jtcarter14 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 We are doing JAG with ds and need help with this. "My dad's parents live in Quebec, but my mom's family comes from Virginia." The JAG Teacher Book says that "my" in both instances is an adverb. I just don't get it. Can any grammar experts out there explain? Thanks! Jessica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula in MS Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 My is an adverb because it describes another adjective (dad's & mom's). Dad's is an adjective; my is the adverb that goes with dad's. If it went with family, it would be an adjective. Someone else will probably explain better...But I gave it a shot. Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calandalsmom Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I dont see how it could be anything but a possessive pronoun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 My is an adverb because it describes another adjective (dad's & mom's). Dad's is an adjective; my is the adverb that goes with dad's. If it went with family, it would be an adjective. Someone else will probably explain better...But I gave it a shot. Paula I agree. The noun is family. Dad's modifies the noun family, whose family? Dad's. My modifies dad's. Whose dad? My dad's. An adverb modifies other adjectives or verbs, so since it is modifying an adjective and not a noun, it is an adverb. I don't think it is strictly a pronoun, although it is a possessive pronoun, because it is not functioning as a noun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I dont see how it could be anything but a possessive pronoun. But possessive pronouns function as adjectives and adverbs in sentences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 It's a possessive pronoun functioning as an adverb modifying the adjective "Mom's".h Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBre Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 A la FLL: An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs tell how, when, where, how often, and to what extent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I checked three websites and they all listed "My dad's car" w/ dad's being a possessive noun. In that case, "my" would be an adjective? I know the camp is split w/ sentence such as "His car was stolen." One camp calls "his" a pronoun possessive adj, another simply as an adjective, and another simply a possessive pronoun. But it is still functioning as an adjective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtcarter14 Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 A la FLL: An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs tell how, when, where, how often, and to what extent. Ok, I needed the reminder that adverbs modify adjectives. (This is what happens when my kids do so well learning independently; I'm clueless when they finally have a question!) But I still don't see how "my" in that sentence answers one of those questions. That's what I was stuck on earlier b/c I did remember those questions. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 To me, my is answering a "whose" question which is an adjective question. Whose is it? my dad's. Gotta love grammar! Who would have thought there were so many grey areas! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 We are doing JAG with ds and need help with this. "My dad's parents live in Quebec, but my mom's family comes from Virginia." The JAG Teacher Book says that "my" in both instances is an adverb. I just don't get it. Can any grammar experts out there explain? Thanks! Jessica I think the reason JAG wants you to label it as an adverb as opposed to a pronoun is so that the student will diagram it correctly. I'm not a grammar expert by any means but it seems that diagramming is based strictly on the JOB a word does not it's technical part of speech and that is AG's focus...diagramming. Labeling "my" as a pronoun doesn't help you know where to put it in the diagram. AG teaches students to label possessive pronouns as adjectives (or adverbs) from the get-go so the student shouldn't be confused...but mom might if it's not what you remember from school. If your dc labeled "my" as an adjective they would diagram it incorrectly. Ask them to take "dad's" out. If you take "dad's" out of the sentence is the sentence still talking about the same people? Hopefully, they would quickly see that "my parents" and "my dad's parents" are not the same people. So "my" is giving more information about "dad's" not "parents." Since "dad's" is an adjective (as per AG and in the diagram) "my" must be an adverb because only an adverb can modify an adjective. An adjective cannot modify another adjective. The diagram will have "my" on the dog-leg (is that what they call it?) coming off of "dad's" slanted line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBre Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 We are doing JAG with ds and need help with this. "My dad's parents live in Quebec, but my mom's family comes from Virginia." The JAG Teacher Book says that "my" in both instances is an adverb. I just don't get it. Can any grammar experts out there explain? Thanks! Jessica Think of the diagram for "My dad's parents live..." Subject: parents. Verb: live. Dad's would answer "whose?", modifying parents; therefore dad's is an adjective. I don't see that my answers one of those adverb questions (how, when, where, how often, to what extent) about the adjective dad's, but it certainly modifies it; therefore my is an adverb. "An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb." Right? :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamee Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Think of the diagram for "My dad's parents live..." Subject: parents. Verb: live. Dad's would answer "whose?", modifying parents; therefore dad's is an adjective. I don't see that my answers one of those adverb questions (how, when, where, how often, to what extent) about the adjective dad's, but it certainly modifies it; therefore my is an adverb. "An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb." Right? :001_huh: :iagree:The questions really only come into play with verb modification, at least that's how I always thought of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 My is an adverb because it describes another adjective (dad's & mom's). Dad's is an adjective; my is the adverb that goes with dad's. If it went with family, it would be an adjective. Someone else will probably explain better...But I gave it a shot. Paula :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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