{"id":4854,"date":"2021-05-19T06:00:08","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T11:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=4854"},"modified":"2021-08-10T13:05:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T18:05:00","slug":"possessive-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/pronouns\/possessive-pronouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Possessive Pronouns"},"content":{"rendered":"

A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that indicates or identifies ownership. It can be either an adjective or a stand-in for an antecedent, the noun to which it refers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Possessive Pronoun: Adjective<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\nPossessive Pronoun: Stand-In Noun<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
my<\/td>\nher<\/td>\n<\/td>\nmine<\/td>\nhers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
your<\/td>\nour<\/td>\n<\/td>\nyours<\/td>\nours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
his<\/td>\ntheir<\/td>\n<\/td>\nhis<\/td>\ntheirs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

What Are Possessive Pronouns: Adjectives<\/h2>\n

A possessive pronoun acting as an adjective precedes the noun it modifies to identify ownership.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/em><\/strong>
\nThat is my<\/u> shirt.<\/p>\n

Have you seen her<\/u> new shoes?<\/p>\n

Let’s make our<\/u> way back to the cabin before sunset.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In sentences that include proper names as antecedents, possessive pronouns serving as adjectives allow for more-efficient expression by not requiring us to repeat the name.<\/p>\n

Example<\/em><\/strong>
\nRepetitive: Thomas enjoys Thomas’s<\/u> new guitar.<\/p>\n

Efficient with pronoun: Thomas enjoys his<\/u> new guitar.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nExample<\/em><\/strong>
\nRepetitive: The Chinns are moving into the Chinns’<\/u> new home today.<\/p>\n

Efficient: The Chinns are moving into their<\/u> new home today.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What Are Possessive Pronouns: Stand-in Nouns<\/h2>\n

A possessive pronoun acting as a stand-in for another noun (its antecedent) is known as an independent possessive pronoun or an absolute possessive pronoun. It does not precede a noun, and in describing possession of something, it does not have an apostrophe.<\/p>\n

Example<\/em><\/strong>
\nCorrect: That Corvette over there is mine<\/u>. (Mine <\/em>represents its antecedent, Corvette.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Incorrect: That is mine<\/u> Corvette. (The possessive pronoun should not precede the noun it refers to.)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nExample<\/em><\/strong>
\nCorrect: Next week, that brand-new house will be theirs<\/u>. (Theirs <\/em>represents its antecedent, house.)<\/p>\n

Incorrect: Next week, that brand-new house will be theirs’<\/u>. (The possessive pronoun should not take an apostrophe.)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As shown in the examples, independent (or absolute) possessive pronouns often appear at the end of sentences.<\/p>\n

A possessive pronoun standing in for another noun can be plural as well. Once again, it would not precede a noun, and it would not have an apostrophe.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/em><\/strong>
\nTheir parents live in Texas; ours<\/u> live in New Hampshire. (Antecedent is parents<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Your bowling balls are black and theirs<\/u> are red. (Antecedent is bowling balls<\/em>.)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Possessive Pronouns: Its<\/em><\/h2>\n

You will also often see another possessive pronoun acting as an adjective: its<\/em>. The possessive pronoun its <\/em>describes ownership by a non-person, such as an object or animal.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/em><\/strong>
\nYou can’t always judge a book by its<\/u> cover. (Antecedent is book<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

It can take one to two weeks for a snake to shed its<\/u> skin. (Antecedent is snake<\/em>.)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To this day, a common mistake with the possessive pronoun its<\/em> still pervades: the use of an apostrophe to convey possession, as in its’ <\/em>or it’s<\/em>. If you ever find yourself about to make this grammatical error, simply remember that personal pronouns never take an apostrophe.<\/p>\n

Example<\/em><\/strong>
\nCorrect: You can’t always judge a book by its<\/u> cover.<\/p>\n

Incorrect: You can’t always judge a book by its’<\/u> cover.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

English includes several types of pronouns, such as personal, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, indefinite, reflexive, and intensive pronouns. In this review, we’ve examined what possessive pronouns are.<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/h3>\n

Pronouns<\/a>
\nExpressing Possession of Gerunds<\/a>
\nIts<\/em> vs. It’s<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Now that you know what possessive pronouns are, choose the correct one in each of the following sentences.<\/p>\n

1. A peacock loves to show [its \/ it’s] feathers.<\/p>\n

2. Which guitar should we bring tonight: [your \/ yours] or Stephan’s?<\/p>\n

3. Bob and Linda said they forgot [their \/ they’re] checkbook at home.<\/p>\n

4. Someday that Jet Ski will be [mine \/ mine’s].<\/p>\n

5. Did you notice how much Clem looked like Elvis when he swiveled [his’ \/ his] hips?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. A peacock loves to show its<\/strong> feathers.<\/p>\n

2. Which guitar should we bring tonight: yours<\/strong> or Stephan’s?<\/p>\n

3. Bob and Linda said they forgot their<\/strong> checkbook at home.<\/p>\n

4. Someday that Jet Ski will be mine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

5. Did you notice how much Clem looked like Elvis when he swiveled his<\/strong> hips?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that indicates or identifies ownership. It can be either an adjective or a stand-in for an antecedent, the noun to which it refers. Possessive Pronoun: Adjective Possessive Pronoun: Stand-In Noun my her mine hers your our yours ours his their his theirs What Are Possessive Pronouns: Adjectives A possessive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-possessives","category-pronouns"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4854"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5331,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854\/revisions\/5331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}