Impersonal pronouns like “it”, “all”, “one” or “anyone” are used when not referring to a specific noun. Using “they” as an impersonal pronoun can cause confusion. Subject-verb agreement can also be problematic. “You” can also be used as an impersonal pronoun.
A pronoun is a part of speech used to replace nouns. An impersonal pronoun is used when a person does not want to indicate a specific noun. For example, if a person wants to use a pronoun for his teacher, he can use the word “he” instead of “teacher” or “Mr. King.” If he doesn’t want to mean someone or something in particular, however, he can use impersonal pronouns like “it”, “all”, “one” or “anyone”. An example of the use of the impersonal pronoun would be a case where a person says “That’s fine” or “It’s never easy.”
The lack of specifics is key when it comes to understanding how impersonal pronouns work. Often people use pronouns in a way that defines the person, place, or thing it refers to. An example of this can be found in the following sentence: She let the door slam as she left the building. In that case, a particular person lets the door slam and the word “he” is used to identify the person, or a specific name.
Conversely, an example of an impersonal pronoun is found in the following sentence: Anyone could have slammed the door. Since the word “anyone” does not reveal who is being discussed, it is an impersonal pronoun. Other examples of impersonal pronouns include nobody, everybody, it, no one, and nobody, although there are many others as well.
Sometimes people use the word “they” as an impersonal pronoun, but many frown on this practice. For example, the phrase “They say change is coming” does not identify who “they” are, and as such the listener or reader may feel confused about the people being discussed. Some people also misuse this pronoun in general, using it to refer to a single person or a business as a whole.
Impersonal pronouns also often lead to problems when it comes to subject and verb agreement. For example, many people use the word “all” in a plural form because they think “all” means many people. “Tutti”, however, really means every person and takes on a singular verb. In many cases, an individual realizes this mistake when he or she makes a sentence using “all” and the verb “are” and notices how embarrassing it sounds.
The word “you” can also be used as an impersonal pronoun. An example of this is when a person makes a blanket statement, such as “You should never neglect your teeth.” If so, the speaker usually means that anyone or everyone should brush their teeth rather than targeting this comment at any particular person.
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