Читать книгу The Etymology and Syntax of the English Language Explained and Illustrated онлайн

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As my and mine, thy and thine, our and ours, your and yours, their and theirs, are not mutually convertible, they cannot be regarded as synonymous each with its fellow.

This and that, which have improperly been referred by some to the class of pronouns, have been considered already. The former makes in the plural these, the latter those.

The relative pronouns, so called because they directly relate or refer to a substantive preceding, which is therefore termed the antecedent, are who, which, that.

The pronoun who is of the masculine or feminine gender, referring to persons, male or female. The pronoun which is neuter. That is common to the three genders.

Sing. and Plur. Sing. and Plur. Nom. Who[34] Which Gen. Whose Whose Obj. Whom Which.

Lowth and several other grammarians have asserted that the pronoun which admits no variation. Numberless examples, however, from the best authors might be cited to disprove this assertion. Shakspeare occasionally uses whose as the genitive of which; and, since his time, writers of the highest eminence have employed it in the same manner.