Pronoun

Question

Sir,

We all are going to England.

1. Here as I know that the 'We all' is subject. But here 'We' is pronoun, what about the word 'all'.

2. can combination of noun and pronoun be subject of a sentence.
Please clear it .

thanks.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

"we" is a personal pronoun. "all" is an indefinite pronoun.

As you point out, "we all" is the subject, so two pronouns together can be the subject.
As for the question of noun and pronoun, yes, these too can be a subject, for example, "We, the people, demand our rights!" "we, the people" is the subject.

Hanuman_2000 · Answer

Sir,

'All ' as a pronoun can be singular and plural .

can I write

she all went to school.

Please clear it.

MountainHiker · Answer

hanuman,

"She all went to school." No, incorrect because it is just she, there is no "all".

She herself went back to school. Ok, but normally, "She went back to school."

From: http://www.fact-index.com/h/ha/harriet_tubman.html

"She herself was later to become famous as "Moses", one of the most successful guides of the Underground Railroad; she made many trips South to help other slaves escape."

When you add the "herself" you add emphasis.

Hope that helps.

MountainHiker

CalifJim · Answer

The following may help you understand the statement that "all" can be singular or plural.

Singular use of "all": With non-count nouns, "all" goes with the singular form of the noun. As the subject of a sentence, it also goes with "is", "was", or any other singular form of a verb:

All of the meat was spoiled. All the butter has melted. Not all chocolate is sweet.
Susan and Larry are fond of all antique furniture. Mr. Burnett has provided all of the information we requested. Nobody will be able to eat all this food.

Plural use of "all": With count nouns, "all" goes with the plural form of the noun. As the subject of a sentence, it also goes with "are", "were", or any other plural form of a verb:

All of the children have arrived. All men are mortal. All the doors were open.
Ben likes to play all kinds of sports. We have interviewed all the applicants. The director spoke to all of the employees about the new rules.

The following are all incorrect:

All of the child has arrived. All man is mortal. All the door is open. ... and so on.

For the purposes of the present discussion, the personal pronouns may be considered countable, but with irregular plurals, not unlike "child", "children", perhaps. The singular/plural pairs (subject forms, object forms) are:

I/we, he/they, she/they, you/you; me/us, him/them, her/them, you/you.

As a consequence of their status as countable, "all" goes with only the plural form of these pronouns, the same as for any countable entities.

Correct: "we all", "they all", and "you all" (when it refers to more than one person). Similarly, "all of us", "all of them", ... "All of us / We all like dessert."

But not correct: "I all", "he all", "she all", and "you all" (when it refers to only one person) Similarly, "all of me", "all of him", ... "All of me likes dessert."

Now that said, there are some uses of "all" with the singular of countable entities, usually idioms of an exceptional nature. But I leave that for another post another day.

Bubu prasant · Answer

great explanation califjim,

Now I would like to add this:

The subject of a sentence is usually a noun phrase which is mainly a combination of noun pronoun and determiner.

Rahul, I am bubu, good to know you are using this site

see you around

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