Can I start a phrase like this: "your green eyes are beautiful" or "His/her green eyes are beautiful" Thanks for reply.
asked Jun 13, 2016 at 0:49
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Yes you can. Is there some reason why you think you shouldn't? (I would probably phrase it as "Your eyes are a beautiful green", but that does have a subtly different meaning and your way is fine.)– nnnnnnCommented Jun 13, 2016 at 1:02
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Any reason why not?– user3169Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 1:14
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a student mine introduce a phrase like this: is beautiful your eyes green. So, I correct it, but, fix the mistakes. I wrote on her test explaining what is the right way. Tks.– Teacher manoel tavaresCommented Jun 13, 2016 at 1:34
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My, your, his, her, its, our, their are not pronouns, they're determiners. From Cambridge: "in grammar, a word that is used before a noun to show which particular example of the noun you are referring to".– Nihilist_FrostCommented Jun 13, 2016 at 1:42
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1 Answer
Yes, it is perfectly OK to start a sentence with a pronoun. Indeed, I is one of the most common words to start a sentence. Your is not actually a pronoun: it is a determiner. The difference is that a pronoun replaces a noun:
the book is on the table -> it is on the table
whereas a determiner goes before a noun to say which one you are talking about:
the book is on the table -> my book is on the table
Compare that with mine which is a relative pronoun, and you will see that the noun book disappears:
the book is on the table -> mine is on the table
Here is an NGram showing that both pronouns and determiners are very common at the start of a sentence.
answered Jun 13, 2016 at 2:40
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@Jave, you wrote - "a pronoun replaces a noun". But the examples you quoted show that a pronoun replaces a Noun Phrase. Actually that is true - a pronoun replaces a noun phrase. If and only if the noun phrase contains nothing except the head noun, in that case a pronoun can replace a noun. Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 6:39