Person Wʌn Hard English Pronoun Bre Ice Cream

• i'd like an ice cream. are you having one, too?
• our car's always breaking down. but we're getting a new one soon.
• she was wearing her new dress, the red one.
• my favourite band? oh, that's a hard one (= a hard question).

one

1. used to avoid repeating a noun, when you are referring to somebody/something that has already been mentioned, or that the person you are speaking to knows about
• I'd like an ice cream. Are you having one, too?
• Our car's always breaking down. But we're getting a new one soon.
• She was wearing her new dress, the red one.
• My favourite band? Oh, that's a hard one (= a hard question).
• What made you choose the one rather than the other?
• How about those ones over there?
• ‘Did you get any postcards?’ ‘Yes, I bought four nice ones.’
• ‘Here are the designs. Which (one) do you prefer?’ ‘I think that (one) looks the most original.’
• Do you prefer these designs or those?
• The Scottish legal system is not the same as the English system
• …as the English one.
2. used when you are identifying the person or thing you are talking about
• Our house is the one next to the school.
• The students who are most successful are usually the ones who come to all the classes.
3. a person or thing belonging to a particular group
• It's a present for one of my children.
• We think of you as one of the family.
4. a person of the type mentioned
• 10 o’clock is too late for the little ones.
• He ached to be home with his loved ones.
• She was never one to criticize.
5. used to mean ‘people in general’ or ‘I’, when the speaker is referring to himself or herself
• One should never criticize if one is not sure of one's facts.
• One gets the impression that they disapprove.
6. a person whose behaviour is amusing or surprising
• Oh, you are a one!
7. the joke
• Have you heard the one about the Englishman, the Irishman and the Scotsman?
8. to be a person who enjoys something, or who does something often or well
• I've never been a great one for fish and chips.

Word Origin

• Old English ān, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch een and German ein, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin unus. The initial w sound developed before the 15th cent. and was occasionally represented in the spelling; it was not accepted into standard English until the late 17th cent.