Pronouns: possessive ( my, mine, your, yours, etc....
We use pronouns to refer to possession and 'belonging’. There are two types: possessive pronouns and possessive determiners. We use possessive determiners before a noun. We use possessive pronouns in place of a noun:
Is that [determiner]your scarf? It’s very similar to [pronoun]mine. (It’s very similar to my scarf.)
That’s not [determiner]their house. [pronoun]Theirs has got a red front door.
It was [determiner]his fault not [pronoun]hers.
|
personal pronoun |
possessive determiner |
possessive pronoun |
|
I |
my |
mine |
|
you (singular and plural) |
your |
yours |
|
he |
his |
his |
|
she |
her |
hers |
|
it |
its |
its* |
|
we |
our |
ours |
|
they |
their |
theirs |
|
one |
one’s |
one’s* |
*We avoid using its and one’s as possessive pronouns except when we use them with own:
The house seemed asleep yet, as I have said, it had a life of its own.
One doesn’t like to spend too much time on one’s own.
Typical errors
We don’t use ’s after possessive pronouns:
Are those gloves hers?
Not: Are those gloves her’s?
’s is not used with the possessive pronoun its. It’s means 'it is’:
The team is proud of its ability to perform consistently well.
Not: … proud of it’s ability …
We don’t use another determiner with a possessive determiner:
I’m going to get my hair cut this afternoon.
Not: … get the my hair cut …
We don’t use possessive determiners on their own. They are always at the beginning of noun phrases:
That’s not my book. It’s yours. (or It’s your book.)
Not: It’s your.
We don’t use possessive pronouns before nouns:
Lots of our friends were at the party.
Not: Lots of ours friends …