Thiago Gualdi V.
Adjectives and Pronouns If I remember correctly, in English (as with Italian and other languages too), you call 'my' a possessive adjective and 'mine' a possessive pronoun; 'what' in "What job is this?" a interrogative adjective and in "What is this?" a interrogative pronoun. And so on. But in Portuguese, my mother language, we would classify as 'Possessive Adjective Pronoun/Interrogative Adjective Pronoun' and 'Possessive Substantive Pronoun/Interrogative Substantive Pronoun' and so on. Why this difference? Isn't 'my' a pronoun too, even being an adjective one? Doesn't it modifies the noun relating it to the owner? Hope I could be clear enough. Thanks.After making the question, I found this terminology (Italian): Pronome Possessivo Sostantivo (Possessive Substantive Pronoun) I found 'Aggetivo Possessivo' (Possessive Adjective) too, though. And, to make things worst, it's also confuse to distinguish between interrogative adverbs, adjectives and pronouns. They receive many different treatments accordingly to the language and the grammarian consulted... Even being essentially the same words in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian... Long journey ahead...
Jul 20, 2009 6:01 PM
Answers · 4
3
I would say don't get too caught up in the terms used to describe grammar. It is more important to learn how the grammar is used. As both a teacher of English and a linguistics student I have read different grammar books and find that the terms are not consistent.
July 20, 2009
2
By definition, a pronoun can take the place of a noun. Words like "my" and "their" cannot, so they are no longer called pronouns. The same happens with verbs in English: "Drinking too much can ruin your life." Here, the word "Drinking" COMES FROM the verb "to drink". But it is no longer acting as a verb. It is acting as a noun, so we have another name for it: a gerund. Isn't English wonderful!
July 20, 2009
1
Erik and Corina are totaly right. My advice: Focus on one language and try not to compare the terminology with other languages to avoid this kind of misunderstandings- Good luck.
July 21, 2009
1
I agree with corina. But, there still some fundamental rules that we have to follow.
July 21, 2009
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