Tag: impersonal pronouns

Questions Related to impersonal pronouns

Identify the impersonal pronoun in the below sentence:

Raj walked his way to office everyday and he says it helped his fitness.

  1. Raj

  2. he

  3. it

  4. his


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Impersonal pronouns are used when we want to refer to people in general, to things, unspecified objects or animals. 'It' is the most commonly used impersonal pronoun. There are several situations where we can use 'it'. In this sentence, 'it' is used to refer to a preceding statement, 'Raj walked his way to office everyday'. Hence, Option C is correct since here 'it' is referring to him walking to office everyday. Raj is a proper noun because it is the name of a person. Thereby, Option A is incorrect. 'He' is a pronoun used to refer to a man or boy previously mentioned. Hence, Option B is incorrect. 'His' is used to as a connecting word or to show belonging. Hence, Option D is incorrect.

Select the impersonal pronoun(s) from options given:

  1. It

  2. One

  3. They

  4. You

  5. All of the above


Correct Option: E
Explanation:

Impersonal pronouns are used when we want to refer to people in general, to things, unspecified objects or animals. 'It' is the most commonly used impersonal pronoun. There are several situations where we can use 'it'. Example: I am returning the dress because it isn't good. Here, the impersonal pronoun, 'it' is used to represent a noun, 'the dress' which is in neuter gender. 'One' is used to refer to a person in general or any unspecified object. Example: One can travel by bus to Bangalore. Here, we use 'One' to refer to any person who wants to travel to Bangalore. 'They' or 'You' are used similarly to address someone we may not know personally. Example: ‘They mostly speak Bengali in that part of the state’; ‘You won't find anything in this shop. (Maybe, to address myself or anyone in general). Hence, all these answers are correct as impersonal pronouns.

State whether the following statement is true or false:

The pronoun 'it' is used to denote things without life. 

  1. True

  2. False


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The pronoun 'it' is used to denote things without life. The subject pronouns can be divided into two general categories – Personal and impersonal pronouns. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’ or ‘she’. While an impersonal pronoun is used to speak about inanimate objects/things. ‘It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. Thus the given statement is true. 

 

Fill in the blank with a suitable pronoun:

_______ is raining heavily.

  1. He

  2. She

  3. It

  4. They


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The subject pronouns can be divided into two general categories – Personal and impersonal pronouns. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’. While an impersonal pronoun is used to speak about inanimate objects/things. ‘It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. In the given sentence the verb 'raining' is an impersonal one that doesn’t refer to an action that a person performs. In such case ‘it’ is used as the subject. Thus option C is correct. On the other hand, ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’ cannot be used because they are personal pronouns that are used to denote a person, which is not the case here. Thus options A, B, and D are incorrect. 

Fill in the blank with a suitable pronoun:
Mr. Kim is our professor. _______ teaches us Philosophy.

  1. It

  2. He

  3. They

  4. We


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The subject pronouns can be divided into two general categories – Personal and impersonal pronouns. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’. While an impersonal pronoun is commonly used to speak about inanimate objects/things. 'It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. Since the subject of the sentence is a person, ‘it’ cannot be used. Thus option A is incorrect. Further, under personal pronoun, we use ‘he’ for third-person singular, ‘they’ for third person plural and ‘we’ for first person plural. As the sentence speaks about ‘Mr. Kim’ in the third person and since it is just one person, we must use ‘he’. Thus option B is correct, while options C and D are incorrect.

Fill in the blank with a suitable pronoun:

This is your room's key. Keep _______ safe.

  1. he

  2. she

  3. what

  4. it


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’. While an impersonal pronoun is commonly used to speak about inanimate objects/things. ‘It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. The given sentence the subject is a ‘room’ therefore ‘it’ would be the apt answer. Thus option D is correct. On the other hand, ‘he’ and ‘she’ cannot be used since ‘room’ is not a person. Thus options A and B are incorrect. ‘What’ is an interrogative pronoun that is used to for asking questions. Since the sentence doesn’t pose a question, option C is incorrect. 

Fill in the blank with a suitable pronoun:

The baby is crying. _______ must be hungry.

  1. He

  2. She

  3. They

  4. It


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The subject pronouns can be divided into two general categories – Personal and impersonal pronouns. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’. While an impersonal pronoun is commonly used to speak about inanimate objects/things. But additionally, an impersonal pronoun is also used to refer to young children or babies. ‘It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. The given sentence the subject is a ‘baby’ therefore ‘it’ would be the apt answer. Thus option D is correct. On the other hand, ‘he’ and ‘she’ cannot be used since it is a ‘baby’. We don’t use masculine or feminine pronouns for a ‘babies’unless providing special emphasis to their gender’ Since that is not the case here options A and B are incorrect. ‘They’ is a personal pronoun used to denote a subject that occurs in the plural form. As the subject is singular, option C is incorrect. 

Fill in the blank with a suitable pronoun:

_______ is always sunny in our city.

  1. Mine

  2. Your

  3. What

  4. It


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

An impersonal pronoun is commonly used to speak about impersonal things/ideas. ‘It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. In the given sentence the verb denotes an impersonal action, i.e. an action that is not performed by a person. In such a case ‘it’ is used as the subject. Thus option D is correct. On the other hand, ‘Mine’ and ‘Yours’ are possessive pronouns that are used to talk about things that belong to people. Since the sentence doesn’t speak about belonging, options A and B are incorrect. Similarly ‘What’ is an interrogative pronoun that is used to pose a question, which is not apt here as the sentence is not an interrogative sentence. Thus option C is incorrect.

Fill in the blank with a suitable pronoun:

He named his dog Chopa. _______ is a Welsh Corgi.

  1. He

  2. It

  3. What

  4. His


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’ or ‘she’. While an impersonal pronoun is commonly used to speak about inanimate objects and animals. ‘It’ is an impersonal pronoun that is used for this purpose. In the given sentence the noun is a ‘dog’ therefore ‘it’ would be the apt answer. Thus option B is correct. On the other hand, ‘He’ cannot be used since it is a ‘dog’ and not a person. Thus option A is incorrect. ‘His’ is a possessive pronoun that is used to talk about things that belong to people. Since the sentence doesn’t speak about belonging, option D is incorrect. Similarly ‘What’ is an interrogative pronoun that is used to pose a question, which is not apt here as the sentence is not an interrogative sentence. Thus option C is incorrect.

Identify the kind of pronoun used in the sentence:
It is very cold today.

  1. Personal pronoun

  2. Impersonal pronoun

  3. Interrogative pronoun

  4. Possessive pronoun


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The pronoun in the sentence is ‘It’. It is an impersonal pronoun that is used to denote an inanimate object/thing. Thus option B is correct. Whereas a personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated with a particular person, like ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’. Since ‘It’ is the pronoun used and as 'it' doesn’t refer to a person option A is incorrect. On the other hand, interrogative pronouns that are used for asking questions, for example, ‘what’, ‘who’ and ‘which’. Thus option C is incorrect. Similarly, option D is unsuitable because possessive pronouns are used to talk about things that belong to people. The words ‘mine’, ‘yours’, ‘his’ ‘her’ etc are examples of possessive pronouns. Thus option D is incorrect.