[Sidenote: _The need of pronouns._]
72. When we wish to speak of a name several times in succession, it
is clumsy and tiresome to repeat the noun. For instance, instead of
saying, "_The pupil_ will succeed in _the pupil's_ efforts if _the
pupil_ is ambitious," we improve the sentence by shortening it thus,
"The pupil will succeed in _his_ efforts if _he_ is ambitious."
Again, if we wish to know about the ownership of a house, we evidently
cannot state the owner's name, but by a question we say, "_Whose_
house is that?" thus placing a word instead of the name till we learn
the name.
This is not to be understood as implying that pronouns were _invented_
because nouns were tiresome, since history shows that pronouns are as
old as nouns and verbs. The use of pronouns must have sprung up
naturally, from a necessity for short, definite, and representative
words.
[Sidenote: _Definition._]
A pronoun is a reference word, standing for a name, or for a person
or thing, or for a group of persons or things.
[Sidenote: _Classes of pronouns._]
73. Pronouns may be grouped in five classes:--
(1) Personal pronouns, which distinguish person by their form (Sec.
76).
(2) Interrogative pronouns, which are used to ask questions about
persons or things.
(3) Relative pronouns, which relate or refer to a noun, pronoun, or
other word or expression, and at the same time connect two statements
They are also called conjunctive.
(4) Adjective pronouns, words, primarily adjectives, which are
classed as adjectives when they modify nouns, but as pronouns when
they stand for nouns.
(5) Indefinite pronouns, which cannot be used as adjectives, but
stand for an indefinite number of persons or things.
Numerous examples of all these will be given under the separate
classes hereafter treated.
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