pronoun and verb

Question

Are they correct?PronounAll her clothes are neatly ironed.She did not iron her clothes todayHer eating habits are not healthy Isn’t it exciting to go night cycling?It would be wonderful to live in a big houseBuying it is indeed a very good ideaVerbKen has two pens and one pencil.Everyone has their mobile phone She has gone to the marketThe ostrich is a bird but it cannot flyJohn wanted to fly to SpainA bat is a mouselike creature that can flyThe cup does not belong to John. It is his sister’s.He does his homework everydayDoes he study everyday?

Doll · Accepted Answer

Yes, all of them. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Philip · Answer

Solomon_13000Are they correct?

Pronoun

All her clothes are neatly ironed.
She did not iron her clothes today
Her eating habits are not healthy These are all possessive adjectives. By definition, a pronoun must replace a noun, not modify it.

Isn’t it exciting to go night cycling?
It would be wonderful to live in a big house
Buying it is indeed a very good idea

Verb

Ken has two pens and one pencil.
Everyone has their mobile phone
She has gone to the market

The ostrich is a bird but it cannot fly
John wanted to fly to Spain Verb in the infinitive form. "wanted" is the main verb of the sentence.
A bat is a mouselike creature that can fly

The cup does not belong to John. It is his sister’s.
He does his homework everyday
Does he study everyday?

'Belong' and 'study' are the main verb in the sentences. 'Does' is used to make it a question; 'does not' is used to make it negative.

Cool Breeze · Answer

Hi Philip

'Possessive adjective' is indeed a good term to describe her in the sentences and the term 'pronoun' does suggest that a pronoun replaces a noun (pro + nomen). However, illogically perhaps, in old European grammatical terminology 'possessive adjective' is not used a lot and her is always called a pronoun irrespective of what follows it. This was the classification in Latin grammar and the usage of many distinguished European grammarians is based on this tradition. Otto Jespersen, for example, doesn't use the term 'possessive adjective' at all. To him, her is a pronoun in the original poster's sentences.

He/she may have been taught to call her a possessive pronoun in his/her sentences.

Cheers
CB

Doll · Answer

I was taught so too. I know them as possessive pronouns. You cannot guess how much I feel surprised every day here.

Loojka · Answer

Adjectives modify nouns. In the sentence 'All her clothes are neatly ironed' it is clear that the word 'her' modifies 'clothes', so it should definitely be called the adjective.

Whose clothes are these? - They're hers. ('hers' is a pronoun)

Khoff · Answer

Are we trying to identify all the verbs in the sentences? If so, is there some reason the words I marked in red have not been suggested? Aren't they all verbs?

Ken has two pens and one pencil.
Everyone has their mobile phone
She has gone to the market

The ostrich is a bird but it cannot fly
John wanted to fly to Spain
A bat is a mouselike creature that can fly

The cup does not belong to John. It is his sister’s.
He does his homework everyday
Does he study everyday?

And, in the pronoun section, how about "she"?

Pronoun

All her clothes are neatly ironed.
She did not iron her clothes today
Her eating habits are not healthy

Philip · Answer

Cool BreezeHi Philip

'Possessive adjective' is indeed a good term to describe her in the sentences and the term 'pronoun' does suggest that a pronoun replaces a noun (pro + nomen). However, illogically perhaps, in old European grammatical terminology 'possessive adjective' is not used a lot and her is always called a pronoun irrespective of what follows it. This was the classification in Latin grammar and the usage of many distinguished European grammarians is based on this tradition. Otto Jespersen, for example, doesn't use the term 'possessive adjective' at all. To him, her is a pronoun in the original poster's sentences.

He/she may have been taught to call her a possessive pronoun in his/her sentences.

Cheers
CB

My 1992 American Heritage Dictionary lists her/his/my as adjectives, being the possessive forms of she/he/I respectively. Amsco publications in French and Spanish c. 1987 both offer sections for possessive adjectives as opposed to possessive pronouns. I'm not sure when "old" European terminology gives way to the"new", but I prefer to note a difference between an adjective and a pronoun, be it possessive or not, especially as per after 1980's and 90's publications.

Cool Breeze · Answer

PhilipMy 1992 American Heritage Dictionary lists her/his/my as adjectives, being the possessive forms of she/he/I respectively. Amsco publications in French and Spanish c. 1987 both offer sections for possessive adjectives as opposed to possessive pronouns. I'm not sure when "old" European terminology gives way to the"new", but I prefer to note a difference between an adjective and a pronoun, be it possessive or not, especially as per after 1980's and 90's publications.

I know you prefer to note the difference and I wasn't in the least trying to convince you that you were wrong. I just wanted Solomon to know that it is very common in Europe to call her a possessive pronoun in his sentences. This is a worldwide forum that has readers outside the Anglo-Saxon world and since it is obvious that Solomon doesn't have many years of philological studies behind him, he may mistakenly think that there is universal agreement on grammatical terminology.

In Scandinavia, as far as I know, no one uses the term 'possessive adjective' and European grammarians such as Otto Jespersen, R. W. Zandvoort, P. Christophersen, A. O. Sandved and Knud Schibsbye don't use that term either. I am not saying that one term is better than the other or that 'possessive adjective' is wrong. I am just stating the simple fact that not everybody uses that term. I had never encountered it until I joined this forum.

CB

Yoong Liat · Answer

Hi Khoff

He does his homework everyday
Does he study everyday?

I see many people write 'everyday' in sentences similar to those above? However, I believe it should be spelled 'every day'.

What do you think?

Khoff · Answer

Yes, you're right -- in these examples it should be "every day."  It's written as one word when used as an adjective : "he was wearing his everyday suit, not his best suit."  Sorry I didn't catch it before.

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