Level Two
Lesson 27
possessive pronouns
A possessive pronoun indicates who owns something. This type of pronoun may be used as a subject, a subject complement, or as an object.
Here are the most common possessive pronouns:
singular
mine
yours
his
hers
its
plural
ours
yours
theirs
possessive pronouns in English
Here are the pronouns that we have studied so far: ✍🏽
subject
I
you
he
she
it
we
you
they
object
me
you
him
her
it
us
you
them
possessive adjective
my ______
your ______
his ______
her ______
its ______
our _____
your _____
their _____
(These are adjectives because they come before a noun, but its okay to refer to them as pronouns.)
possessive pronoun
mine
yours
his
hers
its
ours
yours
theirs
27a. singular possessive pronouns
When you think of a possessive pronoun, you also think of the other pronouns that match it.
first person – singular
- subject: I
- object: me
- possessive adjective: my
- possessive pronoun: mine
Examples ✍🏽
- I have a bike.
- It belongs to me.
- This is my bike.
- This bike is mine.
- Your bike is yellow.
- Mine is black.
- You have your bike. I have mine.
second person – singular
- subject: you
- object: you
- possessive adjective: your
- possessive pronoun: yours
Examples ✍🏽
- You have a bike.
- It belongs to you.
- This is your bike.
- This bike is yours.
- My bike is black.
- Yours is yellow.
- I have my bike. You have yours.
third person – singular (male)
- subject: he
- object: him
- possessive adjective: his
- possessive pronoun: his
Examples ✍🏽
- He has a cup of coffee.
- It belongs to him.
- This is his coffee.
- The coffee is his.
- My coffee is a little bitter.
- His is very smooth.
- I have my coffee. He has his.
third person – singular (female)
- subject: she
- object: her
- possessive adjective: her
- possessive pronoun: hers
Examples ✍🏽
- She has a cup of coffee.
- It belongs to her.
- This is her coffee.
- The coffee is hers.
- My coffee is a little bitter.
- Hers is very smooth.
- I have my coffee. She has hers.
third person – singular (thing or animal)
- subject: it
- object: it
- possessive adjective: its
- possessive pronoun: its
Examples ✍🏽
- It has a red door.
- Someone painted it red.
- Its door is red.
- The door on my house is blue.
- Its is red.
27b. plural possessive pronouns
first person – plural (you + I)
- subject: we
- object: us
- possessive adjective: our
- possessive pronoun: ours
Examples ✍🏽
- We have a classroom.
- The classroom belongs to us.
- It’s our classroom.
- The classroom is ours.
- The students over there have a big classroom.
- Ours is small.
- They have their classroom. We have ours.
second person – plural (you)
- subject: you
- object: you
- possessive adjective: your
- possessive pronoun: yours
Examples ✍🏽
- You have a lesson to finish.
- The teacher assigned it to you.
- It’s your assignment.
- The assignment is yours.
- Their assignment is very easy.
- Yours is very difficult.
- They have their assignment. You have yours.
third person – plural (he, she, it)
- subject: they
- object: them
- possessive adjective: their
- possessive pronoun: theirs
Examples ✍🏽
- They have a goals to improve their English.
- A teacher works with them to help them achieve their goal.
- The decision to improve is theirs.
- You have a goal. They have theirs.
27c. Possessive pronouns may be singular or plural.
To determine is a possessive pronoun is singular or plural, you have to determine the things or people to which it refers.
- His experiences at that school weren’t very good, but mine were great! (The pronoun “mine” represents “my experiences,” so the verb that follows “mine” is plural.
- Her cat is friendly, unlike ours, which can be mean sometimes. (The pronoun “ours” represents “our cat.”)
- That’s not his. It’s hers. (Both possessive pronouns, “his” and “hers” are singular.)
- Those are not his. They’re hers. (Both possessive pronouns, “his” and “hers” are plural.)
- Her idea is interesting, but I prefer yours. (Is the possessive pronoun, “yours,” singular or plural in this sentence?)
In Lesson Twenty-eight, you will learn how to form the past continuous tense.