Test your knowledge about indefinite pronouns and resolve your doubts with the commented answer key.
Exercise 1
Select the sentence in which we find an indefinite pronoun.
a) Some people speak several languages.
b) They are calling you.
c) Those people are very educated.
d) What day is it today?
The indefinite pronoun in the sentence "Certain people speak several languages." is "certain", because it refers to the 3rd person of the speech in a vague or imprecise way.
The remaining alternatives have other pronouns:
b) They are you calling. (te - personal pronoun in the oblique case)
w) Those people are very educated. (those - demonstrative pronoun) d) What is it today? (which - interrogative pronoun)Exercise 2
Which of the alternatives contains only indefinite pronouns?
a) who, which, which, how many, how many
b) which, which, whose, whose, how much
c) me, me, with me, you, you, with you
d) someone, nobody, everything, someone else, nothing, each, something
In alternative d, we have all invariable indefinite pronouns: someone, nobody, everything, someone else, nothing, each, something.
As for the pronouns of the remaining alternatives:
a) who, which, which, how many, how many are interrogative pronouns
b) which, which, whose, whose, how much are relative pronounsc) me, me, with me, you, you, with you are personal pronouns of the oblique caseExercise 3
I. Identify the indefinite pronouns in the three excerpts below taken from the National Education Guidelines and Bases Law (Law No. 9,394, of December 1996).
"V - access to the highest levels of teaching, research and artistic creation, according to each person's ability;
Art. 10. States will be responsible for:
VI - ensure primary education and offer, with priority, secondary education to all who require it, respecting the provisions of art. 38 of this Law;
§ 4 High school curricula will necessarily include the study of the English language and may offer other foreign languages, in optional, preferably Spanish, according to availability of supply, locations and times defined by the delivery systems. teaching."
"V - access to the highest levels of teaching, research and artistic creation, according to the ability to each one;
Art. 10. States will be responsible for:
VI - ensure elementary education and offer, with priority, secondary education to all who demand it, respecting the provisions of art. 38 of this Law;
§ 4 High school curricula will necessarily include the study of the English language and may offer others foreign languages, on an optional basis, preferably Spanish, according to the availability of supply, locations and times defined by the education systems."
II. Select the alternative that contains one of the reasons why indefinite pronouns are used in the writing of laws.
a) Avoid repetitions of previously mentioned terms to keep the text cohesive.
b) Make normative and legal texts more understandable for the population that reads them.
c) Talk about things that apply to everyone, to show that laws and other rules are very important and that everyone must obey.
d) Maintain an authoritarian tone.
Indefinite pronouns refer to the 3rd person of speech in a vague or imprecise way, which is why they are used to refer to the generality of things, such as laws, which are for everyone.
Exercise 4
The pronoun “who” can be classified as an indefinite, relative or interrogative pronoun. Considering the sentences below, select the alternative that classifies the pronoun “who” in the correct order.
I. The person I was referring to arrived.
II. Who arrived? III. I found who I was looking for.a) indefinite - relative - interrogative
b) relative - interrogative - indefinite
c) indefinite - interrogative - relative
d) relative - indefinite - interrogative
I. The person to who I was referring to arrived. (relative pronoun, because it refers to a term previously mentioned: the person)
II. Who it arrived? (interrogative pronoun, because it is being used to ask a question)
III. I thought who I was looking for. (indefinite pronoun, because it refers to someone imprecisely)
Exercise 5
In the phrase “Believe in all what lots of people talk”, the indefinite pronouns are:
a) everything - many
good
c) in everything - what
d) everything - people
The words "all" and "many" are indefinite pronouns, because they refer to things vaguely or imprecisely:
everything (believe in everything, without saying exactly what you believe)
many (which many people say, without saying exactly who the people are).
To study:
- What are indefinite pronouns (with examples)
- Pronouns
To practice:
- Pronoun exercises with template
- Personal pronoun exercises (with commented answers)
- Exercises on possessive pronouns (with template)
- Relative pronoun exercises (with commented answer sheet)
FERNANDES, Márcia. Indefinite pronoun exercises (with template).All Matter, [n.d.]. Available in: https://www.todamateria.com.br/exercicios-de-pronomes-indefinidos/. Access at:
See too
- Indefinite Pronouns
- Pronoun Exercises
- Relative pronoun exercises (with commented answer sheet)
- Exercises on Possessive Pronouns (with template)
- Personal pronoun exercises (with commented answers)
- Demonstrative pronouns
- Pronouns
- Exercises on adverbs