Pronombres personales y reflexivos en inglés
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Pronombres personales y reflexivos
| I buy myself a pen. | The pen is for me. | Me compro un bolígrafo. El bolígrafo es para mí. |
| You buy yourself a pen. | The pen is for you. | Tu te compras un bolígrafo. El bolígrafo es para tí. |
| He buys himself a pen. | The pen is for him. | Él se compra un bolígrafo. El bolígrafo es para él. |
| She buys herself a pen. | The pen is for her. | Ella se compra un bolígrafo. El bolígrafo es para ella. |
| It is a pen. | I buy it. | Es un bolígrafo. Yo lo compro. |
| We buy ourselves a pen. | The pen is for us. | Nosotros nos compramos un bolígrafo. El bolígrafo es para nosotros. |
| You buy yourselves a pen. | The pen is for you. | Vosotros os compráis un bolígrafo. El bolígrafo es para vosotros. |
| They buy themselves a pen. | The pen is for them. | Ellos se compran un bolígrafo para ellos. El bolígrafo es para ellos. |
Observaciones:
• El pronombre it se usa para reemplazar un sujeto neutral (un objeto, un animal...), o para introducir expresiones impersonales:
• El pronombre it se usa para reemplazar un sujeto neutral (un objeto, un animal...), o para introducir expresiones impersonales:
There is a bird on that branch. It is singing. Hay un pájaro en la rama. Está cantando.
It's hot today. Hoy hace calor.
It would be good to wait. Será mejor esperar.
• Para enfatizar el pronombre, en ocasiones se puede añadir myself, o for my part (pronombres de énfasis):
I myself disagree with what was said. Yo, por mí parte, estoy en desacuerdo con lo expuesto. O I for my part disagree...
• Algunos ejemplos del uso de you and me, o You and I, en el caso en que esta frase sea el sujeto de la oración:
This song is just for you and me. Esta canción es solo para ti y para mí.
You and I have the same dreams. Tu y yo tenemos los mismos sueños.
• Algunos ejemplos de pronombres reflexivos (reflexive pronouns):
I'll do it myself. Lo haré yo mismo.
We are enjoying ourselves very much. Nos estamos divirtiendo mucho.
Behave yourselves. Compórtense.
Ejercicio 1
I can't believe Susie bought a fake wedding ring. I understand though. She has always wanted to keep parents off back about being single.
I can't believe Susie bought herself 1 a fake wedding ring. I understand though. She has always wanted to keep her 2 parents off her 3 back about being single.
1 herself: We use reflexive pronouns when the object of the verb (the ring is for Susie) and the subject (Susie) are the same. The gender of the pronoun must agree with the gender of the subject, Susie, so we use 'herself'.
1 himself: 'Himself' is incorrect here because the pronoun must agree with the gender of the subject, which is Susie (a female). 'Himself' is the reflexive pronoun for a man.
1 oneself: 'Oneself' is incorrect here. It is usually only used with the pronoun 'one', and never with a gendered subject.
2 her: To refer to Susie's parents, or anything 'belonging' to Susie, the possessive adjective we use must agree in gender with Susie, and so we use 'her'. To talk about Bruno's parents, we would say 'his' parents.
2 his: 'His' is incorrect here because Susie is a female. In English, possessive adjective must agree in gender with the subject. To talk about Bruno's parents, we would say 'his' parents.
2 their: 'Their' is incorrect here because Susie is a singular subject whose gender is known. To refer to the parents of a group of brothers and sisters, we would say 'their parents'.
3 her: Because we are referring to something belonging to Susie, (a woman), we use 'her' to indicate possession. In English, possessive adjectives must agree in gender with the subject.
3 their: 'Their' is incorrect here because Susie is a female, whose gender is known. 'Their' is used to describe a possession for a group of people ('their family') or a person whose gender is unknown ('I don't like this person or their ideas').
3 his: 'His' is incorrect here because Susie is a female, whose gender is known. In English, possessive adjectives must agree in gender with the subject. To talk about Bruno's parents, we would say 'his' parents.
