prepositions

Question

Is "it" a preposition? Example: It's lips push into the shape of a horn.(And no this is not the sentence that I'm wanting to answer)

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Hi anon;
No, it is always a pronoun. In your sentence, the possessive form modifies "lips". You have used it incorrectly, a common mistake.

it's = it + is
its = possessive form of it

BillJ · Answer

No, "it" is a pronoun.

BillJ

RandomGuy · Answer

AlpheccaStarsNo, it is always a pronoun.

I wouldn't call it a pronoun in, for example, it is raining, since the word clearly has no antecedent. In this case, expletive or dummy is a more appropriate term.

BillJ · Answer

Aspara GusAlpheccaStarsNo, it is always a pronoun.I wouldn't call it a pronoun in, for example, it is raining, since the word clearly has no antecedent. In this case, expletive or dummy is a more appropriate term.

AS is right. Dummy pronoun is just a subclass of pronoun, which is a subclass of noun. Having an antecedent is not a requirement for belonging to the pronoun category. In "It is raining", "it" can be called a pronoun or a dummy pronoun; it just depends on how detailed you want the classification to be.

BillJ

RandomGuy · Answer

BillJHaving an antecedent is not a requirement for belonging to the pronoun category.

I have trouble accepting this statement. That's exactly what makes a pronoun a pronoun. If a dummy is a subclass of pronouns, one could also label a determiner a subclass of adjectives, when in truth they are two different parts of speech.

BillJ · Answer

Aspara GusBillJHaving an antecedent is not a requirement for belonging to the pronoun category.I have trouble accepting this statement. That's exactly what makes a pronoun a pronoun. If a dummy is a subclass of pronouns, one could also label a determiner a subclass of adjectives, when in truth they are two different parts of speech.

I wouldn't go along with that. Anaphora is not what makes a pronoun a pronoun. The pronoun "it", for example, has several non-anaphoric uses such as denoting weather, condition, place etc:

"It became very humid". "It is very noisy in here". "It is more than five miles to the nearest post office".

In the first example, "it" is used as a dummy subject with an adjective denoting weather conditions. It doesn't represent a semantic argument and cannot be replaced by another NP; it has the purely syntactic function of filling the obligatory subject position.

And in interrogatives like "Who saw them leave?" and "What are you doing?" the pronouns clearly have no antecedent.

In trad grammar, the pronoun is treated as a distinct part of speech rather than a subclass of noun. But there is a very considerable syntactic similarity between pronouns and nouns in their function, notably that they occur as heads of NPs, hence pronouns being classified as a subclass of noun. Determinatives are traditionally classed as a subclass of adjective, but they don't have much in common with prototypical adjectives, so are best treated as a separate category.

BillJ

RandomGuy · Answer

BillJThe pronoun "it", for example, has several non-anaphoric uses such as denoting weather, condition, place etc: …

That's true; however…

BillJIt doesn't represent a semantic argument and cannot be replaced by another NP; it has the purely syntactic function of filling the obligatory subject position.

…this is where I take issue with the term pronoun, which is at variance with the non-anaphoric nature of the words in question. For this reason, I would call them a subclass of noun before I would pronoun, which is, of course, a type of pro-form, mind you.

BillJ · Answer

Aspara Gus…this is where I take issue with the term pronoun, which is at variance with the non-anaphoric nature of the words in question. For this reason, I would call them a subclass of noun before I would pronoun, which is, of course, a type of pro-form, mind you.

Not all pronouns are pro-forms:

A: "Was she arrested? B: I'm afraid so. (Not a pronoun, but a pro-form)

"It's time to go". "Who broke the vase?" (Pronouns, but not pro-forms)

BillJ

RandomGuy · Answer

BillJNot all pronouns are pro-forms.

We're getting nowhere fast! I have nothing more to say.

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