English pronouns

This file defines the English personal, reflexive, reciprocal, interrogative and demonstrative pronouns.

The personal pronouns distinguish a nominative from an accusative form, except you and it, and distinguish gender in the third person singular only. You serves one addressee or several, and we makes no clusivity distinction. They and them serve a single referent as well as several; singular they bears no gender feature, where he, she and it each bear one. Every personal pronoun has a reflexive in -self or -selves, singular they having themself beside themselves. The reciprocals each other and one another are two-part noun phrases rather than dedicated pronouns. The interrogatives ask about a person, a thing, a place, a time or a manner. The demonstratives contrast a proximal with a distal form in each number.

Main definitions

• English.Pronouns.pronouns — the personal pronoun inventory
• English.Pronouns.paradigm — its forms for each referential category
• English.Pronouns.reflexives, English.Pronouns.reciprocals, English.Pronouns.interrogatives, English.Pronouns.demonstratives — the other series

Main results

• English.Pronouns.third_singular_of_gender — gender is marked in the third person singular only
• English.Pronouns.paradigm_addressee, English.Pronouns.paradigm_speakerAddressee, English.Pronouns.paradigm_others_subset — the forms do not distinguish the number of addressees or clusivity, and the plural third person forms also serve a single referent
• English.Pronouns.exists_reflexive — every personal pronoun has a reflexive with its person, number and gender

References

• L. Konnelly and E. Cowper, Gender diversity and morphosyntax: An account of singular they (2020)
• J. E. Arnold, Two kinds of singular they: A usage-based model (2026)
• M. Balhorn, The rise of epicene they (2004)

Personal pronouns

def English.Pronouns.i : PersonalPronoun

The first person singular nominative I.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.i = { form := "I", person := some Person.first, number := some Number.singular, case_ := some Case.nom }

def English.Pronouns.me : PersonalPronoun

The first person singular accusative me.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.me = { form := "me", person := some Person.first, number := some Number.singular, case_ := some Case.acc }

def English.Pronouns.we : PersonalPronoun

The first person plural nominative we.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.we = { form := "we", person := some Person.first, number := some Number.plural, case_ := some Case.nom }

def English.Pronouns.us : PersonalPronoun

The first person plural accusative us.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.us = { form := "us", person := some Person.first, number := some Number.plural, case_ := some Case.acc }

def English.Pronouns.you : PersonalPronoun

The second person singular you, one form for both cases.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.you = { form := "you", person := some Person.second, number := some Number.singular }

def English.Pronouns.you_pl : PersonalPronoun

The second person plural you, one form for both cases.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.you_pl = { form := "you", person := some Person.second, number := some Number.plural }

def English.Pronouns.he : PersonalPronoun

The third person singular masculine nominative he.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.he = { form := "he", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, case_ := some Case.nom, gender := some Gender.masculine }

def English.Pronouns.him : PersonalPronoun

The third person singular masculine accusative him.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.him = { form := "him", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, case_ := some Case.acc, gender := some Gender.masculine }

def English.Pronouns.she : PersonalPronoun

The third person singular feminine nominative she.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.she = { form := "she", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, case_ := some Case.nom, gender := some Gender.feminine }

def English.Pronouns.her : PersonalPronoun

The third person singular feminine accusative her.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.her = { form := "her", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, case_ := some Case.acc, gender := some Gender.feminine }

def English.Pronouns.it : PersonalPronoun

The third person singular neuter it, one form for both cases.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.it = { form := "it", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, gender := some Gender.neuter }

def English.Pronouns.they : PersonalPronoun

The third person plural nominative they.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.they = { form := "they", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.plural, case_ := some Case.nom }

def English.Pronouns.them : PersonalPronoun

The third person plural accusative them.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.them = { form := "them", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.plural, case_ := some Case.acc }

def English.Pronouns.they_sg : PersonalPronoun

Singular they in the nominative, for a referent of unknown or unspecified gender and for a person whose pronoun it is ([Bal04], [Arn26]). It bears no gender feature ([KC20]).

Equations

• English.Pronouns.they_sg = { form := "they", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, case_ := some Case.nom }

def English.Pronouns.them_sg : PersonalPronoun

Singular they in the accusative.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.them_sg = { form := "them", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, case_ := some Case.acc }

def English.Pronouns.pronouns : Finset PersonalPronoun

The personal pronoun inventory.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

theorem English.Pronouns.third_singular_of_gender (p : PersonalPronoun) : p ∈ pronouns → p.gender.isSome = true → p.person = some Person.third ∧ p.number = some Number.singular

Gender is marked in the third person singular only.

def English.Pronouns.paradigm : Person.Category → Finset String

The forms of each referential category.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.paradigm = PersonalPronoun.paradigm English.Pronouns.pronouns

theorem English.Pronouns.paradigm_addressee : paradigm Person.Category.addressee = paradigm Person.Category.addresseeOthers

You does not distinguish one addressee from several.

theorem English.Pronouns.paradigm_speakerAddressee : paradigm Person.Category.speakerAddressee = paradigm Person.Category.speakerOthers

We does not distinguish a group with the addressee from one without.

theorem English.Pronouns.paradigm_others_subset : paradigm Person.Category.others ⊆ paradigm Person.Category.other

The forms for several others, they and them, also serve a single other.

