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One is an English language, gender-neutral, indefinite pronoun that means, roughly, "a person". For purposes of verb agreement it is a third-person singular pronoun, though it sometimes appears with first- or second-person reference.
The most commonly encountered possessive forms of the above pronouns are: one's, as in "One should mind one's own business." those derived from the singular indefinite pronouns ending in -one or -body: nobody's, someone's, etc. (Those ending -thing can also form possessives, such as nothing's, but these are less common.)
The generic pronouns one and the generic use of you are sometimes called indefinite. These are uncontroversial pronouns. [12] Note, however, that English has three words that share the spelling and pronunciation of one. [2]: 426–427 determiner: I have one book; I'll have one too. noun: one plus two is three; pronoun: if one considers oneself ...
The pronoun you (and its other forms) can be used as a generic or indefinite pronoun, referring to a person in general. A more formal equivalent is the indefinite pronoun one (reflexive oneself, possessive one's). For example, you should keep your secrets to yourself may be used in place of the more formal one should keep one's secrets to oneself.
Indefinite pronouns, the largest group of pronouns, refer to one or more unspecified persons or things. One group in English includes compounds of some-, any-, every-and no-with -thing, -one and -body, for example: Anyone can do that. Another group, including many, more, both, and most, can appear alone or followed by of. [2]: 54–55 In addition,
Sometimes, the pronoun form is different, as with none (corresponding to the determiner no), nothing, everyone, somebody, etc. Many examples are listed as indefinite pronouns. Another indefinite (or impersonal) pronoun is one (with its reflexive form oneself and possessive one's), which is a more formal alternative to generic you. [18]
If one fails, then one must try harder next time. When the pronoun one is used in the numerical sense (rather than as a dummy pronoun), a different pronoun can be used subsequently to referring to the same entity. We watched as one [of the ospreys] dried its feathers in the sun. One [driver] pulled her car over to the side.
Other pronouns that form possessives (mainly indefinite pronouns) do so in the same way as nouns, with 's, for example one's, somebody's (and somebody else's). Certain pronouns, such as the common demonstratives this, that, these, and those, do not form their possessives using ' s, and of this, of that, etc., are used instead.