Grammar Lesson: The Noun-Adjective-Pronoun Question

When is a specific word a noun? an adjective? a pronoun? Great questions!

• Sometimes, a noun is used as an adjective. This is true for the word garden in the sentence, "The garden display attracted many visitors" since garden describes the type of display.
• Examples of when a noun is a noun and when it acts as an adjective are found in the following sentences.
  Joseph left his empty glass on the table. (noun)
  Joseph left his cup on the glass table. (adjective)
The ball sailed through the window. (noun)
The ball sailed through the window pane. (adjective)
• Sometimes, a pronoun is simply a pronoun. In other instances, it is an adjective and a pronoun at the same time and is then called a pronoun-adjective.
  Several of the watches were expensive. (Several is simply a pronoun since it replaces the names of various watches.)
  Several watches were expensive. (Several is a pronoun-adjective that describes the noun watches.)
Many of these computers were recently purchased. (Many is a pronoun that replaces the names of the computers.)
Many computers were recently purchased. (Many is a pronoun-adjective that describe the noun computers.)
Some of the roads were repaired. (pronoun only)
Some roads were repaired. (pronoun-adjective)

Activity

On a separate sheet of paper, write three additional examples of the noun-adjective-pronoun concept featured on this page.