Level: beginner

Subject Object Possessive adjective Possessive pronoun
I me  my mine
you you your yours
he him  his his
she her  her hers
it it its -
we us  our ours
they them  their theirs

 

Be careful!

Possessive pronouns do not have an apostrophe:

Is that car yours/hers/ours/theirs?
(NOT Is that car your's/her's/our's/their's?)

We can use a possessive pronoun instead of a full noun phrase to avoid repeating words:

Is that John's car?
     No, it's mine. (NOT No, it's [my car].)

Whose coat is this?
     Is it yours? (NOT Is it [your coat]?)

Her coat is grey.
     Mine is brown. (NOT [My coat] is brown.)

 

Possessives: pronouns 1

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Level: intermediate

We can use possessive pronouns and nouns after of. We can say:

Susan is one of my friends. > Susan is a friend of mine.
(NOT Susan is a friend of me.)

I am one of Susan's friends. > I am a friend of Susan's.
(NOT I am a friend of Susan.)

Possessives: pronouns 2

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Comments

doradosz's picture doradosz replied on China

Hi there,

I feel a bit of uncertain about the use of possessive pronoun of its when I am trying to copy this lesson's samples with "its".

Let's say, Ryan (It's me) and Vivian are both the owner of a little puppy named Tom, if it's all right to say:
1. Ryan is one of its owners (its–possessive adjective)
2. Ryan is an owner of its. (its–possessive pronoun?)
3. I am (She is/ Ryan is/ Vivian is) one of Tom's owners. (Tom's–possessive adjective)
4. I am (She is/ Ryan is/ Vivian is) an owner of Tom's (Tom's–possessive pronoun)

Are these expressions right? Especially for the 2nd one, I don't know how but it seems weird to me, how about you guys? Please help me out, thanks.

Kirk's picture Kirk replied on Spain

Hello doradosz
First of all, as a native English speaker you would be much more likely to use the appropriate gendered pronoun or adjective rather than the neutral one.
All of the sentences are grammatically correct, but the only one that does not sound odd to me is 3.
Hope this helps!
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Mohsen.k77's picture Mohsen.k77 replied on Iran

Hello Dear teachers,
you have mentioned in possessive pronouns that we must say
" a friend of susan" because after "of" we must use a possessive pronoun, is it correct about the following sentence too: "i'm a fan of Susan" or " a fan of her" ? are these sentences wrong?....but there is an example in longman dictionary in the entry of "fan" which is : " he's a big fan of Elvis Presley." if it is correct it means we can say " I'm a fan of her" or "I'm a friend of him"?!

thx in advance
Mohsen

Kirk's picture Kirk replied on Spain

Hello Mohsen.k77

The examples above say a friend of Susan's -- note the 's at the end of Susan. If you wanted to use a pronoun in the place of Susan, you'd have to use hers: a friend of hers.

In the case of the phrase you found in the dictionary, that is a use specific to the word fan, in other words, it is like an exception. We talk about fans of a person or team followed by 's, but not with fan. In fact, we often use a noun + noun combination with fan: an Elvis Presley fan.

I hope this helps.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

 

ali aiad ali shanan's picture ali aiad ali shanan replied on Egypt

thanks

Maha Leila's picture Maha Leila replied on Egypt

Hello sir,
Why we didn't add more (S) to "his" in the next example like the Rest pronouns:

Her birthday is on the 12th and "his"
is on the 13th.

Thanks in advance

Kirk's picture Kirk replied on Spain

Hi Maha Leila,

Could you write out what you mean, please? I don't completely understand what you are suggesting, which makes it difficult for me to help you. Please write the sentence as you think it should be written and I'll try to explain it for you.

Thanks in advance.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

pencil's picture pencil replied on Pakistan

Hello

Is it entirely wrong to say: No/yes, it is my coat. and only No/yes, it is mine is correct. Or possessive is a better option.
Actually I as a learner use the noun phrase but maybe as quoted above it doesn't sound natural. Please guide me.

thanks in advance

Kirk's picture Kirk replied on Spain

Hi pencil,

Both are correct. One or the other might be more natural -- it really depends on the context and how much emphasis (if any) you want to make as the speaker.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Prap's picture Prap replied on India

Dear Sir
Would you mind telling me which of the following sentences is correct and why?
(a). My house is bigger than yours.
(b). My house is bigger than that of yours.
I thought both were correct, but one of friends confronted me saying that in such cases as this 'yours' should be preceded by 'that/those of'.
My question is who is right - me or my friend?

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