# Bravo, Una! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 18, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462 "2014-07-18T16:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/1 "2014-07-18T16:14:33Z")
In [today’s otherwise meh column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3171/how-many-sponges-do-i-need-so-i-can-soak-up-the-pacific-ocean-and-walk-to-hawaii), I wanted to compliment this truly brilliant response: > [@](#): > > Is their a god? > > — Anna Woodfield > > Cecil replies: > > No, it’s an adjective. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/2 "2014-07-18T18:56:18Z")
Thanks! 🙂 I don’t think the column was humdrum, but hey I’m glad my comment got in. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/3 "2014-07-18T18:58:03Z")
This brings up a curious point, however: How the English parts of speech are somewhat arbitrarily classified. I was always taught, as far as I can remember, that the possessive forms of pronouns (“his”, “my”, “their”, etc.) are _pronouns._ A long time ago, I noticed on my own that possessive forms (of nouns or pronouns, like “John’s house”) function as adjectives because they modify other nouns. That, of course, is exactly Una’s point in calling “their” an adjective. But I was always taught that they are classified as pronouns. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/4 "2014-07-19T01:58:01Z")
I love the mixed fruit columns. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/5 "2014-07-19T02:29:11Z")
Most contemporary teaching and most contemporary reference books are wrong on this point. The truth is that “my”, “thy”, “her”, “our”, “your”, and “their” are possessive adjectives, while “mine”, “thine”, “hers”, “ours”, “yours”, and “theirs” are the genitive cases of the personal pronouns; “his” and “its” can be either. The distinction is a fairly common one, found in most European languages, and pretending that it isn’t there in English achieves nothing but confusion of English-speaking students when they try to learn other languages. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/6 "2014-07-19T06:04:57Z")
And it’s threads like this that keep the SDMB alive! Oh, these, and pitbull threads, kittie pics and trolls…but mostly these! Bravo indeed **Una**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/7 "2014-07-19T07:37:53Z")
Una remains a consistently high-quality poster. That answer was simply _glorious_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/8 "2014-07-19T13:42:01Z")
The sponge question seemed like an XKCD What-If. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/9 "2014-07-19T14:13:21Z")
“Is there a god” … it’s an adverb is you spelt it correctly ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/10 "2014-07-19T20:42:54Z")
“There” is an adverb, an adjective, and a noun, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bravo-una/693462/11 "2014-07-19T22:28:45Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The sponge question seemed like an XKCD What-If. Uh, . . . Didn’t you know? Randall Munroe IS Cecil!