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Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns say who something belongs to, but they replace the noun. So we use them alone. In this case, we don't use 'its'. In English, the possessive pronouns are: mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs.
- I have a bag - this is mine.
- You have a cat - that cat is yours.
- He has a car - it is his.
- She has a book - it is hers.
- We have a flat - it is ours.
- They have a daughter - she is theirs.
Possessive determiners
The possessive determiners in English (also called 'possessive adjectives') are: my, your, his, her, its, our and their. They say who something belongs to.
Possessive determiners always come before a noun.
- I have a bag - this is my bag.
- You have a cat - that is your cat.
- He has a car - it is his car.
- She has a book - it is her book.
- The dog has a bed - it is its bed.
- We have a flat - it is our flat.
- They have a daughter - she is their daughter.
Here is a list of both:
| Possessive Pronouns | Possessive Determiners |
|---|---|
| mine | my |
| your | your |
| his | his |
| hers | her |
| - | its |
| ours | our |
| theirs | their |
Here are some examples of both possessive determiners and possessive pronouns:
- It's my book. It's mine.
- That's your car. It's yours.
- Those are his shoes. They're his.
- That is her umbrella. That is hers.
- Please open our gift first. Please open ours.
- The students took their books. The students took theirs.
Try an exercise about possessive pronouns and determiners here.
Try another exercise about possessive pronouns and determiners here.
Read our explanation on possessive pronouns here.