Possessive pronoun show ownership and replace noun to avoid repetition. Words like mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs make sentences clearer and more concise. Many learners confuse possessive pronoun with possessive adjectives, leading to common grammar mistakes. This blog post helps learn possessive pronouns with definitions, rules, and examples to improve your English skills.
A possessive pronoun shows ownership and replaces a noun to avoid repetition.
Table of Contents
Usage of Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns are used to show ownership without repeating the noun. They stand alone and replace a noun phrase. For example: “That house is ours.” Use them to make your writing clear and less repetitive. Common possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs.
List of Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns show ownership or relationships. They replace nouns to avoid repetition and make sentences clear.
Singular Possessive Pronouns in English
These refer to possession by one person or thing.
- Mine (belonging to me)
- Yours (belonging to you)
- His (belonging to him)
- Hers (belonging to her)
- Its (belonging to it)
Plural Possessive Pronouns
These refer to possession by more than one person.
- Ours (belonging to us)
- Yours (belonging to you all)
- Theirs (belonging to them)
Rules for Using Possessive Pronouns
- Use them to show ownership without repeating the noun.
✅ This book is mine. - They stand alone; don’t add a noun after them.
✅ Is this pen yours?
❌ Is this pen yours pen? - Use the right form: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.
Possessive Pronouns vs. Possessive Determiners
| Possessive Pronouns | Possessive Determiners |
|---|---|
| Show ownership and replace a noun to avoid repetition. | Show ownership and come before a noun to describe who it belongs to. |
| Stand alone: they do not come before a noun. | Always come before a noun. |
| Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. | My, your, his, her, our, their. |
Examples of Possessive Pronouns in Sentences
- The laptop on the desk is mine.
- This book is hers, not yours.
- The responsibility was his to bear.
- The choice is yours to make.
- The credit for the project is theirs.
- The final decision was ours.
- I forgot my keys, so I used hers.
- The victory belongs to our team; it’s ours.
- That blue bicycle is mine.
- Their hotel had no space, so we stayed in ours.
- He left his bag, but I took mine.
- The land was once theirs, but now it is public property.
- This seat is yours if you want it.
- The choice was entirely his to make.
- She returned my pen and took hers.
- This is not our problem; it is theirs to solve.
Possessive Pronouns Exercises
Fill in the blanks with the correct possessive pronoun:
- This phone belongs to me. It is ____.
- That car belongs to Aisha. It is ____.
- We bought this house. It is ____.
- This decision is up to you. It is ____.
- This book is Ahmed’s. It is ____.
(Answers: mine, hers, ours, yours, his)
FAQs
A possessive pronoun is a word that replaces a noun to indicate ownership, such as mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.
Possessive pronoun replace a noun (The book is mine), while possessive adjectives modify a noun (That is my book).
No, “its” is a possessive adjective. Possessive pronouns include mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.
Avoid using a noun after possessive pronouns, and do not confuse “its” with “it’s.”
Yes, commonly used in both formal and informal writing to avoid repetition and clarify ownership.
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