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]yourscarf? It’s very similar to[pronoun]mine.(It’s very similar to my scarf.)
That’s not[determiner]theirhouse.[pronoun]Theirshas got a red front door.
It was[determiner]hisfault 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 usingitsandone’sas possessive pronouns except when we use them withown:
The house seemed asleep yet, as I have said, it had a life ofits own.
One doesn’t like to spend too much time onone’s own.
Typical errors
We don’tuse’safter possessive pronouns:
Are those gloveshers?
Not:Are those gloves her’s?
’sis not used with the possessive pronounits. It’smeans ‘it is’:
The team is proud ofitsability to perform consistently well.
Not: …proud of it’s ability…
We don’t use another determiner with a possessive determiner:
I’m going to getmyhair 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 notmybook. It’syours.(orIt’syourbook.)
Not:It’s your.
We don’t use possessive pronouns before nouns:
Lots ofourfriends were at the party.
Not:Lots of ours friends…
See also:
Possessives withof
Possessive’s
Pronouns: personal (I, me,you,him,it,they, etc.)
It’sorits?
One