English Grammar : Possessive Pronouns
 
 
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Possessive Pronouns in English Grammar

What Are Possessive Pronouns?

"Possessive pronouns are words used to indicate that something belongs to someone or has a direct relationship with someone else."

Possessive pronouns are used to refer to a specific person / people or thing / things belonging to a person / people and sometimes belonging to an animal / animals or thing / things. Possessive pronouns often used in speech and writing to avoid repetition.

Example:
I had dinner with Riya and Riya’s brother, Krunal.

I had dinner with Riya and her brother, Krunal.

We use possessive pronouns as follows:
Examples:
Number mine (singular)
ours (plural)
Person mine (1st person)
yours (2nd person)
his / hers / its (3rd person)
Gender his (male)
her (female)
Possessive Pronoun.
Examples:
  • This is my book. = This bok is mine.
  • This is our school. = This school is ours.
Uses of Possessive Pronouns.
Examples:
  • I like your house. Do you like mine?
  • Look at these mobiles. Mine is the latest one.
  • My roses are dying. Yours are lovely.
  • All the poems were good but his was the best.
  • Pooja found her work book but Smita couldn't find hers.
  • Your pictures are good. Ours are best.
  • Jack and Delsy don't like your garden. Do you like theirs?
A Common Mistake: "Its" vs "It’s"

A very common error is putting an apostrophe in the possessive pronoun its. It is easy to confuse its with the contraction of it is, it’s, which does have an apostrophe. Remember, though, possessive pronouns never use apostrophes.

Examples:
  • The boat lost its mast in the storm. (Do not use: it’s)
  • Don’t judge a book by its cover. (Do not use: it’s)
  • The team is proud of its ability to perform consistently well. (Do not use: it’s)
Forming of possessives (Possessive Nouns)

We add ‘’S’ to the noun to make Possessives/Possessive Noun.

Examples:
  • This/that is Deepa. This/That is her pen. = This/That is Deepa’s pen.
  • This/that is Ajay. This/That is his bag. = This/That is Ajay’s bag.
  • This/that is Jack. This/That is his house. = This/That is Jack’s house.
  • He is my father. This is his coat. = This is my father’s coat.
  • That is a woman. That is her umbrella. = That is woman’s umbrella.
Related Topics :
Types of Noun in English Language
Types of Pronoun in English Language
Types of Verb in English Language
Types of Adverb in English Language
Types of Adjective in English Language
Kinds of Preposition in English Language
Types of Conjunction in English Language
Uses of Interjection words in English Language

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