There are 9 parts of speech or word classes in English language:
– nouns
– pronouns
– determiners
– verbs
– prepositions
– adjectives
– adverbs
– conjunctions
– interjections

Nouns are a group of words that we use to name:
– people: man, woman, teacher, John, Mary
– animals: cat, rabbit, horse, elephant
– plants: palm tree, coconut trees, grass, wheat, corn
– places: home, office, town, village, England
– concrete objects: chair, table, ball, water, money, sugar
– abstract objects: truth, lies, happiness, sorrow, time, friendship

Pronouns replaces nouns so that we don’t have to repeat them over and over again.

Do you like the manager?
I don’t like the manager.
The manager is not friendly.
(‘The manager’ is a noun phrase.)

By using pronouns, we can say:
Do you like the manager?
I don’t like him.
He is not friendly.

Do you know Jane?
I have a letter for Jane.
Please give this letter to Jane.
(‘Jane’ is a noun.)

By using pronouns, we can say:
Do you know Jane?
I have a letter for her.
Please give it to her.

There are 8 types of pronouns:
– Personal Pronouns
– Demonstrative Pronouns
– Possessive Pronouns
– Interrogative Pronouns
– Reflexive Pronouns
– Reciprocal Pronouns
– Indefinite Pronouns
– Relative Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used to refer to:
– non-specific people
– non-specific things or objects
– non-specific places

Jim gave me this book.
Jim = noun

He gave me this book.
he = personal pronoun

Someone gave me this book.
someone = indefinite pronoun (We don’t know who this person is.)

PERSON
Some (+): someone, somebody
Some (-): anyone, anybody
All: everyone, everybody
None: no one, nobody

THING
Some (+): something
Some (-): anything
All: everything
None: nothing

someone, somebody

some one (wrong)
some body (wrong)

– Somebody is more informal.
– Someone is more common in writing.
– Somebody/someone is used in positive sentences.

(+) Someone sent me this message.
(+) I saw someone.

anyone, anybody

any one (wrong)
any body (wrong)

– Anybody/anyone is used in negative sentences and questions.

(-) I didn’t tell anyone.
(?) Is anyone there?

– Anybody/anyone can be used in positive sentences when it does not matter which person.

(+) Anyone can win the competition.
(+) I forbid anyone to touch that clock.

everyone, everybody

every one (wrong)
every body (wrong)

Everyone enjoyed the concert.
The police questioned everyone.

no one, nobody

noone (wrong)
no body (wrong)

– Nobody can only be used in positive sentences (without not).

Nobody came yesterday.
Nobody didn’t come yesterday. (wrong)

I saw nobody just now.
I didn’t see nobody just now. (wrong)

something

some thing (wrong)

– Something is used in positive sentences.

(+) Something must have happened yesterday.
(+) He wanted to show me something.

anything

any thing (wrong)

– Anything is used in negative sentences and questions.

(-) I didn’t see anything.
(?) Do you want anything from the shop?

– Anything can be used in positive sentences when it doesn’t matter which thing.
(+) Anything can happen.

everything

every thing (wrong)

Everything will be okay.
The robbers took everything.

nothing

no thing (wrong)

– Nothing can only be used in positive sentences (without not).

Nothing is easy.
No thing is easy. (wrong)
Nothing is not easy. (wrong)

I have nothing to eat.
I don’t have nothing to eat. (wrong)

These are singular pronouns:
– someone
– anyone
– everyone
– no one
– somebody
– anybody
– everybody
– nobody

We use singular pronouns with singular verbs.

Someone is coming.
Someone are coming. (wrong)

Was anyone there?
Were anyone there? (wrong)

Everybody knows him.
Everybody know him. (wrong)

Nobody talks to him.
Nobody talk to him. (wrong)

These are singular pronouns:
– something
– anything
– everything
– nothing

We use singular pronouns with singular verbs.

Something is happening over there.
Something are happening over there. (wrong)

Is anything wrong?
Are anything wrong? (wrong)

Everything sucks.
Everything suck. (wrong)

Nothing tastes better than this ice cream.
Nothing taste better than this ice cream. (wrong)

We can use some- for questions if:
– we already know the answers
– the questions are not really questions, but invitations, requests etc.
– we expect the answers to be “Yes”

Are you looking for someone?
Have you lost something?
Are you going somewhere?
Could somebody help me, please? (request)
Would you like to go somewhere this weekend? (invitation)

Any- and no- can be used to express negative things with different effect.

I don’t know anything about it. (neutral)
I know nothing about it. (defensive)

I don’t have anybody to talk to. (neutral)
I have nobody to talk to. (hopeless)

There wasn’t anything we could do. (neutral)
There was nothing we could do. (defensive/angry)