Possessive Pronouns

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:

See also:

Nouns: Possession with ‘s

Possession: Adjectives, Pronouns, Apostrophe + s