B1 PRELIMINARY · GRAMMAR · READING PART 6 & WRITING

Pronouns: my, mine, myself and something

Possessives (my, mine), reflexives (myself) and words like someone, anything, nowhere.

Finn says

Small words like these often appear in Reading Part 6, and choosing the right one makes your Writing much clearer.

Possessives and reflexives

Before a noun, or on their own.

Before a noun

my, your, his, her, its, our, their

Is this your phone?

On their own

mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

It isn't mine – it's hers.

Reflexives

myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves

I taught myself to play the guitar.

For people (-one / -body), things (-thing) and places (-where).

Positive sentences

someone, something, somewhere

There's someone at the door.

Questions and negatives

anyone, anything, anywhere

I didn't see anything. Is there anyone here?

Negative meaning

no one / nobody, nothing, nowhere

Nobody came to the meeting.

In Reading Part 6 you write one word in each gap. The missing words are often small grammar words like these.

The dog hurt its leg while it was playing.

'Its' (no apostrophe) is the possessive. 'It's' means 'it is'.

Did you make this cake yourself?

A reflexive: you did it without help.

I'm hungry, but there's nothing in the fridge.

'Nothing' = not anything (positive verb 'is').

✗ This bag is my.✓ This bag is mine.Without a noun, use 'mine'.
✗ The cat is eating it's food.✓ The cat is eating its food.'It's' = it is. The possessive is 'its'.
✗ I didn't see nobody.✓ I didn't see anybody. / I saw nobody.Only one negative in a sentence.

Finn's exam tip

Use 'any-' words with not: I didn't do anything. Use 'no-' words with a positive verb: I did nothing. Never put both together!

Write one word in each gap.

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