Indefinite Pronouns

Not all English pronouns refer to a person or a thing we know; they can also refer to people all around the world, make a sentence negative or refer to ambiguous things; that is the job of indefinite pronouns.
So based on these function, we categorized them in various groups:

There are different types of indefinite pronouns and each type can be used in a slightly different way.

Assertive (also called assertive existential) indefinite pronouns include one item in the list with a special feature that we do not know or mention. Here is the list of assertive indefinite pronouns:

Non-assertive (also called elective or elective/dubitative existential) indefinite pronouns include one item in the list, no matter what the features are. They refer to any person/thing when it is not important to say exactly who or what. Here is the list:

Universal indefinite pronouns include every item in the list, no matter what or who. Here is the list of these pronouns:

Negative indefinite pronouns include no item in the list. They refer to an absence of people, things or places. Here is the list:

Alternative indefinite pronouns include an item or items in the list other than a preselected one. They refer to the second of two people or things, which is not the one we already have or the one we have already mentioned.

'Others' is a plural alternative indefinite pronoun. It can be used with both people or things.

We can use the other as a pronoun, especially to refer back to something which has been mentioned already in the sentence.

When we use the indefinite article 'an' before 'other,' we write it as one word. Another refers to the alternative or different thing or person.

When we refer back to an indefinite pronoun, we normally use a plural pronoun:

Normally we cannot add 's' to pronouns to make them possessives. But we can add 's to an indefinite pronoun to make a possessive:

A negative marker is a word that can make a sentence negative. As you can see in the table above 'negative indefinite pronouns' are negative markers. It means that using them in a sentence can make the sentence negative (without using not). Take a look at this example:

You should know that, using another negative marker in this sentence is grammatically wrong:

There are different ways to change a positive sentence to a negative sentence using an indefinite pronoun:

In this case the best way is to use a negative indefinite pronoun depending on what the pronoun is referring to (a thing or person). Take a look at these example:

In this case you can either use a negative pronoun in a positive sentence or an elective pronoun in a negative sentence (both are correct and have the same meaning). Take a look at this example:

Using indefinite articles in negative sentences is a bit tricky. You are not allowed to use every pronoun in a negative sentence. The table below can help you understand these boundaries better:

Indefinite pronouns refer to ambiguous things or people.