USING 'YOU,ONE,AND THEY' AS IMPERSONAL PRONOUNS By: Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
Dr. SHADIA Y. BANJAR
http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJER http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com
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YOU
ONE
THEY
IMPERSONAL PRONOUNS
Dr. SHADIA Y. BANJAR
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The impersonal pronouns considered here ( YOU, ONE, and THEY) share two fundamental properties: (i) they only refer to humans, (ii) they allow generic readings.
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EXAMPLES One should always be polite. How does one get to 5th Avenue from here? You should always be polite. How do you get to 5th avenue from here? Means “any person, people in general.”
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ONE YOU Dr. SHADIA Y. BANJAR
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EXAMPLES
BRITISH + FORMAL AMERICAN
1. One should take care of one’s health. 2. One should take care of his health. 3. One should take care of his or her health. AMERICAN AWKWARD Dr. SHADIA Y. BANJAR
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=
Dr. SHADIA Y. BANJAR
‘some people or somebody’
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