WREN & MARTIN's English grammar-10 MCQs on Reflexive, Emphatic, Demonstrative, Indefinite and Distributive Pronouns
10 MCQs on Reflexive, Emphatic, Demonstrative, Indefinite and Distributive Pronouns
1. "The prime minister himself inaugurated the newly constructed bridge in the presence of thousands of people." — What type of pronoun is "himself" in this sentence?
- A) Reflexive pronoun
- B) Indefinite pronoun
- C) Demonstrative pronoun
- D) Emphatic pronoun
Answer: D) Emphatic pronoun ("Himself" is used here to emphasise that it was the prime minister personally who performed the action and not someone else on his behalf — when a reflexive pronoun is used to add emphasis to a noun or pronoun already present in the sentence it is called an emphatic pronoun — it can be removed without changing the basic meaning of the sentence.)
2. "She accidentally cut herself while chopping vegetables in the kitchen this morning." — What type of pronoun is "herself"?
- A) Emphatic pronoun
- B) Demonstrative pronoun
- C) Reflexive pronoun
- D) Distributive pronoun
Answer: C) Reflexive pronoun ("Herself" is used here as the object of the verb "cut" and refers back to the subject "she" — when the subject and the object of the verb refer to the same person and the pronoun reflects the action back on the subject it is called a reflexive pronoun — unlike the emphatic pronoun it cannot be removed without changing the meaning.)
3. "These are the documents that you must submit to the concerned authority before the deadline." — What type of pronoun is "these"?
- A) Reflexive pronoun
- B) Indefinite pronoun
- C) Distributive pronoun
- D) Demonstrative pronoun
Answer: D) Demonstrative pronoun ("These" stands alone as the subject of the sentence and points to specific documents nearby — when a demonstrative word stands alone without modifying a noun it functions as a demonstrative pronoun — "this" and "these" point to things nearby while "that" and "those" point to things at a distance.)
4. "Each of the students was given a certificate of merit at the annual prize distribution ceremony." — What type of pronoun is "each"?
- A) Indefinite pronoun
- B) Demonstrative pronoun
- C) Emphatic pronoun
- D) Distributive pronoun
Answer: D) Distributive pronoun ("Each" refers to every individual member of a group considered separately one by one — distributive pronouns refer to members of a group individually rather than collectively — "each" "every" "either" and "neither" are the main distributive pronouns in English and they always take a singular verb.)
5. "Someone has left their bag unattended near the entrance of the examination hall." — What type of pronoun is "someone"?
- A) Distributive pronoun
- B) Demonstrative pronoun
- C) Emphatic pronoun
- D) Indefinite pronoun
Answer: D) Indefinite pronoun ("Someone" refers to an unspecified or unknown person without identifying who that person is — indefinite pronouns refer to non-specific persons things or quantities — common indefinite pronouns include "someone" "anyone" "everyone" "no one" "something" "anything" "everything" "nothing" "many" "few" and "several.")
6. "The director herself reviewed every single scene of the film before it was released to the public." — What type of pronoun is "herself"?
- A) Reflexive pronoun
- B) Indefinite pronoun
- C) Distributive pronoun
- D) Emphatic pronoun
Answer: D) Emphatic pronoun ("Herself" is placed immediately after "the director" to emphasise that she personally reviewed the scenes — the emphatic pronoun adds stress and emphasis to the noun or pronoun it follows — it is used to highlight the importance of the person performing the action and can be omitted without altering the basic meaning.)
7. "Neither of the two candidates presented a convincing argument during the debate." — What type of pronoun is "neither"?
- A) Indefinite pronoun
- B) Emphatic pronoun
- C) Reflexive pronoun
- D) Distributive pronoun
Answer: D) Distributive pronoun ("Neither" refers to not one nor the other of two people or things considered individually — distributive pronouns consider members of a group one at a time — "neither" is used when referring to two entities and always takes a singular verb — when referring to more than two "none" is used instead.)
8. "Nobody in the entire organisation was aware of the drastic changes that were about to be announced." — What type of pronoun is "nobody"?
- A) Distributive pronoun
- B) Reflexive pronoun
- C) Indefinite pronoun
- D) Demonstrative pronoun
Answer: C) Indefinite pronoun ("Nobody" refers to no person in particular without specifying any individual — it is a compound indefinite pronoun formed by combining "no" and "body" — indefinite pronouns do not refer to any specific person or thing — "nobody" always takes a singular verb and is equivalent in meaning to "no one.")
9. "He looked at himself in the mirror and could not believe how much he had changed over the years." — What type of pronoun is "himself"?
- A) Emphatic pronoun
- B) Distributive pronoun
- C) Demonstrative pronoun
- D) Reflexive pronoun
Answer: D) Reflexive pronoun ("Himself" is the object of the verb "looked at" and refers back to the subject "he" — the action of looking is reflected back on the subject making "himself" a reflexive pronoun — a reflexive pronoun is essential to the meaning of the sentence and cannot be removed without making the sentence incomplete or changing its meaning.)
10. "That is exactly the kind of attitude and dedication we expect from every member of our team." — What type of pronoun is "that"?
- A) Reflexive pronoun
- B) Indefinite pronoun
- C) Demonstrative pronoun
- D) Distributive pronoun
Answer: C) Demonstrative pronoun ("That" stands alone as the subject of the sentence and points to a specific attitude or quality — it functions as a demonstrative pronoun referring to something previously mentioned or understood — demonstrative pronouns take the place of a noun and point to specific things — "that" and "those" point to things that are more distant while "this" and "these" point to things that are closer.)
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