人称代词指“我”“你”“他”“她”“它”“我们”“你们”“他们”等不同人称的词,有人称、数和格的变化,见表1。
表1 人称代词数和格的变化
主格在句中作主语,宾格在句中作动词或者介词的宾语。使用时,应按照以下的规则。
(1)两个及以上的代词一起使用,或者一个名词与一个及以上的代词一起使用时,它们的句法功能要一致。例如:
You and I will work in the scientific team together.
你和我将一起在科研团队工作。
You, I and Mary are going to attend the English Speech Contest this Friday.
你、我和玛丽准备参加本周五的英语演讲比赛。
* (2)用作表语时,在书面语中,如果说明主语用主格,说明宾语用宾格;在口语中,说明主语的代词多数用宾格。例如:
If I were he, I would not give up the chance.(书面语中)
如果我是他的话,我不会放弃这个机会。
—Who is it outside please?
—It's me.(口语中)
——请问谁在外面?
——是我
(3)人称代词还可作同位语。例如:
We Chinese have made great achievements since 1949.
我们中国人自从1949年以来已取得伟大成就。
Three of them girls enjoy listening to music very much.
她们三个女孩非常喜欢听音乐。
(4) we、you都可泛指, we更常用;it可指未知的人、天气、时间、形式主语等,也可以用来强调。例如:
We'd better take his advice.
我们最好接受他的建议。
It's fine today, isn't it?
今天天气很好,不是吗?
It is a literature lecture that we are going to listen to tomorrow.(=We are going to listen to a literature lecture tomorrow.)
我们明天要听的是一场文学讲座。
Life is like a box of chocolates, and you never know what you are going to get.
生活就像一盒巧克力,你永远不知道下一块是什么味道。