Reflexive pronouns

def English.Pronouns.reflexive (p : PersonalPronoun) (form : String) : ReflexivePronoun

The reflexive of a personal pronoun, with its person, number and gender.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.reflexive p form = { form := form, person := p.person, number := p.number, gender := p.gender }

def English.Pronouns.myself : ReflexivePronoun

The first person singular reflexive myself.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.myself = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.me "myself"

def English.Pronouns.yourself : ReflexivePronoun

The second person singular reflexive yourself.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.yourself = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.you "yourself"

def English.Pronouns.himself : ReflexivePronoun

The third person singular masculine reflexive himself.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.himself = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.him "himself"

def English.Pronouns.herself : ReflexivePronoun

The third person singular feminine reflexive herself.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.herself = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.her "herself"

def English.Pronouns.itself : ReflexivePronoun

The third person singular neuter reflexive itself.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.itself = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.it "itself"

def English.Pronouns.ourselves : ReflexivePronoun

The first person plural reflexive ourselves.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.ourselves = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.us "ourselves"

def English.Pronouns.yourselves : ReflexivePronoun

The second person plural reflexive yourselves.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.yourselves = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.you_pl "yourselves"

def English.Pronouns.themselves : ReflexivePronoun

The third person plural reflexive themselves.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.themselves = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.them "themselves"

def English.Pronouns.themself : ReflexivePronoun

The reflexive themself of singular they.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.themself = English.Pronouns.reflexive English.Pronouns.them_sg "themself"

def English.Pronouns.reflexives : Finset ReflexivePronoun

The reflexive pronoun inventory.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

theorem English.Pronouns.exists_reflexive (p : PersonalPronoun) : p ∈ pronouns → ∃ r ∈ reflexives, r.person = p.person ∧ r.number = p.number ∧ r.gender = p.gender

Every personal pronoun has a reflexive with its person, number and gender.

Reciprocal pronouns

def English.Pronouns.eachOther : ReciprocalPronoun

The reciprocal each other, a two-part noun phrase.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.eachOther = { form := "each other", strategy := Reciprocal.Strategy.bipartiteNP }

def English.Pronouns.oneAnother : ReciprocalPronoun

The reciprocal one another, a two-part noun phrase.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.oneAnother = { form := "one another", strategy := Reciprocal.Strategy.bipartiteNP }

def English.Pronouns.reciprocals : Finset ReciprocalPronoun

The reciprocal pronoun inventory.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.reciprocals = {English.Pronouns.eachOther, English.Pronouns.oneAnother}

Interrogative pronouns

def English.Pronouns.who : InterrogativePronoun

The interrogative who, for persons.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.who = { form := "who", ontology := Pronoun.OntologicalCategory.person }

def English.Pronouns.whom : InterrogativePronoun

The accusative whom of who.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.whom = { form := "whom", case_ := some Case.acc, ontology := Pronoun.OntologicalCategory.person }

def English.Pronouns.what : InterrogativePronoun

The interrogative what, for things.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.what = { form := "what", ontology := Pronoun.OntologicalCategory.thing }

def English.Pronouns.where_ : InterrogativePronoun

The interrogative where, for places.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.where_ = { form := "where", ontology := Pronoun.OntologicalCategory.place }

def English.Pronouns.when_ : InterrogativePronoun

The interrogative when, for times.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.when_ = { form := "when", ontology := Pronoun.OntologicalCategory.time }

def English.Pronouns.how : InterrogativePronoun

The interrogative how, for manners.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.how = { form := "how", ontology := Pronoun.OntologicalCategory.manner }

def English.Pronouns.interrogatives : Finset InterrogativePronoun

The interrogative pronoun inventory.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.interrogatives = {English.Pronouns.who, English.Pronouns.whom, English.Pronouns.what, English.Pronouns.where_, English.Pronouns.when_, English.Pronouns.how}

Demonstrative pronouns

def English.Pronouns.this_ : DemonstrativePronoun

The singular proximal demonstrative this.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.this_ = { form := "this", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, deixis := Person.first.participantSets }

def English.Pronouns.that_ : DemonstrativePronoun

The singular distal demonstrative that.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.that_ = { form := "that", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.singular, deixis := Person.first.participantSetsᶜ }

def English.Pronouns.these : DemonstrativePronoun

The plural proximal demonstrative these.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.these = { form := "these", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.plural, deixis := Person.first.participantSets }

def English.Pronouns.those : DemonstrativePronoun

The plural distal demonstrative those.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.those = { form := "those", person := some Person.third, number := some Number.plural, deixis := Person.first.participantSetsᶜ }

def English.Pronouns.demonstratives : Finset DemonstrativePronoun

The demonstrative pronoun inventory.

Equations

• English.Pronouns.demonstratives = {English.Pronouns.this_, English.Pronouns.that_, English.Pronouns.these, English.Pronouns.those}