Talk:my

my my

Unsure of myself on Wiktionary (I work on Wikipedia en:) but it seems either a separate article on my my is deserved, or at least a mention on this page... --Dweller 13:44, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

• Done. SemperBlotto 13:49, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Requested entries is sometimes a bit quicker and more reliable, especially for a high-quality recommendation like this. DCDuring TALK 17:58, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Link please? I'm not a regular here, as my edit history will attest! --Dweller 12:53, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Take a look at left sidebar "navigation". Note "Requested entries". When you have an hour, you should try all the tabs and links. Typing WT:REE in the search box would take you directly to Requested entries English. DCDuring TALK 15:36, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Ta. Maybe I should. But, heck, I've still got about 3 dozen articles I want to get to Featured status on Wikipedia, plus all the other crap I do there.... <sigh> Cheers --Dweller 23:16, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Good luck. Do come back, now, heah? DCDuring TALK 00:11, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

pronoun, possessive adjective, or possessive determiner?

Every other (online) dictionary calls this an adjective, not a pronoun -- e.g. a "possesive pronomial adjective":

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/my

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. says:

my (m) adj. The possessive form of I.

while Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006 says:

my [maɪ] determiner

Kernerman English Learner’s Dictionary © 1986-2008

my adj my [mai] of or belonging to me

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc.

my (mī) possessive pronominal adjective

OK, so websters is the most refined: its an adjective of pronomial type ...

The english-as-a-second-language sites call this a possessive adjective: http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/possessive-adjective.html which is a kind-of determiner: http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/determiner.html

And another: http://eslus.com/LESSONS/GRAMMAR/POS/pos4.htm

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I could not find anything which actually called it a "pronoun", although webster came close by calling it a "pronomial adjective".

The following seems to be the most rational classification, from a semantic point of view: http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/determiner.html

I mean ... syntactically speaking, it acts as a determiner, and never as a noun (and thus, cannot be a syntactic pronoun). So, for example, one can say:

This is the book.
This is my book.

so, syntactically, its a determiner, like "the". Now, other pronouns behave much like nouns:

This is I.
This is me.
This is him.

But "my" cannot behave like a noun: you can't say:

*This is my.

nor could you say:

*This is the.
*This is a.

Perhaps its a noun modifier ("_nn") ? No. For example, the noun "goal" can be a noun modifier:

He stood on the goal line.

But pronouns can never be noun modifiers -- you can't say:

*He stood on the him line.
*He stood on them line.

while "my" can be used in this way:

He stood on my line.

I cannot think of a single example where "my" behaves like a noun or like other pronouns, syntactically speaking. As a part of speech, calling it a pronoun sure seems wrong to me.

The following appears to give a decent, syntactically correct overview of parts of speech: http://www.usingenglish.com/resources/language-tips.html

-- linas 99.153.64.179 19:10, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

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Wikipedia (Possessive determiner) has a good article on this. It calls them "possessive determiners" aka "possessive adjectives" because they act primarily as determiners but can sometimes behave a bit like adjectives. I would suggest we follow Wikipedia's lead or take up the conversation there on that article's talk page. Cheers, Facts707 (talk) 14:35, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

my lad, my girl, my dude, my guy, etc.

Is this sense covered? "Listen, my lad!" It doesn't indicate possession. Equinox ◑ 17:35, 1 May 2021 (UTC)