( My and mine)

Pronouns: possessive (my, mine, your, yours, etc.) from English Grammar Today We use pronouns to refer to possession and ‘belonging’. There are two types: possessive pronouns and possessive determiners. We use possessive determiners before a noun. We use possessive pronouns in place of a noun: Is that [determiner] your scarf? It’s very similar to [pronoun] mine . (It’s very similar to my scarf.) That’s not [determiner] their house. [pronoun] Theirs has got a red front door. It was [determiner] his fault not [pronoun] hers . personal pronoun possessive determiner possessive pronoun I my mine you (singular and plural) your yours he his his she her hers it its its* we our ours they their theirs one one’s one’s* *We avoid using its and one’s as possessive pronouns except when we use them with own: The house seemed asleep yet, as I have said, it had a life of its own. One doesn’t like to spend too much time on one’s own. Typical errors We don’t use ’s after possessive pronouns: Are those gloves hers? Not: Are those gloves her’s? ’s is not used with the possessive pronoun its. It’s means ‘it is’: The team is proud of its ability to perform consistently well. Not: … proud of it’s ability … We don’t use another determiner with a possessive determiner: I’m going to get my hair cut this afternoon. Not: … get the my hair cut … We don’t use possessive determiners on their own. They are always at the beginning of noun phrases: That’s not my book. It’s yours. (or It’s your book.) Not: It’s your. We don’t use possessive pronouns before nouns: Lots of our friends were at the party. Not: Lots of ours friends … See also: Possessives with of Possessive ’s Pronouns: personal (I, me, you, him, it, they, etc.) It’s or its? One (“Pronouns: possessive ( my, mine, your, yours, etc.)” from English Grammar Today © Cambridge University Press.) Table of contents