Note: Pronominal is often confused with pro-nominal (with a hyphen). Their difference has been dealt with later in the post.
What is pronominal?
Pronominal is more a dictionary term than a grammatical term. It’s the adjective form of word pronoun, meaning relating to pronoun. In other words, most things that involve pronoun can be described by adjective pronominal or adverb pronominally or verb pronominalize.
Let’s see, through few examples, how the term pronominal is used.
(Pronoun and its antecedent have been underlined. An antecedent is a phrase or clause for which a pronoun ‘stands’.)
1. I bought the new gadget yesterday. It has made my life easier.
The second sentence contains a pronominal subject, which is same as saying a pronoun functions as subject. (Note that pronominal has been used as an adjective in pronominal subject; after all, it’s an adjective.) Alternatively, we can say the new gadget has been pronominalized as It.
2. She enjoys reading mystery novels. She can’t get enough of them.
The second sentence contains a pronominal object of preposition. Alternatively, we can say mystery novels has been pronominalized as them.
3. We watched the parade from the rooftop, as we got a good view from there.
Since there is not a pronoun, the dependent clause doesn’t contain a pronominal object of preposition. Note: Adverbs, including there, can sometimes be object of preposition.
4. He said he would help me move. That was very kind of him.
The second sentence contains a pronominal subject, which refers to a clause.
You see, pronominal is mainly about terminology, mainly like a dictionary word.
Pronominal vs. Pro-nominal
Let’s summarize the above four examples in a table. (Note that anaphora is a word that refers to or replaces another word used earlier in a sentence. Antecedent and anaphora both have been underlined in these examples.)
| Example no. | Antecedent | Anaphora |
| 1 | Noun phrase | Pronoun |
| 2 | Noun phrase | Pronoun |
| 3 | Noun phrase | Adverb |
| 4 | Clause | Pronoun |
In first, second, and fourth examples, anaphora is a pronoun; hence, we can use the term pronominal to describe it: pronominal subject, pronominal object of preposition, and so on.
What about pro-nominal, the one with the hyphen?
Whereas pronominal is all about anaphora being a pronoun, pro-nominal is all about antecedent being a nominal. (A nominal is any phrase or clause that functions like a noun.) It’s clear from the table that the first three antecedents are nominal; hence, we can call their anaphora pro-nominal. Note that one of the pro-nominals is not a pronoun. They need not be, though they mostly are. Also note that, as opposed to the word pronominal, which is an adjective, the word pro-nominal is a noun.
To sum, we use the term pronominal for anaphora if anaphora is a pronoun. And we use the term pro-nominal for anaphora if antecedent is a nominal. Second, the former is more of a dictionary word; the latter is more of a grammatical word.
Where else pronominal shows up?
Since the word pronominal is used like any dictionary word, it can be used at most places where pronoun plays a role. (In the following examples, for brevity, the sentence containing antecedent hasn’t been provided.)
Pronominal adjective
5. This isn’t my jacket.
6. Those apples look juicy.
Grammatically speaking, my and those are determiners, though some call them adjectives. Since the two are pronouns functioning like adjective, they’re called pronominal adjectives.
Pronominal adverb
8. The instructions provided herein must be followed strictly to ensure safety.
The adverb herein has been derived from the prepositional phrase in this, of which pronoun (this) is a part. Hence herein and many such adverbs are called pronominal adverbs.
Pronominal question
Here we’re referring an entire clause (or question) – and not just the anaphora – as pronominal. Sometimes we use pronominal loosely to refer to a unit containing anaphora.
9. Who/Whom are you looking for? [Direct question]
10. I’m wondering what you’re looking for? [Indirect question]
Here an interrogative pronoun opens a question, so you can call the question pronominal question.
Pronominal appositive
11. We, he and I, are going on a short hike over the weekend.
Since the appositive he and I is a noun phrase comprising of pronouns, it can be called pronominal appositive.
