Grammar basics
Possessive pronouns
A possessive pronoun shows who owns something: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. It stands alone, with no noun after it.
With a noun or alone?
English has two sets of "owner" words. Use the first set before a noun. Use the possessive pronoun alone.
| Before a noun | Alone | Example |
|---|---|---|
| my | mine | This is my laptop. This laptop is mine. |
| your | yours | Is this your pen? Is this pen yours? |
| his | his | That's his car. That car is his. |
| her | hers | It's her idea. The idea is hers. |
| our | ours | It's our office. The office is ours. |
| their | theirs | It's their house. The house is theirs. |
No apostrophe
Possessive pronouns never have an apostrophe ( ' ). Write yours, hers and theirs, not your's, her's or their's. Also, its means "belonging to it", but it's means "it is".
Mine
Something that belongs to me.
That blue laptop is mine.
Yours
Something that belongs to you.
Is this coffee yours?
His
Something that belongs to him.
This isn't my phone. It's his.
Hers
Something that belongs to her.
I forgot my pen, so Sarah gave me hers.
Ours
Something that belongs to us.
Their office is small, but ours is big.
Theirs
Something that belongs to them.
We finished our project. Did they finish theirs?