An open class of words is a part of speech that can easily add new words. A closed class of words, on the other hand, cannot add new words easily. For example, since pronouns are a closed class, there are fairly few pronouns: I, me, my, mine, myself, you, you, your, yours, yourself, he, him, his, his, himself, she, her, her, hers, herself, it, it, its, its, itself, we, us, our, ours, ourselves, they, them, their, theirs, themselves. Since pronouns are used to replace whole noun phrases, there is no need to have many kinds of pronouns. Instead of saying "The Earl of Sandwich introduced the Earl of Sandwich's favorite food, the sandwich", one uses the pronoun "his" to replace "the Earl of Sandwich's" to make the sentence not repeat itself when it doesn't have to, thus the sentence becomes "The Earl of Sandwich introduced his favorite food, the sandwich". New nouns, on the other hand, can easily be made, and are constantly being added into the English language.
Open class
Questions and Answers
Q: What is a closed class of words?
A: A closed class of words is a part of speech that cannot easily add new words.
Q: Can pronouns add new words easily?
A: No, pronouns are a closed class and cannot easily add new words.
Q: Why are there few pronouns?
A: There are few pronouns because they are used to replace whole noun phrases, so there is no need to have many kinds of them.
Q: What is an example of using a pronoun to replace a noun phrase?
A: "The Earl of Sandwich introduced his favorite food, the sandwich" uses "his" to replace "the Earl of Sandwich's".
Q: What part of speech can easily add new words?
A: Nouns can easily add new words and are constantly being added into the English language.
Q: Why is it not necessary to have many kinds of pronouns?
A: It is not necessary to have many kinds of pronouns because they are used to replace whole noun phrases.
Q: What are some examples of pronouns?
A: Some examples of pronouns include I, me, my, mine, myself, you, your, yourself, he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, we, us, our, ours, ourselves, they, them, their, theirs, themselves.