my

Question

Is my a pronoun

RandomGuy · Accepted Answer

AnonymousIs "my" a pronoun?

Yes, it is a pronoun that functions as a determiner.

Clive · Answer

My dictionary calls it a possessive adjective, but perhaps that is not the latest grammar terminology.

Clive

Cool Breeze · Answer

Anonymous Is my a pronoun

It depends on the country and the grammarian. Clive's view is very common in the Anglo-Saxon world.

CB

RandomGuy · Answer

I don’t think there is a reasonable argument to support the adjective view. It just sounds like insanity!

Fivejedjon · Answer

Aspara GusI don’t think there is a reasonable argument to support the adjective view. It just sounds like insanity!

Hardly insanity. In my youth: we had

Possessive adjective - my, your. etc

Possessive pronoun - mine, yours

Reflexive pronoun - myself, yourself

Subject pronoun - I, you

Object pronoun - me, you

That system of labelling was not universally accepted even half a century ago, and has become more unfashionable today, but it served its purpose. In that the so-called possessive adjectives can be used only before a noun, and cannot stand alone, they are qualitatively different from the other pronouns, and similar to adjectives.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possessive_determiner.

RandomGuy · Answer

fivejedjon… the so-called possessive adjectives can be used only before a noun, and cannot stand alone …

If those are the prerequisites that a word must meet to make the adjective category, then we may as well call the article the an adjective as well, which would be equally insane, if you ask me.

fivejedjon… similar to adjectives.

Other than the similarities referred to above, they are are nothing alike. In the sentence I didn’t mind his leaving early, for example, his is the subject of the gerund clause and substitutes a noun. I don’t think I have to tell you that an adjective can neither be referential nor serve as a subject. Not to mention his (or any other pronoun-determiner) is not a modifier, nor is it gradable—and it is not one of those non-gradable adjectives like unique.

I don’t see the use in mentioning that the term possessive adjective is common and used by dictionaries. Such facts are useful in determining whether a particular word or phrase is natural or acceptable, not in grammar analysis, which should be based on sound and practical reasoning. Calling a word like my an adjective just because it always comes before a noun and can’t stand alone is not my idea of sound and practical reasoning. Besides, true adjectives can be used predicatively, unlike pronoun-determiners.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Aspara GusIf those are the prerequisites that a word must meet to make the adjective category, then we may as well call the article the an adjective as well, which would be equally insane, if you ask me.

In my youth, the articles were considered to be a special sub-class of adjectives. The determiner class not having yet found favour, 'the' and 'a/an' and fitted as well into the adjective class as many odd groups still fit into the adverb class for some.

Aspara Gus In the sentence I didn’t mind his leaving early, for example, his is the subject of the gerund clause

That may be how you choose to label it. There are other thoughts.

Aspara Gusand substitutes a noun

It substitutes what some would call the genitive case of a noun, which some would say is itself adjectival in function.

Aspara GusI don’t see the use in mentioning that the term possessive adjective is common and used by dictionaries

Many learners rely on dictionaries, and I see little value in suggesting that many dictionary compilers were insane.

Aspara GusCalling a word like my an adjective just because it always comes before a noun and can’t stand alone is not my idea of sound and practical reasoning. Besides, true adjectives can be used predicatively, unlike pronoun-determiners.

AG, many grammarians now find the classification of words such as 'my' as possessive adjectives unsatisfactory, and class them as 'determiners', 'possessives' or 'possessive determiners. Personally, I think this is a better way of dealing with such words, but that does not mean that I consider the 'possessive adjective' label insane. It worked for thousands of teachers over many years. Don't forget that adjectives, pronouns and determiners do not exist. These words are simply labels that grammarians find useful when talking about languages. One generation's system of labelling, perfectly adequate at the time, may be replaced by one that suits a later generation better.

I have seen the label for the 'up' part of 'look up' (in look up a word in a dictionary) change for many from that of adverb to that of a phrasal verb particle. Huddleston and Pullum would have us class it as a preposition, along with such words as 'before' (as in before he died) and 'although'. I am not convinced by their arguments in he Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, but I find them unhelpful rather than insane. I may yet be convinced.

RandomGuy · Answer

Thanks for your post, Jed. Your approach is obviously much different from mine. We’ll have to put this one to rest.

my

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions