Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?
Would you like to see the dessert menu, madam?
Can I help you with something, ma’am? (American)
other ways of addressing people
9.99 You can use noun phrases to show your opinion of someone. Those that show dislike or contempt are often used with you in front of them.
No, you fool, the other way.
Shut your big mouth, you stupid idiot.
Ways of addressing people that show affection are usually used by themselves, but my is sometimes used in more old-fashioned or humorous contexts.
Goodbye, darling.
We’ve got to go, my dear.
Nouns that refer to family or social relationships can be used for addressing people.
Someone’s got to do it, mum.
Sorry, Grandma.
She’ll be all right, mate.
Trust me, kid.
Forms of address are occasionally used in the plural.
Sit down, children.
Stop her, you fools!
Note that ladies, gentlemen, and children are only used in the plural.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming.
10 Making a text hold together
10.1 When you speak or write, you very often want to make some connection with other things that you are saying or writing. There are several ways of using language to hold your whole message together and to give it meaning.
The most common way of doing this is by referring back to something that has already been mentioned. The different ways of referring back are explained in paragraphs 10.2 to 10.39.
There are also a few ways of referring forward to what you are about to say. These are explained in paragraphs 10.40 to 10.47.
Another way of making connections between what you have just said and what you are going to say is by using sentence connectors. These are explained in paragraphs 10.48 to 10.59.
People often avoid repeating words when they are referring back. This is explained in paragraphs 10.60 to 10.81.
Referring back
10.2 When you speak or write, you very often refer back to something that has already been mentioned or make a connection with it.
pronouns
10.3 One common way of referring back to something is to use a personal pronoun such as she, it, or them, or a possessive pronoun such as mine or hers.
Andrew found an old camera in a rubbish bin. He cleaned it up and used it to win several photography awards.
Tom and Jo are back from Australia. In fact I saw them in town the other day. They were buying clothes.
I held her very close. My cheek was against hers.
Personal pronouns are explained in paragraphs 1.95 to 1.106. Possessive pronouns are explained in paragraphs 1.107 to 1.110.
There are also other pronouns that can be used to refer back. These include pronouns such as another and many which have the same form as indefinite determiners. These are explained in paragraph 1.154.
…programs that tell the computer to do one thing rather than another.
You can also use a quantity expression or a cardinal number.
The women were asked to leave. Some of them refused.
These soldiers were ready for anything. Many of them had already been involved in fighting. …the Guatemalan earthquake which killed 24,000 people and injured 77,000.
Quantity expressions are explained in paragraphs 2.175 to 2.207. Numbers are explained in paragraphs 2.208 to 2.231.
determiners
10.4 Another common way of referring back to something is to use a definite determiner such as the or its in front of a noun.
A man and a woman were walking up the hill. The man wore shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals. The woman wore a blue dress.
Thanks, said Brody. He hung up, turned out the light in his office, and walked out to his car.
Definite determiners are explained in paragraphs 1.162 to 1.212.
Some indefinite determiners can also be used to refer back to something.
A dog was running around in the yard. Soon another dog appeared.
Here is a list of indefinite determiners that are used to refer back to something:
another
both
each
either
every
neither
other
These are explained fully in paragraphs 1.223 to 1.250.
10.5 As indicated above, pronouns and determiners used to refer back are explained in Chapter 1, where other pronouns and determiners are explained.
The demonstratives this and that are often used to refer back to whole sentences and sections of text. These uses are set out in the following section (paragraphs 10.7 to 10.17). The same section also explains other words that are used to refer back in a specific way.
other ways of referring back
10.6 There are also several other ways of referring back to something that has already been mentioned. These involve
These are explained in paragraphs 10.18 to 10.23.
This use of so and not is explained in paragraphs 10.24 to 10.27.
This is explained in paragraphs 10.28 to 10.39.
Referring back in a specific way
demonstratives referring to things
10.7 This and that, and the plural forms these and those, are used to refer back clearly to a thing or fact that has just been mentioned.
They can be used both as pronouns and as determiners.
More and more money is being pumped into the educational system, and we assume this will continue.