Ejercicio 2
Fill in the blanks below using the correct form of the personal pronoun or possessive adjective.
Because he was tired of always borrowing Polly's stapler, Icarus decided to buy one of own. Early in the morning, before work, Icarus borrowed mother's car and drove to the local office supply store. bought a shiny red stapler, and then showed to colleagues. Everyone at the office agreed that was a very nice stapler indeed.
Because he was tired of always borrowing Polly's stapler, Icarus decided to buy one of own. Early in the morning, before work, Icarus borrowed mother's car and drove to the local office supply store. bought a shiny red stapler, and then showed to colleagues. Everyone at the office agreed that was a very nice stapler indeed.
Fill in the blanks below using the correct form of the personal pronoun or possessive adjective.
Because he was tired of always borrowing Polly's stapler, Icarus decided to buy one of his 1 own. Early in the morning, before work, Icarus borrowed his 2 mother's car and drove to the local office supply store. He 3 bought a shiny red stapler, and then showed it 4 to his 5 colleagues. Everyone at the office agreed that it 6 was a very nice stapler indeed.
Because he was tired of always borrowing Polly's stapler, Icarus decided to buy one of his 1 own. Early in the morning, before work, Icarus borrowed his 2 mother's car and drove to the local office supply store. He 3 bought a shiny red stapler, and then showed it 4 to his 5 colleagues. Everyone at the office agreed that it 6 was a very nice stapler indeed.
1 his: We must use 'his' here because the pronoun agrees in gender with the male subject (Icarus). In English, possessive adjectives must agree in gender with the subject. Possessions belonging to a male take the pronoun 'his'.
2 his: We must use 'his' here because the pronoun agrees in gender with the male subject (Icarus).
3 He: We must use 'he' here because the pronoun agrees in gender with the male subject Icarus.
4 it: We must use 'it' here because the pronoun agrees in gender with the neutral subject 'the stapler'. A stapler is a device used to attach one object to another.
5 his: We must use 'his' here because the pronoun agrees in gender with the male subject Icarus.
6 it: We must use 'it' here because the pronoun agrees in gender with the neutral subject, the stapler. A stapler is a device used to attach one object to another.
Ejercicio 3
Fill in the blanks below using the appropriate form of the personal, reflexive or possessive pronoun or adjective.
Example: I bought myself a razor last week.
Remember that this story is about Susie, not you!
Last month, Susie finally moved out of old apartment. roommate was a jerk, and he always smelled like dirty socks. As soon as Susie moved into the new place, she felt a little lonely, so she went to the pet store and bought a cat, and named Moonbeam.
Example: I bought myself a razor last week.
Remember that this story is about Susie, not you!
Last month, Susie finally moved out of old apartment. roommate was a jerk, and he always smelled like dirty socks. As soon as Susie moved into the new place, she felt a little lonely, so she went to the pet store and bought a cat, and named Moonbeam.
Fill in the blanks below using the appropriate form of the personal, reflexive or possessive pronoun or adjective.
Example: I bought myself a razor last week.
Remember that this story is about Susie, not you!
Last month, Susie finally moved out of her 1 old apartment. Her 2 roommate was a jerk, and he always smelled like dirty socks. As soon as Susie moved into the new place, she felt a little lonely, so she went to the pet store and bought herself 3 a cat, and named it 4 Moonbeam.
Example: I bought myself a razor last week.
Remember that this story is about Susie, not you!
Last month, Susie finally moved out of her 1 old apartment. Her 2 roommate was a jerk, and he always smelled like dirty socks. As soon as Susie moved into the new place, she felt a little lonely, so she went to the pet store and bought herself 3 a cat, and named it 4 Moonbeam.
1 her: This is the best choice here. We use 'her' here because we are talking about Susie's apartment, and Susie is a female. Possessive pronouns and adjectives always agree with the gender of the subject.
2 Her: This is the best choice here. We use 'her' here because we are talking about Susie's roommate, and Susie is a female. Possessive pronouns and adjectives always agree with the gender of the subject.
