Possessive Pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers)

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A2 (Elementary)Grammar

Possessive Pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers)

Replace a noun and show possession with mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs — and never with an apostrophe. A2 grammar with 20 questions.

In A1 you learned possessive adjectives (my, your, his…). Now meet possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his…). The difference is simple but important: a possessive adjective comes before a noun, but a possessive pronoun stands alone and replaces the noun.

See the difference

Possessive adjective (+ noun) Possessive pronoun (alone)
my book mine
your pen yours
his bag his
her phone hers
our class ours
their house theirs
The key ideaWe use a possessive pronoun to avoid repeating the noun. Instead of “This is my book and that is your book,” we say “This is my book and that is yours.”

Examples in use

  • This pen isn’t my pen. Mine is blue.
  • Whose bag is this? — It’s hers. (It belongs to Aisha.)
  • Our classroom is bigger than theirs.
  • “Is this your phone?” — “Yes, it’s mine.”

Note: “its” has no pronoun form

There is no possessive pronoun “itsself” — “its” is only used as an adjective. And remember from A1: his is both the adjective and the pronoun (his bag / it’s his).

Tutor tip for Arabic speakersWatch out: possessive pronouns have no apostrophe. It is yours, hers, theirs, ours — never your’s, her’s, their’s. The apostrophe + s shows possession with names (Aisha’s), but not with these pronouns.
Common mistakes

  • This book is mine book. → This book is mine. (pronoun stands alone)
  • It’s her’s. → It’s hers. (no apostrophe)
  • The choice is your. → The choice is yours.

Practise possessive pronouns with the 20 questions below.

Check your understanding

Answer the questions below. You will see instantly if you are right.

1.Possessive pronoun for "my":
my (adjective) → mine (pronoun).
2.Possessive pronoun for "your":
your → yours.
3.Possessive pronoun for "her":
her → hers.
4.Possessive pronoun for "our":
our → ours.
5.Possessive pronoun for "their":
their → theirs.
6."This pen isn't my pen. ___ is blue."
Stands alone: Mine.
7."Whose bag is this?" — "It's ___." (Aisha's)
It's hers.
8."Our classroom is bigger than ___."
than theirs.
9."Is this your phone?" — "Yes, it's ___."
it's mine.
10.Which is correct?
Pronoun stands alone: mine.
11.Which is correct (no apostrophe)?
hers — no apostrophe.
12.Which is correct?
yours.
13.Adjective or pronoun? "This is ___ car." (belongs to me)
Before a noun → adjective "my".
14.Adjective or pronoun? "That car is ___." (belongs to me)
Stands alone → pronoun "mine".
15."Their house is big, but ___ is bigger." (belongs to us)
Stands alone: ours.
16."Whose pens are these?" — "They're ___." (belong to them)
They're theirs.
17.Which word has NO possessive pronoun form?
"its" is only an adjective — no pronoun form.
18."This is Omar's coat. It's ___."
Omar is male: his.
19.Choose correct: "Your bag is here. Where is ___?" (mine)
Stands alone: mine.
20."These books are ___." (belong to you)
yours.

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