Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are a large group of pronouns that at first seem somewhat unrelated. Their shared characteristic is that they tend to be somewhat vague in their reference. For instance, how do you define and limit “somebody” or “most”?  As their name suggests, indefinite pronouns are less definite than the other pronouns.

That’s why indefinite pronouns don’t always refer to specific persons or things.  In fact, they may even be lacking a clear antecedent:

Nobody knows but me.

Everything is hunky-dory.

Other indefinite pronouns are more specific, and what they refer to can be deciphered from context.

You ate all of the candies!

Few people can juggle hand grenades.

Here is a list of indefinite pronouns:

Singular	Plural	Sg. or Pl.
another	both	all
anybody	few	any
anyone	many	more
anything	others	most
each	several	none
either		some
enough		such
everyody
everyone
everything
little
much
neither
nobody
no one
nothing
other
somebody
someone
something

Note how many end in –body, -one, or –thing.