Most of the time, when we think about pronouns, we’re thinking about definite pronouns (like she, their, it, or that), which replace a specific noun—one that you used earlier or one that is so easily understood by your listener or reader that it can be left out. But there’s another kind of pronoun that refers to a nonspecific noun: the indefinite pronoun. Keep reading to understand what indefinite pronouns are and how to use them.
Give your writing extra polish Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with GrammarlyAn indefinite pronoun refers to a general, vague, or unknown person, object, group, or amount. Most of the time, the referred-to object is identified elsewhere in the sentence or doesn’t need to be precisely identified.
Many of the most common indefinite pronouns are formed by combining the prefixes every-, any-, some-, and no- with the roots –thing, –one, and –body. Any and some can also stand alone as indefinite pronouns.
There are also common indefinite pronouns that are not compounds. Below, the most common indefinite pronouns are listed along with whether they are singular or plural in construction.
There are several categories of general things that indefinite pronouns tend to refer to.
Indefinite pronouns can refer to all of something or to all the components or members of a group.
They can communicate that something or someone is being singled out from a group.
They can convey a broad or infinite range of possibilities.
They can refer to a single, unspecified or unknown person or thing.
They can indicate absence.
They can refer to general amounts and quantities.
Like nouns and other pronouns, indefinite pronouns have the grammatical property of numbers. This means that when an indefinite pronoun is the subject of a sentence, you need to know whether it is singular or plural so that you can be sure it’s in subject-verb agreement with the sentence’s verb. Most indefinite pronouns are singular, but some are plural, and some can be singular or plural depending on context and whether you’re using formal or informal speech or writing.
The most common singular indefinite pronouns are another, anybody/anyone, anything, each, either, enough, everybody/everyone, everything, less, little, much, neither, nobody / no one, nothing, one, other, somebody/someone, something, and you. Here are some examples of singular indefinite pronouns in sentences:
The most common plural indefinite pronouns are both, few, fewer, many, others, several, and they.
Some indefinite pronouns can be either singular or plural depending on what they’re referring to. They include all, any, more, most, none, some, and such.
Indefinite pronouns can be either subjective or objective, and they have the same form regardless of which case they are functioning as in a given sentence.
As we’ve seen, some indefinite pronouns carry negative meanings, expressing the absence of something.
She wanted to buy a hybrid car, but none were available at the dealership.
Another way to express negation with indefinite pronouns is to use the word not. An important thing to keep in mind with this kind of sentence is that not calls for the any- indefinite pronouns to communicate, not the some- ones.
Ferber won’t be here in time for pizza, so we don’t need to save him some. Ferber won’t be here in time for pizza, so we don’t need to save him any.Indefinite pronouns are often modified by adjectives—which sets them apart from other kinds of pronouns. In many cases, the adjective in question is else, which appears after the indefinite pronoun.
Will anyone else I know be at the party?
Prepositional phrases and dependent clauses also frequently modify indefinite pronouns, providing clarity about what the pronouns refer to.
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that refers to a general, vague, or unknown person, object, group, or amount.
An indefinite pronoun can refer to all of something, something singled out from a group, a range of possibilities, one nonspecific person or thing, an absence, or a nonspecific amount or quantity.
Most, but not all, indefinite pronouns are singular. When an indefinite pronoun is the subject of a sentence, it has to agree in number with the sentence’s verb. Indefinite pronouns can switch between the subjective and the objective case and don’t change form when they do.
Negation can be indicated with the no- indefinite pronouns or by using not and the any- indefinite pronouns. Indefinite pronouns often appear alongside modifiers to clarify what they are referring to.
