that the person means 'all of us can buy a car and pay for it in installments.'
'They' as Impersonal Pronoun
Impersonal 'they' is used to refer to:
- One or more unknown person(s)
- A particular group
When you use 'they' to talk about the government or authorities, it usually bears a negative feeling, because it refers to them as people who are not one of us (normal people) and therefore do not understand us. That is why people use 'they' in conspiracy theories and songs to refer to the government, rich people, and any other minorities that hold the majority of control, power, financial assets, etc.
In this example, 'they' bears a negative feeling towards the rich.
Here, 'they' refers to a particular group of people: residents of Quebec.
Review
An impersonal pronoun is one that does not refer to a specific person or thing.
| One | You | They | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impersonal Pronouns |
is used as a |
refers to |
refers to |
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