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Possessive pronouns, like possessive adjectives, show that something belongs to someone. A possessive pronoun replaces the ‘possessive adjective + noun phrase’:
Possessive pronouns are put immediately after the verb.
- This is my pencil → This pencil is mine.
- That is her dress → That white dress is hers.
- Our houses are on the hill.
- Two houses on the hill are ours.
How to form possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns are formed like this:
- This black coat is mine.
- The rest of the cake is yours.
- The car in the yard is his.
- All these beautiful gowns are hers.
- That cat on the tree is not ours.
- Guys, are these bags yours?
- Children said, the toys on the floor were not theirs.
How to use possessive pronouns
1. Use a possessive pronoun, when something is obvious:
- I think this phone is hers. (We don’t need to repeat ‘phone’. It’s obvious we are speaking about a phone.)
2. Use a possessive pronoun to avoid repetition:
- Is that your scarf? It’s very similar to mine. (To avoid repetition of ‘scarf’, we use ‘mine’ instead of ‘my scarf’.)
3. Use a possessive pronoun in place of a noun (never before a noun):
- That’s not their house. Theirs has got a red front door.
(We use ‘theirs’ in place of ‘their house.)
Watch this video from Crown Academy of English with many examples and explanation of how to use possessive pronouns:
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