Ch 24

Possessive Pronouns

mine · yours · his · hers · ours · theirs

What are possessive pronouns?

Possessive pronouns replace the noun completely. They show possession without needing a noun after them.

mine
belonging to me — That book is mine.
yours
belonging to you — Is this yours?
his
belonging to him — That car is his. (same as adjective)
hers
belonging to her — The blue bag is hers.
ours
belonging to us — That house is ours.
theirs
belonging to them — These keys are theirs.

Adjective vs pronoun

Possessive adjectives need a noun. Pronouns don't.

Adjective + noun
This is my book.
That is your car.
It is her phone.
Pronoun (no noun)
This book is mine.
That car is yours.
It is hers.

The pairs together

Easy reference table

Subject pronoun
Adjective   |   Pronoun
I
my book   |   It is mine.
you
your book   |   It is yours.
he
his book   |   It is his. (same word)
she
her book   |   It is hers.
we
our book   |   It is ours.
they
their book   |   It is theirs.
"His" is the same in both forms. There is no "its" pronoun — we don't say "It is its" for objects.

"Whose?" — asking about possession

The question word for possession

Whose + noun?
Whose book is this?
Answer with pronoun
It's mine. / It's hers. / It's theirs.
Answer with apostrophe s
It's Tom's. / It's Maria's.
Don't confuse: whose = possession question. who's = "who is" or "who has".

Common mistakes

This book is my.
This book is mine.
No noun → use mine
Is this mine book?
Is this my book?
Before noun → use my
A friend of me
A friend of mine
"of + pronoun" → possessive pronoun
Who's book is this?
Whose book is this?
whose ≠ who's

Recap

Pronouns
mine · yours · his · hers · ours · theirs
replace the noun
Adjectives
my · your · his · her · our · their
before a noun
his
same form for adjective and pronoun
his book / it is his
Question
Whose + noun?
Whose pen is this? — Mine.
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