3 herself: This is the best choice here. We use 'herself' here because we are talking about Susie, and Susie is a female. Reflexive pronouns always agree with the gender of the subject. In this case, Susie bought a cat FOR herself, and so we can say that she 'bought herself a cat'.
4 it: This is the best choice here. We use 'it' here because the cat is not a person and its gender is not specified. It is common, however, that people use the pronouns 'he' or 'she' to refer to their animals, depending on their gender. As a general rule, an animal is referred to as 'it' unless its gender is specified.
Ejercicio 4
Bob: The weather is really nice today.
Kevin: Yes, is beautiful. Is that cream cheese on your shirt?
Bob: Yes! I treated to a bagel with cream cheese before work.
Kevin: are really living like a king, Bob.
Bob: Yes, am an incredible human being.
Kevin: Yes, is beautiful. Is that cream cheese on your shirt?
Bob: Yes! I treated to a bagel with cream cheese before work.
Kevin: are really living like a king, Bob.
Bob: Yes, am an incredible human being.
Bob: The weather is really nice today.
Kevin: Yes, it 1 is beautiful. Is that cream cheese on your shirt?
Bob: Yes! I treated myself 2 to a bagel with cream cheese before work.
Kevin: You 3 are really living like a king, Bob.
Bob: Yes, I 4 am an incredible human being.
Kevin: Yes, it 1 is beautiful. Is that cream cheese on your shirt?
Bob: Yes! I treated myself 2 to a bagel with cream cheese before work.
Kevin: You 3 are really living like a king, Bob.
Bob: Yes, I 4 am an incredible human being.
1 it: This is the best choice here. Because we are talking about 'the weather', which does not have a specific gender, and it is the subject of the sentence, we use 'it'.
1 he: This is incorrect. Because 'the weather' is not masculine nor feminine, we cannot use 'he' here.
1 its: This is incorrect. 'Its' is a possessive pronoun or adjective. It cannot be used as the subject of a sentence.
1 his: This is incorrect. 'His' is a possessive pronoun or adjective. It cannot be used as the subject of a sentence.
2 myself: This is the best choice here. Bob is referring to himself as the subject of the sentence in a reflexive construction, and so we use the reflexive pronoun 'myself' here. 'To treat oneself' is an expression which describes performing an action which gives one pleasure. For example: I treated myself to an ice-cream after a long hot day at the office.
2 my: This is incorrect. 'My' is used to demonstrate possession. It does not make sense here.
2 me: We must use the reflexive pronoun 'myself' because 'me' is a grammatical object, and not a subject.
2 mine: This is incorrect. 'Mine' is used to demonstrate possession. It does not make sense here.
2 you: This is incorrect. 'You' is the subject pronoun for the second person. Bob has cream cheese on his shirt because he treated himself to a cream cheese bagel. He did not treat Kevin to a bagel!
3 You: This is the best choice here. Because Kevin is talking directly to Bob, he uses the personal pronoun 'you'.
3 He: This is incorrect. 'He' is the third person singular pronoun. It does not make sense here.
3 Your: This is incorrect. 'Your' is used to demonstrate possession. It does not make sense here.
3 You're: This is incorrect. Because the verb is already given, 'you're' (you are) is redundant, and grammatically incorrect.
4 I: This is the best choice here. Because Bob is talking about himself, and he is the subject of the sentence, we use 'I' here.
4 Me: This is incorrect. 'Me' is a grammatical object. We cannot use it to replace Bob as the subject of the sentence.
4 My: This is incorrect. 'My' is used to demonstrate possession. It does not make sense here.
4 Mine: This is incorrect. 'Mine' is used to demonstrate possession. It does not make sense here.
Ejercicio 5
Fill in the blanks below using the appropriate form of the personal pronoun or possessive pronoun.
Hannah: Brian and Bruno aren't at work again – have you heard anything about either of ?
Polly: Apparently, Bruno had an accident and Brian has gone to Bruno's house to take care of .
Hannah: Oh right! I hope he hasn't seriously hurt .
Polly: I'm pretty certain that Brian will make sure gets better soon.
Hannah: Brian and Bruno aren't at work again – have you heard anything about either of ?
