07 · Frame
Pronouns
A pronoun can stand at the head of a noun phrase. In The pilot waved. She smiled, she refers to the same person without repeating the longer description.
The pilot near the window fills the subject noun-phrase position.
She also fills the subject noun-phrase position, with a pronoun as its head.
The right diagram still places NP above She. Pron identifies the kind of word, while NP identifies the kind of phrase filling the subject position. One word and a longer phrase can therefore occupy the same place in a clause.
The pilot near the window waved. She smiled.
The first sentence identifies a pilot. In the next, she points back to that person. The pronoun continues the reference without carrying the full description the pilot near the window as part of its meaning.
the limit
A pronoun need not be a one-word noun phrase
Nobody is a pronoun, while nobody in the row is the noun phrase it heads. Pronouns can take a limited range of dependents, so a bare word such as she is one simple kind of pronoun-headed noun phrase, not the only kind.
Use a pronoun to check a noun phrase
- Choose a noun phrase that identifies a participant or thing.
- Replace it with a pronoun that fits the reference and position.
- If the sentence still works, the pronoun-headed and fuller noun phrases fill the same position.
Replacement shows that the two phrases can occupy the same position. It does not define every pronoun. I and you need no earlier noun phrase, and some uses of it do not point back to anything.
the point
Word form and phrase position answer different questions
A pronoun often lets a speaker continue a reference without repeating a description. Its two diagram labels answer different questions. Pron names the kind of word, and NP names the complete unit it heads.
Ten sentences from this lesson, one decision at a time.