There is considerable overlap between the determiner class and the subclass of pronouns. Many words can be both: | Pronoun | Determiner |
| This is a very boring book | This book is very boring |
| That's an excellent film | That film is excellent |
As this table shows, determiners always come before a noun, but pronouns are more independent than this. They function in much the same way as nouns, and they can be replaced by nouns in the sentences above:
| This is a very boring book | ~Ivanhoe is a very boring book |
| That's an excellent film | ~Witness is an excellent film |
On the other hand, when these words are determiners, they cannot be replaced by nouns:
| This book is very boring | ~*Ivanhoe book is very boring |
| That film is excellent | ~*Witness film is excellent |
The personal pronouns (I, you, he, etc) cannot be determiners. This is also true of the possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his/hers, ours, and theirs). However, these pronouns do have corresponding forms which are determiners:
| Possessive Pronoun | Determiner |
| The white car is mine | My car is white |
| Yours is the blue coat | Your coat is blue |
| The car in the garage is his/hers | His/her car is in the garage |
| David's house is big, but ours is bigger | Our house is bigger than David's |
| Theirs is the house on the left | Their house is on the left |
The definite and the indefinite articles can never be pronouns. They are always determiners.
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