possessive pronouns
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
(CEFR: A2)
At the end of the lesson, take Quiz #27 – possessive pronouns.
possessive pronouns in English
Possessive pronouns are used to identify a person who own something. These pronouns answer the question, “Whose is it?”
singular
It’s mine.
It’s yours.
It’s his.
It’s hers.
It’s its. (not likely)
plural
It’s ours.
It’s yours.
It’s theirs.
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
singular possessive pronouns
When you think of a possessive pronoun, you also think of the other pronouns that match it.
27. first person -- singular
The first person is represented by the word “I.”
- subject: I
- object: me
- possessive adjective: my
- possessive pronoun: mine
27. first person -- singular
- 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.
27. second person -- singular
The second person is represented by the word “you.”
- subject: you
- object: you
- possessive adjective: your
- possessive pronoun: yours
27. second person -- singular
- 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.
27. third person (male) -- singular
Use the third person for other people and things.
- subject: he = male
- object: him
- possessive adjective: his ____
- possessive pronoun: his / hers / its
27. third person (male) -- singular
- 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.
27. third person (female) -- singular
- subject: she = female
- object: her
- possessive adjective: her ____
- possessive pronoun: hers
27. third person (female) -- singular
- 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.
27. third person (thing) -- singular
- subject: it = thing
- object: it
- possessive adjective: its ___
- possessive pronoun: its
27. third person (thing) -- singular
- It has a red door.
- Someone painted it red.
- Its door is red.
- The door on my house is blue.
- Its is red.
plural possessive pronouns
27. first person -- plural (you +I)
- subject: we (you + I)
- object: us
- possessive adjective: our
- possessive pronoun: ours
27. first person -- plural (you +I)
- 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.
27. second person -- plural (you)
- subject: you
- object: you
- possessive adjective: your
- possessive pronoun: yours
27. second person -- plural (you)
- 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.
27. third person -- plural
- subject: they
- object: them
- possessive adjective: their
- possessive pronoun: theirs
27. third person -- plural
- 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.
27. 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.