Indefinite pronouns

On this page

• Definition of an indefinite pronoun
• Common indefinite pronouns
• Grammatical number in indefinite pronouns
• Possessive indefinite pronouns
• Additional information

Definition of an indefinite pronoun

Pronouns are words that take the place of a noun. Pronouns can do anything that a noun can do. (For example, they can be subjects or objects of a verb.) There are several types of pronouns; one type is the indefinite pronoun.

Indefinite pronouns are indefinite words like someone, others, several or few. Unlike personal pronouns (e.g. he, she, they), indefinite pronouns don’t refer to a specific person or thing already named.

Common indefinite pronouns

Some of the most common indefinite pronouns are listed below:

• compounds of -one (anyone, everyone, no one, someone)
• compounds of -body (anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody)
• compounds of -thing (anything, everything, nothing, something)
• all
• both
• each
• either, neither
• few, fewer
• many, more, most, much
• none
• one
• several
• some

Grammatical number in indefinite pronouns

Some indefinite pronouns, like the compounds of -one, -body and -thing, are always singular in meaning. Others, like both, few and several, are always plural.

But some indefinite pronouns can be either singular or plural in meaning, depending on the context:

• All of the cake is gone. [singular idea, since all is referring to cake]
• All of the cupcakes are gone. [plural idea, since all is referring to cupcakes]

See our writing tips Verb agreement with indefinite pronouns and Pronoun agreement: Indefinite pronouns for more details on how to tell when indefinite pronouns are singular or plural and how to make verbs and other pronouns agree.

Possessive indefinite pronouns

Unlike personal pronouns, indefinite pronouns don’t have different subject, object and possessive forms.

However, an indefinite pronoun that refers to a person can become possessive by taking the ending ’s:

• I found somebody’s wallet on the hiking path.
• The server brought everyone’s order except Tim’s.

Additional information

• Verb agreement with indefinite pronouns
• Pronoun agreement: Indefinite pronouns

Quizzes

• Subject-verb agreement: Indefinite pronouns