Distributive pronoun

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A distributive pronoun considers members of a group separately, rather than collectively.

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They include either, neither and others.

Besides distributive pronouns, there are also distributive determiners (also called distributive adjectives). The pronouns and determiners often have the same form:

Languages other than English

Biblical Hebrew

A common distributive idiom in Biblical Hebrew used an ordinary word for man, 'ish (איש). Brown Driver Briggs only provides four representative examples—Gn 9:5; 10:5; 40:5; Ex 12:3. [2] Of the many other examples of the idiom in the Hebrew Bible, the best known is a common phrase used to describe everyone returning to their own homes. It is found in 1 Samuel 10:25 among other places. [3]

This word, 'ish, was often used to distinguish men from women. "She shall be called Woman (אשה) because she was taken out of Man (איש)," is well known, [4] but the distinction is also clear in Gn 19:8; 24:16 and 38:25 (see note for further references). [5] However, it could also be used generically in this distributive idiom (Jb 42:11; I Ch 16:3). [6]

Greek

The most common distributive pronoun in classical Greek was hekastos (ἕκαστος, each).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">English nouns</span> Part of speech

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">English possessive</span> Possessive words and phrases in the English language

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">English determiners</span> Determiners in the English language

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">English adjectives</span> Adjectives in the English language

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References