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Indefinite pronouns

A2Pronouns · lesson 18 of 57

The amount and complexity of indefinite pronouns can be quite overwhelming. In this subchapter, every pronoun will be discussed in detail. If you would like to start with a quick overview, visit the [summary](#/lesson/Pronouns.Id10) page first.

The indefinite pronoun

An indefinite pronoun refers to someone or something that is not specifically or exactly defined, e.g. _some, every, all,_ or _each_.

Some indefinite pronouns can be used independently: " _Everybody_ is happy." Other indefinite pronouns act as adjectives, which means that they precede a noun: " _Every cat_ is happy."

Collective indefinite pronouns

Among the indefinite pronouns, there is a special category: the collective indefinite pronouns: _all, every, each, everything, everyone,_ and _everybody_. They are defined as a separate class because they have a few features in common.

We will start with the collective indefinite pronouns. After that, we will move on to the rest: _any, several, some, something, somebody, nothing, nobody,_ et cetera.

Pronominal adverbs

Among the indefinite pronouns, there are three pronouns that we can turn into [pronominal adverbs](#/lesson/Pronouns.Ad02) when we combine them with a preposition: we can turn _alles_ into _overal_, _iets_ into _ergens,_ and _niets_ can become _nergens_.

Remember: If, while going through the following pages, you feel like you are losing track of the overall picture, you can always jump to the [summary](#/lesson/Pronouns.Id10).

Exclamative pronouns Collective indefinite pronouns
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