Polly: Apparently, Bruno had an accident and Brian has gone to Bruno's house to take care of .
Hannah: Oh right! I hope he hasn't seriously hurt .
Polly: I'm pretty certain that Brian will make sure gets better soon.
Fill in the blanks below using the appropriate form of the personal pronoun or possessive pronoun.
Hannah: Brian and Bruno aren't at work again – have you heard anything about either of them 1?
Polly: Apparently, Bruno had an accident and Brian has gone to Bruno's house to take care of him 2.
Hannah: Oh right! I hope he hasn't seriously hurt himself 3.
Polly: I'm pretty certain that Brian will make sure he 4 gets better soon.
Hannah: Brian and Bruno aren't at work again – have you heard anything about either of them 1?
Polly: Apparently, Bruno had an accident and Brian has gone to Bruno's house to take care of him 2.
Hannah: Oh right! I hope he hasn't seriously hurt himself 3.
Polly: I'm pretty certain that Brian will make sure he 4 gets better soon.
1 them: This is correct. Hannah is talking about both Brian and Bruno, who are the objects of the sentence. Therefore, we use the third person plural, in its accusative form 'them'. Generally, we use object pronouns directly after the word 'of', for example: 'Both of us', 'All of them'.
1 they: This is incorrect. We only use 'they' when a group of people are the subject of the sentence (example: 'They came from outer space'). When a group of people are the object of the sentence, we use 'them' (example: 'I was scared when I saw them').
1 him: Hannah is asking about two people, so we need to use the third person plural pronoun 'them'. Although the phrase 'either of' refers to two people individually, the two people form a group together, so we use a plural pronoun. We use 'him' when we are referring to only one male person (example: 'I like Icarus but I wouldn't marry him').
1 you: This is incorrect. Hannah is not talking to Brian and Bruno, she is talking about Brian and Bruno! She would say 'either of you' if addressing two people, for example: 'Luna and Susie, do either of you know how to operate this machine?'.
2 him: This is the correct choice. Brian has gone to take care of Bruno, who is the object of the phrase, so we use the accusative form of 'he': 'him'. Another example: 'Beethoven? I've never heard of him!'.
2 he: This is grammatically incorrect. Because Bruno is the object of this action ('taking care'), we need to use 'him', not 'he'. 'He' is always the subject of the sentence. For example: 'He was very kind to me after my divorce'.
2 his: There is no reason to use a possessive pronoun here. A possessive pronoun must refer to a noun which is owned by someone. For example: 'I am going to take care of his dog this weekend'.
3 himself: This is the correct answer. Because the action of 'hurting' has the same subject and object (in other words, we are talking about Bruno hurting and being hurt), we use the reflexive pronoun 'himself'. Another example: 'He accidentally cut himself with a shaving razor'.
3 him: This is incorrect. When a verb has the same subject and object, we do not use 'him', but rather 'himself' (example: 'Kevin told himself to stay calm'). 'Him' refers to a male person who is different from the subject. For example: 'This is my brother. Kevin has never met him before'.
3 itself: 'Itself' cannot refer to a person, so we cannot use it to refer to Bruno. 'Itself' refers to an object, animal etc. which is both the subject and object of an action. For example: 'That dog is licking itself'; 'The computer program closed itself without me clicking anything!'.
4 he: This is the correct choice here. Bruno is the subject of the phrase 'gets better soon', so we refer to him using the pronoun 'he'. A similar example: 'I hope that she finds her passport'.
4 him: We cannot 'make sure' a person, so we cannot use an object pronoun here. After the phrase 'make sure', we always have a verb phrase with a new person as the subject (example: 'I made sure she was happy before I left'). If we refer to this person with a pronoun, we use a nominative pronoun such as 'he' or 'she'.
4 himself: We cannot 'make sure' a person, so we cannot use a reflexive pronoun here. After the phrase 'make sure', we always have a verb phrase with a new person as the subject (example: 'I made sure she was happy before I left'). If we refer to this person with a pronoun, we use a nominative pronoun such as 'he' or 'she'.
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