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.
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 …
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