oxford_guide_to_english_grammar

PAGE 235
184 Personal pronouns
c
We can use and or or with a pronoun, especially with I and you.
Matthew and I are good friends.
Would you and your sisters like to come with us?
Sarah didn't know whether to ring you or me.
We normally put I/me last, NOT I and Matthew are good friends.
NOTE
In a phrase with and or or, an object pronoun is sometimes used in subject position.
Matthew and me are good friends. You or him can have a turn now.
This happens only in informal English and is seen by many people as wrong. Some people
incorrectly use I even when the phrase is not the subject.
It's a present from Matthew and I.
d
e
We cannot normally leave out a pronoun.
Well, he's quite tall, NOT Well, is quite tall.
You describe him to me. NOT You describe to me.
But we can leave out some subject pronouns in informal speech. • 42
We do not normally use a pronoun together with a noun.
Matthew is quite tall, NOT Matthew he's quite tall.
2 We
NOTE
a A pronoun comes after the noun in this pattern with as for.
As for Matthew, he's quite tall.
In informal speech, we can leave out as for.
Matthew, he's quite tall.
Those new people, I saw them yesterday.
Here we mention the topic (Matthew, those new people) and then use a pronoun to
refer to it.
b In informal speech we can use this pattern.
He's quite tall, Matthew.
It was late, the five o'clock train.
I saw them yesterday, those new people.
c We sometimes use a noun phrase after a pronoun to make clear who or what the pronoun
refers to.
Matthew was waiting for David. He, Matthew, felt worried./He (Matthew) felt worried.
A We can sometimes use a phrase after a pronoun to modify it.
We left-handed people should stick together.
You alone must decide. Look at her over there.
A plural pronoun refers to more than one person or thing. We means the speaker
and one or more other people. We can include or exclude the person spoken to.
We're late. ~ Yes, we'd better hurry. (we = you and I)
We're late. ~ You'd better hurry then. (we = someone else and I)
3 Third-person pronouns
a
We use a third-person pronoun instead of a full noun phrase when it is clear what
we mean. In the conversation at the beginning of 184, Matthew is mentioned only
once. After that the speakers refer to him by pronouns because they know who
they are talking about.
What does he look like? You describe him. Well, he's quite tall.
But we cannot use a pronoun when it is not clear who it refers to. Look at the
paragraph on the next page about the Roman generals Caesar and Pompey.