You use my bag when you name the thing, and mine when the thing is already clear. These forms can show ownership, relationships and parts of the body: my coat, my neighbour, my hand.
A possessive adjective, also called a possessive determiner, comes before a noun. A possessive pronoun stands for the whole phrase without repeating the noun. Compare our room and ours.
| Before a noun | Without the noun |
|---|---|
| my | mine |
| your | yours |
| his | his |
| her | hers |
| its | See the note below. |
| our | ours |
| their | theirs |
My and mine refer to I; your and yours to you; his to he; her and hers to she; its to it; our and ours to we; their and theirs to they. Your and yours work for one listener or several listeners.
His has the same spelling in both jobs: his jacket and the jacket is his. Her changes to hers when it stands for the whole phrase: her jacket and the jacket is hers.
British Council leaves the standalone-pronoun space for it empty. Cambridge says to avoid standalone its except with own, as in of its own. Do not build a normal short answer such as It's its on the model of It's mine. Say It belongs to the cat or repeat the noun phrase. The own pattern appears below.
Put my, your, his, her, its, our or their before the noun. If there is a describing word, put the possessive before that too.
In this pattern, do not add a/an, the or a demonstrative before the possessive. Say my bag, not the my bag. If you need a/an with this meaning, use a different structure such as a bag of mine.
A possessive determiner needs its noun phrase. Do not end an ordinary answer with It's your. Say It's yours or It's your book. You do not have to avoid repeating a noun: both full and short forms can be correct.
British Council teaches the full basic table at beginner level.
These words can show who owns something, but they also show relationships, body parts and other connections. My sister does not mean that you own a person.
Choose the form for the person or thing connected to the noun, not for the gender or number of the noun that follows. A man who uses he has his sister; a woman who uses she has her brother. The words sister and brother do not choose the possessive.
The form stays the same before singular, plural and uncountable nouns: my plate, my plates, my food. Do not add a plural ending to my or our because there are several things.
Their and theirs can refer to several people. They can also refer to one person whose gender is unknown or not relevant, or to a known person who uses they. Use a person's pronouns when you know them, following the APA Style guidance.
Their does not turn a following singular noun into a plural one. In their bag is missing, bag controls is. In their bags are missing, bags controls are. The pronoun they itself takes they are, even for one person. See Subject and object pronouns: I and me, they and them and Subject-verb agreement: finding the subject and choosing the verb.
These describe different teaching and learner-data scopes; neither says that their must always mean several people.
Use mine, yours, his, hers, ours or theirs when the thing is clear and you do not repeat its noun. Mine means my bag, my seat, my idea or another whole phrase supplied by the context. It does not mean I or me.
These pronouns can be subjects, objects, or words after be or a preposition. Their job in the sentence does not change them back to my, your or our.
The same form can stand for a singular or plural thing. Choose the following verb for the thing meant, not for the number of owners.
Ours can mean one thing belonging to several people: our house becomes ours, and ours is small. The s in ours is part of the pronoun, not a plural ending for houses.
You can use these forms in comparisons too. Make it clear what you are comparing.
That does not make every short example containing his or hers an advanced sentence. The complete form table follows the beginner teaching sources; the source trace keeps the detailed EGP features separate.
My, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their and theirs do not take an apostrophe to show possession. This is different from a name such as Nina's.
Its is the possessive before a noun. It's is short for it is or it has. Try the full words when you are unsure.
Do not add an apostrophe to yours, hers, ours or theirs. Write The room is ours, not our's. The s in his is already part of the word.
Use whose to ask who something belongs to. You can put it before the noun or use it without the noun directly after it. Both questions below ask the same thing.
Do not confuse whose with who's, meaning who is. Whose bicycle asks about the owner; who's outside asks which person is outside. For relative clauses such as the person whose bicycle was stolen, see Whose and whom in relative clauses.
You can put a possessive pronoun after a noun phrase with of: a neighbour of mine, two colleagues of yours, some friends of ours. It shows a person or thing connected with someone. A neighbour of mine means one of my neighbours.
You can also use a name or noun phrase with possessive 's: a colleague of Nina's, a friend of my uncle's. This is called a double possessive because it combines of with a possessive form. The name does not mean the structure is wrong.
In this possessive-pronoun pattern, use mine, not me: a colleague of mine. That is not a rule that every of must take a possessive. One of us and a photo of me are different patterns.
With a person's name, do not turn this into a universal ban on a friend of Nina. British Council's lesson recommends the form with 's; Chicago accepts both a friend of Gabriel and a friend of Gabriel's. Use a friend of Nina's as the main pattern here, without marking every of+name phrase wrong.
This/that can also begin such a phrase: that idea of yours. Context can add an attitude such as humour or annoyance; the words alone do not force one. See this, that, these, those: pointing to things and people.
To choose part of a known group, use a quantity expression with of and the possessive noun phrase: some of my books, two of our neighbours. Compare some books of mine: both structures can refer to books connected with you.
All and both can also come before the possessive without of: all my notes, both your hands. Do not use some my books for this meaning. See Every, each, whole and all: every day, each of them, the whole day, Some and any: someone, anything, somewhere and related forms and Both, either and neither: both doors, either of them, neither answer for the quantity patterns.
Own can strengthen the connection: my own room, their own work. It can show that something is yours rather than shared, or that you do something yourself. Use my own, not mine own, in this modern pattern.
You can leave the noun out when it is clear: I'd like a room of my own. Cambridge also allows its and one's with own, rather than teaching bare its as a normal possessive pronoun. Generic one has one's before a noun: one should check one's work. See own, my own and on my own: belonging, doing it yourself, being alone for the full own patterns.
✗Is this umbrella your's?
✓Is this umbrella yours?
Yours has no apostrophe.
✗Ours neighbours have moved.
✓Our neighbours have moved.
Use our before the noun neighbours, not ours.
✗The robot lifted it's arm.
✓The robot lifted its arm.
Its shows the connection to the robot. It's means it is or it has.
See Possessive 's and of: a neighbour's garden, the end of the road for names and nouns with 's, Subject and object pronouns: I and me, they and them for I/me and they/them, own, my own and on my own: belonging, doing it yourself, being alone for my own and on my own, and Whose and whom in relative clauses for whose in relative clauses.
Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.