An indefinite pronoun is a
pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun ( abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not ...
which does not have a specific familiar
referent
A referent () is a person or thing to which a name – a linguistic expression or other symbol – refers. For example, in the sentence ''Mary saw me'', the referent of the word ''Mary'' is the particular person called Mary who is being spoken o ...
. Indefinite pronouns are in contrast to
definite
In linguistics, definiteness is a semantic feature of noun phrases, distinguishing between referents or senses that are identifiable in a given context (definite noun phrases) and those which are not (indefinite noun phrases). The prototypical ...
pronouns.
Indefinite pronouns can represent either
count noun
In linguistics, a count noun (also countable noun) is a noun that can be modified by a quantity and that occurs in both singular and plural forms, and that can co-occur with quantificational determiners like ''every'', ''each'', ''several'', e ...
s or
noncount nouns. They often have related forms across these categories: universal (such as ''everyone'', ''everything''), assertive existential (such as ''somebody'', ''something''), elective existential (such as ''anyone'', ''anything''), and negative (such as ''nobody'', ''nothing'').
Many languages distinguish forms of indefinites used in affirmative contexts from those
used in non-affirmative contexts. For instance, English "something" can be used only in affirmative contexts while "anything" is used otherwise.
Indefinite pronouns are associated with indefinite
determiner
A determiner, also called determinative ( abbreviated ), is a word, phrase, or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase and generally serves to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context. That is, a determine ...
s of a similar or identical form (such as ''every'', ''any'', ''all'', ''some''). A pronoun can be thought of as ''replacing'' a noun phrase, while a determiner ''introduces'' a noun phrase and precedes any adjectives that modify the noun. Thus ''all'' is an indefinite determiner in "all good boys deserve favour" but a pronoun in "all are happy".
Table of English indefinite pronoun usage
Most indefinite pronouns correspond to discretely singular or plural usage. However, some of them can entail singularity in one context and plurality in another. Pronouns that commonly connote indefiniteness are indicated below, with examples as singular, plural, or singular/plural usage.
Table of indefinite pronouns
List of quantifier pronouns
English has the following
quantifier pronouns:
;Uncountable (thus, with a singular verb form)
*
enough – ''Enough is enough.''
*
little – ''Little is known about this period of history.''
*
less – ''Less is known about this period of history.''
*
much – ''Much was discussed at the meeting.''
*
more
More or Mores may refer to:
Computing
* MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS
* more (command), a shell command
* MORE protocol, a routing protocol
* Missouri Research and Education Network
Music Albums
* ''More!'' (album), by Booka ...
(also countable, plural) – ''More is better.''
*
most (also countable, plural) – ''Most was rotten.'' (Usually specified, such as in ''most of the food''.)
*
plenty – ''Thanks, that's plenty.''
;Countable, singular
*
one
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
– ''One has got through.'' (Often modified or specified, such as in ''a single one'', ''one of them'', etc.)
;Countable, plural
*