DEMONSTRATIVE,
INTERROGATIVE, RELATIVE,
AND INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
Demonstrative Pronouns


A demonstrative pronoun points out a person, a
place, a thing, or an idea.
NOTE: A demonstrative pronoun must take the
place of a noun or pronoun – it cannot appear
right in front of a noun or pronoun.
 So,
if you replaced a demonstrative pronoun with a
noun, the sentence should still make sense.
Demonstrative Pronouns


There are only four words in the English language
that are used as demonstrative pronouns.
They are:
This
That
These
Those
How they’re used

Examples of demonstrative pronouns:
 This
is the best meal I have ever had.
 Please
 After
 Can
put the books on top of that.
dinner, can you wash these?
you give me the names of those who were absent?
Demonstrative pronoun or not?

Determine if there are demonstrative pronouns in
the following sentences.
 That
 This
was a great volleyball game.
table is wobbly and needs to be balanced.
 Please
I
put the fork on the left of that plate.
hope they remember to bring that.
Interrogative Pronouns


An interrogative pronoun introduces a question.
NOTE: An interrogative pronoun must take the
place of a noun or pronoun – it cannot appear
right in front of a noun or pronoun.
Interrogative Pronouns


There are only five words in the English language that
are used as interrogative pronouns.
They are:
What

Which
Who
Whom
Whose
Note: Technically, you can add “-ever” to the end of
each of these five and then we have ten possible
interrogative pronouns, not five.
Note



Interrogative pronoun, like all pronouns, must take
the place of a noun or pronoun.
Therefore, if we turn a question into a statement, we
should be able to replace an interrogative pronoun
what a noun or pronoun.
Therefore, a word like why can’t be interrogative,
because we could never answer a why? question
with just a noun or pronoun.
How they’re used

Examples of interrogative pronouns:

What is the capital of Missouri?

Which of these is your favorite?

Who played quarterback in the game last night?

Whom did she give the note to?

Whose is this?
Interrogative pronoun or not?
Which magazine would you rather read?
 Who went to the meeting last night?
 Why is there mud all over the room?
 When do you want to work on the project?
 Whom are you going to the dance with?
 What is your sister’s name?
 Which of these shirts do you like best?
 Which shirt do you like the best?

Relative Pronouns


A relative pronoun introduces a subordinate clause.
A subordinate clause must contain a subject and a
verb (just like a sentence), but cannot stand on its
own as a sentence.
A
subordinate clause needs the other words around it to
make a complete sentence.
Relative Pronouns

There are five words that commonly serve as
relative pronouns. They are:
That

Which
Who
Whom
Whose
BE CAREFUL! Four of these same words can also be
interrogative pronouns.
What this looks like in a sentence

In the following sentences, the relative pronoun is in bold,
and the entire subordinate clause is underlined.

The one over there is the cake that Ashley baked.

The new building, which was just built five years ago, already
looks old.

Collin is the player who scored the winning touchdown.

The man whom you are looking for is over there.

The person whose car this is will be angry when he sees what
happened.
Relative pronoun or not?

The planets which make up our solar system all revolve
around the sun.

Which of these movies do you like the best?

The man whom I talked to said that our team won.

That is the first house I ever lived in.

That is the woman who helped my sister fix a flat tire.
Relative pronoun or not?

The Statue of Liberty, which is in New York, was given
as a gift from France.

Whom were you talking to on the phone?

Whose house were you at last night?

I hope that I win the race tomorrow.

Our neighbor’s dog, whose bowl is always empty, is
really overweight.
Indefinite Pronouns


An indefinite pronoun refers to a person, a place,
a thing, or an idea that may or may not be
specifically named.
As with other pronouns, be very careful: indefinite
pronouns will never appear directly before a noun
or pronoun.
Our indefinite pronouns

There are many indefinite pronouns in English. Some of
the most common are:
All
Another
Any
Anybody
Anyone
Anything
Both
Each
Each other
Either
Everybody
Everyone
Everything
Few
Many
More
Most
Much
Neither
Nobody
None
No one
Nothing
One
Other
Several
Some
Somebody
Someone
Something
What this looks like

Nobody at the movie had a good time.

Both of the students were sent to the office.

We don’t have anything to eat for dinner.

Much of our time was wasted in the meeting.

I gave a gift to everyone there.
What this looks like

They have taken all of the paintings to the art room.

I only had a chance to look at some of the stories.

Many of my family members will be at the dinner.

We hope that everyone will be there.

The umpires talked to each other to figure out the correct
call.
Indefinite pronoun or not?

Anybody can come to tutoring for extra help.

I need you to take everything and put it in the closet.

Nothing is going right for me today.

Many bands will be at the music festival.

More money is needed before we can afford the new
uniforms.
Indefinite pronoun or not?

Someone in my class left their notebook.

Neither of those is the correct answer.

Few of the sandwiches look fresh.

Several students did well on the quiz yesterday.

Nobody in my class could help answer the question.