Indefinite Pronouns
A Castaway
In this section, you will practice indefinite pronouns: somebody, anybody, nobody, no one, nothing, somewhere, nowhere, anywhere.
They are used to refer to unspecific people, things and/or places. It is essential to highlight that they always use the third person:
Practice the indefinite pronouns in the following story of Jack the castaway. At the end of the story (you will see a presentation, a text, a written and listening exercises) you will take a test how well you have mastered this structure.
By the end of this topic you will:
Produce oral or in written form, sentences in affirmative, negative and interrogative, using images to talk about unspecific people, places and objects.
These are the indefinite pronouns that you will study on this topic. Please check out which pronouns are used in the affirmative, negative and interrogative form.
| Indefinite pronouns that refer to people | Indefinite pronouns that refer to objects, things or concepts |
Indefinite pronouns that refer to places |
|
| Affirmative “There is someone knocking at the door” Refers to one or more people, one or more objects, one or more places, but not to all of them. |
Somebody Someone |
Something | Somewhere |
| Affirmative “Everybody wants to love” Refers to all the people, things or places in their context. |
Everybody Everyone |
Everything | Everywhere |
| Interrogative “Is there anything I can do for you?” Negative with an auxiliary verb “I won´t go anywhere without you”. |
Anybody Anyone |
Anything | Anywhere |
| Negative without an auxiliary verb “Nobody knows my new friend”. |
Nobody No one |
Nothing | Nowhere |
Activity 1
We use the indefinite pronouns to refer to unspecific people, things or places.
In this activity, you will infer and choose the correct option to complete the text.
Activity 2
Imagine you are Jack. You are alone on an island without any food or hope. You decide to write a letter and send it in a bottle. You will describe your situation using the indefinite pronouns.
You should include information about:
1. Unspecific places you have been wandering around aimlessly
2. Unspecific/exotic food you have tried
3. Unspecific people, you have hallucinated in your despair.
The text should be written in at least 150 words, contains ten examples of indefinite pronouns and the characteristics in the rubrics.
Once you have finished writing your bottle-message, evaluate it using the following checklist. After that, look for your score on the “Results chart” and see how well you are using indefinite pronouns.
Example
Activity 3
After waking up of from his strange dream, Jack decided to walk into the thick rainforest of the island. He was walking down for hours until he found a little house on a cliff. He knocked at the door, hoping to find someone, anyone.
Listen to the following dialogue, pay attention to the context. Decide if the information at the ending of the story is True (T) or False (F).
To hear audio click here
Activity 4
After many years Jack told his grandchildren his story. Now you talk non-stop about any of the following situations for 1 minute.
Remember that the objective of this topic is the correct use of indefinite pronouns.
Be sure to cover the characteristics mentioned in the rubrics.
Listen to the example and record your exercise. Then, check the rubrics and evaluate your work.
Based on the examples shown in this lesson, complete each sentence with the correct indefinite pronoun.
• Bradford, A. (n. d.) Indefinite Pronouns [video]. Retrieved on March 21, 2017 from https://www.showme.com/sh/?h=pb0QRLk
• Learn English. (2016). Section: Grammar - Indefinite Pronouns. Retrieved o March 21, 2017 from https://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/pronounindefinite.html
For further grammar explanation
• Cambridge Dictionary. (2017). Section: Pronouns: indefinite (-body, -one, -thing, -where). Retrieved on March 10, 2017 https://dictionary.cambridge.org/es/gramatica/gramatica-britanica/pronouns/pronouns-indefinite-body-one-thing-where
For further grammar practice
• Elfnet. (2017). Section: Indefinite pronouns quiz. Retrieved on March 10, 2017 at
https://www.eflnet.com/grammar/indefpronoun.php
• English language teaching resources. (2017). Section: Indefinite Pronouns Exercises Worksheet. Retrieved on March 10, 2017 from https://englishwsheets.com/pronouns-1.html
Practice with songs!!
• Ke, K. (Julio 28, 2010). Secret Smile (lyrics) - Semisonic [video]. Retrieved on March, 10, 2017 from https://youtu.be/sj41-2SpjM4
• (n. d.) (2010). Let ´Em in by Paul McCartney [video]. Retrieved on March 10, 2017 from https://youtu.be/AX8I0-VLYbQ