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Plural indefinite pronouns?

English Language & Usage Asked by Mar Rojo on June 1, 2021

Can some indefinite pronouns be plural? One commenter on Mr K’s Grammar World says they cannot. He also says the following examples contain quantifiers, and not indefinite pronouns.

  • Many have expressed their views.
  • John likes coffee but not tea. I think both are good.
  • I’m glad to say that fewer are smoking these days.
  • I’m sure that others have tried before us.
  • They say that vegetables are good for you.
  • All is forgiven. – All have arrived.
  • There is more over there. – More are coming.
  • Here is some. – Some have arrived.

2 Answers

Sounds like your commenter is from an earlier tradition of analysis. These days, amongst other determiners, bare quantifiers used in a context where a substantive is expected, such as the subject or object of a clause, are generally considered pronouns.

Certainly Wikipedia disagrees with the assertion that indefinite pronouns cannot be plural:

Indefinite pronouns, the largest group of pronouns, refer to one or more unspecified persons or things. One group in English includes compounds of some-, any-, every- and no- with -thing, -one and -body, for example: Anyone can do that.

Another group, including many, more, both, and most, can appear alone or followed by of.

Even numbers, which are normally thought of as quantifiers, can occur stand-alone in substantive contexts. I don’t know what you want to call those, but they’re definitely more than a mere adjective.

Answered by tchrist on June 1, 2021

What difference does it make whether you call them pronouns or not?
It doesn't change their properties or their usage or their meaning or their syntax.

Go right ahead and call them pronouns if you like -- or call them quantifiers or determiners.
It makes no difference either way. It's just a name, not a description.
Definitions are for mathematicians; they are not facts, just presuppositions.
And, in the case of POS definitions, they are quite often incorrect presuppositions.

Answered by John Lawler on June 1, 2021

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