Some English verbs have stative meanings. They describe states: conditions or situations that exist. When verbs have stative meanings, they arc usually not used in progressive tenses. | 8-2 PERSONAL PRONOUNS AGREEMENT WITH GENERIC NOUNS AND INDEFINITE PRONOUNS a A student walked into the room. She was looking for the teacher. b A student walked into the room. He was looking for the teacher. In a and b The pronouns refer to particular individuals whose gender is known. The nouns are not generic. c A student should always do his assignments. d A student should always do his lher assignments. A student should always do his or her assignments. A generic noun does not refer to any person or thing in particular rather it represents a whole group. In c A student is a generic noun it refers to anyone who is a student. With a generic noun a singular masculine pronoun has been used traditionally but many English speakers now use both masculine and feminine pronouns to refer to a singular generic noun as in d . The use of both masculine and feminine pronouns can create awkward-sounding sentences. e Students should always do their assignments. Problems with choosing masculine and or feminine pronouns can often be avoided by using a plural rather than a singular generic noun as in e . INDEFINITE PRONOUNS everyone someone everybody somebody everything something anyone no one anybody nobody anything nothing f Somebody left his book on the desk. g Everyone has his or her own ideas. h INFORMAL Somebody left their book on the desk. Everyone has their own ideas. A singular pronoun is used in formal English to refer to an indefinite pronoun as in f and g . In everyday informal English a plural personal pronoun is often used to refer to an indefinite pronoun as in h . See Chart 7-7 p. 112 Basic Article Usage. No one can also be written with a hyphen in British English No-one heard me. EXERCISE 4. Personal pronoun use with generic nouns. Chart 8-2 Directions Use plural instead of singular generic nouns where possible. Change pronouns and verbs as necessary. Discuss the advantages of using plural rather than singular generic nouns. 1. When a student wants to study he or
