Unit 40 Level 3 (Upper Intermediate-Advanced) Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used to replace nouns… though they don’t specify which noun they replace.

This type of pronouns can be especially troublesome as some of them are singular (everything, nothing), a few of them are plural (many, few)… and yet there is a third type, which embraces those that can be either singular or plural depending on how they are used in a sentence (none, all).


1) Obviously, this may bring about some issues in terms of subject-verb agreement which are necessary to clarify, so let’s take a look here, here and here.




2) Do you know how to make question tags with indefinite pronouns? Are you sure? Check this video.




3) Time to practice. Let’s start with these exercises. Then, translate the following sentences into English:

a) Ninguno de ellos sabía nadar y solo un par de ellos tenían bicicletas, ninguna de las cuales era de carreras.

b) Todo el mundo quiere sus cinco minutos de fama.

c) Cada uno de los niños tiene un pequeño árbol de navidad en su dormitorio para decorar.

d) Unos pocos de los españoles regresaron de Cuba, mientras que muchos de los británicos que tenían casas y propiedades se quedaron en Florida.

e) Ella hablaba constantemente cuando la visitábamos, aunque muy poco de lo que decía era coherente.




4) Now, try this dictation exercise.Click on expert.




5) Don’t forget to learn new vocabulary. Extract all the words you don't know from this article from Newsweek Magazine titled “The Galliano Dossier”. Look the new words up in an English-English dictionary like this one.




6) Listen and read this story. You should learn all the vocabulary and practice pronunciation. And, for the most daring, read this article from “The Guardian”.




7) Finally, write a story of about 200/250 words using the pronouns we have reviewed in this lesson. You can use examples from the videos and exercises above.

If you have done all these exercises, then you've scored a 10! Well done!


**********


Key to exercise 3:

a) None of them knew how to swim and only a couple of them had bicycles, none of which were racing bikes.

b) Everybody wants their five minutes of fame.

c) Each of the children hasa small Christmas tree in their bedroom to decorate.

d) Few of the Spanish returned from Cuba, while many of the British who had homes and properties stayed in Florida.

e) She would talk constantly when we would visit her, although very little of what she said was coherent.


Next Lesson

Previous Lesson Imprimir