Possessive Pronouns

Related Topics: More English Lessons



In these lessons, we will learn

• what is a possessive pronoun
• some examples of possessive pronouns
• the differences between possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives

The following table gives the Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives. Scroll down the page for more examples and explanations.

Possessive Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a common noun or a proper noun.

The words mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs are called possessive pronouns. They are used to substitute nouns to show possession or ownership.

Examples:

His boat is faster than mine. (mine substitutes that word boat and shows that it belongs to me)

This is my car and that is yours. (yours substitutes the word car and shows that it belongs to you)

A possessive pronoun can act as a subject of a sentence.

Examples:

His will only arrive tomorrow.
Ours is the yellow one in the room.

A possessive pronoun can act as a subject complement.

Examples:

This house is hers.
Is this kitten ours?

Examples of Possessive Pronouns

	Subject	Possessive Pronouns
Singular	I	Mine
	You	Yours
	He	His
	She	Hers
	It	Its
Plural	We	Ours
	You	Yours
	They	Theirs

Possessive Adjectives or Possessive Determiners

The words my, yours, his, her, its, our and their are possessive adjectives. Do not confuse possessive pronouns with possessive adjectives. A possessive adjective is usually used to describe a noun and it comes before a noun. Possessive adjectives are also called possessive determiners.

Examples:

This bag is mine. (mine is a possessive pronoun)

This is my bag. (my is a possessive adjective, it comes before the noun bag)

Examples of Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

	Singular		Plural
	Possessive Pronouns	Possessive Adjectives	Possessive Pronouns	Possessive Adjectives
First Person	mine	my	ours	our
Second Person	yours	your	yours	your
Third Person	his	his	theirs	their
	hers	her
	its	its

Videos

Possessive Pronouns
This video shows how to use possessive pronouns like mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs.

• Show Step-by-step Explanations

Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs).

• Show Step-by-step Explanations

Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns
The following video shows the difference between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns.

• Show Step-by-step Explanations

Possessive Adjectives
The following video shows how to use possessive adjectives before a noun.

• Show Step-by-step Explanations

Possessive pronouns and determiners: my, mine, your, yours, his, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their and theirs.

• Show Step-by-step Explanations

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