Possessive Pronouns

What Are Possessive Pronouns?

A possessive pronoun is a word like mine, yours, or theirs. We use it to say that something belongs to someone, without repeating the noun.

This book is mine. (= my book)

That bag is yours. (= your bag)

The blue car is hers. (= her car)

A possessive pronoun stands alone. There is no noun after it.

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The Six Possessive Pronouns

Subject	Possessive Pronoun	Example
I	mine	This pen is mine.
you	yours	Is this jacket yours?
he	his	That seat is his.
she	hers	The blue book is hers.
it	its	(rarely used)
we	ours	This house is ours.
they	theirs	Those keys are theirs.

Note about “its”: the possessive pronoun its exists, but it is very rare in everyday English. Don’t confuse it with it's (= it is). At A2, focus on the other six forms.

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Possessive Pronouns vs. Possessive Determiners

This is the most important rule. There are two types of possessive words, and they look similar:

Possessive Determiner	Possessive Pronoun
my	mine
your	yours
his	his
her	hers
our	ours
their	theirs

A determiner comes before a noun. A pronoun stands alone (no noun after it).

Determiner + Noun	Pronoun (no noun)
This is my book.	This book is mine.
That is your car.	That car is yours.
It is her phone.	The phone is hers.
That is our house.	The house is ours.
These are their bags.	These bags are theirs.

So: my book ✓ but my alone is not correct → say mine.

This book is mine. ✓

This book is my. ✗

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When We Use Possessive Pronouns

1. To avoid repeating a noun

Your bag is black. My bag is red. → Your bag is black. Mine is red.

Her car is small. His car is big. → Her car is small. His is big.

2. After “of”

We can use of + possessive pronoun to say something belongs to someone.

A friend of mine called yesterday. (= one of my friends)

Is this book of yours new?

That cousin of his lives in Italy.

3. To answer “Whose?”

Whose pen is this?, It's mine. / It's hers. / It's theirs.

Whose keys are these?, They're his. / They're ours.

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”His” Is Both

The word his is a special case, it works as both a determiner and a pronoun. The form is the same.

This is his car. (determiner, before the noun “car”)

This car is his. (pronoun, no noun after)

That’s why his only appears once in our table above.

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Common Mistakes

Mistake	Better	Why
This book is my.	This book is mine.	After is/are, use a pronoun, not a determiner.
This is mine book.	This is my book.	Before a noun, use a determiner: my, not mine.
Where is yours pen?	Where is your pen?	Before a noun, use your, not yours.
That car is hers car.	That car is hers. / That is her car.	Don’t use both hers AND a noun.
Whose book is this?, It's my.	It's mine.	When the noun is missing, use the pronoun.
Their's house is big.	Their house is big. / That house is theirs.	Theirs has no apostrophe, never their's.
It's house is small. (about a dog)	Its house is small.	Its (possessive) has no apostrophe. It's = it is.

Big tip: none of the possessive pronouns (yours, hers, ours, theirs, its) use an apostrophe. Never write your's, her's, our's, their's, or it's to mean “belongs to it.”

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Practice: Exercises

1 / 14

This book is ___. I bought it yesterday.

AmyBmineCmeDI

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Summary

A possessive pronoun stands alone, no noun follows.

Determiner (before noun)	Pronoun (alone)
my book	mine
your phone	yours
his car	his
her bag	hers
our house	ours
their dog	theirs

This is my book. (determiner + noun)

This book is mine. (pronoun alone)

Never write yours, hers, ours, theirs, or its with an apostrophe.

That book is hers. ✓

That book is her's. ✗