Relative pronouns, along with personal, possessive and pronouns of other categories, do not name objects and signs, like other independent parts of speech, but point to them. Therefore, basically, only by context can we determine the specific semantic meaning of the pronoun. For example, the word “which” in the sentence: “Which house is the account?” is an interrogative pronoun, and in the sentence: “I saw a dream that I have long remembered” - relative.
Semantic and morphological features and properties of pronouns allow them to be correlated with adjectives, numerals, nouns, adverbs. The so-called impersonal pronouns stand apart:
- nouns: who, someone, someone, you, me, etc .;
- pronouns-adjectives: such, another, someone else's, etc .;
- pronouns-adverbs: once, always, why, here, etc .;
- pronouns comparable to impersonal-predicative words, i.e. impersonal pronouns: such what is;
- pronouns-numerals: how much, how much (indicate a generalized number).
Relative pronouns in the Russian language have a number of features. They are characterized by semantic and grammatical diversity, because the words included in this group - which, whose, which, how much - can express interrogative relations, and can appear in the sentence as allied words. In the first meaning they contain a question about an object, a sign, but do not point to it, and in the second meaning they combine the main and subordinate parts in a complex sentence.
The grammatical subtleties of relative pronouns
- Relative pronouns who do not have the category of number and gender. But on them it is possible to determine whether an animate or inanimate object is being discussed. At the same time, the pronoun who has the combined ability with words that are both singular and plural: But those who argued with him yesterday, nodded their heads approvingly. I don’t remember who laughed at you!
- In a sentence with a pronoun, who often uses a pronoun such as this to agree with the feminine gender: I wondered who the girl was . This is due to the fact that according to grammatical norms, words that are associated with the pronoun who are used in the form of the masculine gender.
- If the pronoun in the sentence is an allied word, its gender is determined by the gender of the noun with which it is associated: The dream that the father had a dream did not give us rest. Usually, the words that are associated with this pronoun are used in the form of a neuter gender.
- The pronoun that is traditionally used only in the singular form: No matter how much we listen to the motor, it remains unclear to us what is making noise.
- Relative pronouns are who, which are inclined as follows: who is like this pronoun, is he, and what is like the whole: Who is this, who is this, by whom - these, about whom - about this, etc. What is all, of what - of everything, of what - of everything, of what - of everything, of what - of everything, etc.
- Performing the function of the conjunction word in complex sentences , relative pronouns are members of the sentence and are emphasized in accordance with this: Tell me, what is your assessment of the control? (the word “what” is underlined by a wavy line, as it is a pronoun)
Controversial points in morphology
Not all linguists, authors of textbooks and study guides in the Russian language, agree with the allocation of relative and interrogative pronouns into independent categories. Some consider them to be the same words that simply perform different tasks in sentences:
- serve to express a question in interrogative sentences;
- perform the role of allied words.
Thus, according to their calculations, pronouns by value are not of 9, but 8 categories.
According to other linguists, and most of them, these are words of different categories, but coinciding in form, i.e. being homonyms.