Pronouns, Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns, It + There

1. PRONOUNS +
REFLEXIVE&RECIPROCAL
PRONOUNS

2. PRONOUNS (I)
 You = generally speaking, not referring to the listener:
You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone
 One (+ 3rd person singular) = formal version of ‘you’:
One knows being a father is difficult.
 We = more personal, as it includes the listener in the
conversation: We are made to suffer. / We don’t know
what we have until we lose it.
 They = informal
 (generally speaking, not referring to the listener): You don’t
know what you’ve got until it’s gone

3. PRONOUNS (II)
 They = informal. Usages:
 Rumours / avoid mentioning the source [Dicen que...]: They
say there will be no water in 50 years.
 Instead of saying ‘the government’: They have approved by
law to prohibit minors from working.
 Instead of saying he/she, his/her, when we don’t know the
gender of sb: I don’t know whose this phone is. When their
owner calls, they will be happy to know it’s in good hands..

4. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
Myself
Yourself
Himself/herself/itself
Ourselves
Yourselves
Themselves
Usages:
 when subject & object are the same person
 To emphasize the subject (I did the housework myself).
 By + ReflexivePronouns = on your own, without help (I painted the house
by myself)
 Not common with ‘wash, feel, relax, shave, concentrate’
 After most prepositions, if the complement is the same as the subject
(I’ve passed! I’m so happy with myself!), but NEVER after prep. of place
(Can I lay next to yourself?)

5. RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
 Each other & One another:
They mean (more or less) the same, so we can
use them in the same places.
They are used to explain that A does something to
B, and B does something to B.
Rob and Jane gave a present each other / Rob
and Jane helped one another = Rob to Jane, Jane
to Rob.

6. IT/THERE
 It + ‘to be’:
 Temperatures, time and distance (It was nine o’clock
when...)
 Before adjectives, if we want to make the sentence
sound more natural (It would be nice if you called me).
 There + ‘to be’:
 Existence (people, things) [similar to ‘hi ha’ in Catalan]
(There is a cat on that tree / There is a coffee shop next
to my house).