What are possessive pronouns in English?

Possessive pronouns replace a noun and show ownership: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs. Example: 'This book is mine' (= my book).

Why is there no apostrophe in possessive pronouns?

Possessive pronouns (yours, hers, its, ours, theirs) never use apostrophes. 'It's' means 'it is', while 'its' shows possession: 'The dog wagged its tail'.

What is the possessive pronoun for 'I' and 'we'?

'I' becomes 'mine'. 'We' becomes 'ours'. Example: 'This phone is mine.' 'That house is ours.' They are used without a noun after them.

What is the possessive pronoun for 'he' and 'she'?

'He' becomes 'his'. 'She' becomes 'hers'. Example: 'Is this John's bag? Yes, it's his.' 'Is this Maria's coat? Yes, it's hers.'

How do I use 'yours'?

'Yours' is for the person you are talking to (singular or plural). 'Is this book yours?' (your book). 'Are these keys yours?' (your keys). It does not change.

What is the difference between 'his' as an adjective and a pronoun?

Adjective: You use it with a noun. 'This is his car.' Pronoun: You use it alone. 'This car is his.' The word is the same, but you do not use a noun after the pronoun.

How do I answer 'Whose pen is this?'

Use a possessive pronoun. 'It's mine.' 'It's hers.' 'It's theirs.' You can also say 'It's my pen,' but using the pronoun (mine, hers) is more common and natural.

CEFR A1

Possessive Pronouns

Q: What is the difference between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns?

Possessive adjectives come before nouns (my book, her car). Possessive pronouns replace the noun entirely (mine, hers). 'This is my book' vs 'This book is mine'.

Learn how to use mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs correctly. Practice showing ownership without repeating nouns in everyday sentences.

Learn Possessive Pronouns

What You Will Learn

Possessive pronouns show ownership without repeating nouns. Learn how to use mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs correctly.

Learn the difference between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns

Master all 7 possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs

Learn when to use possessive pronouns instead of repeating nouns

Practice with common situations: identifying belongings, asking about ownership

What Are Possessive Pronouns?

Possessive pronouns replace "possessive adjective + noun" to show ownership without repeating the noun.

Possessive Adjective vs Pronoun

Adjective: This is my book.

Pronoun: This book is mine.

Adjective: That is her bag.

Pronoun: That bag is hers.

Key Difference

✓ Possessive adjective + noun (my book)

✓ Possessive pronoun alone (mine)

✓ Pronoun replaces "adjective + noun"

✓ No noun needed after possessive pronoun

Simple Rule!

Use possessive pronouns when you don't want to repeat the noun. They stand alone.

✓ "This is my car." → "This car is mine."

✓ "Is this your pen?" → "Is this pen yours?"

✓ "That is their house." → "That house is theirs."

The Lost and Found Box

Imagine you are at school. The teacher has a big box of lost things. She picks up a blue pen.

"Whose pen is this?" she asks. Tom says, "It's mine!"

She picks up a red scarf. "Is this yours, Anna?" Anna says, "No, it's not mine. I think it's hers," and she points to Maria.

Maria smiles. "Yes, that scarf is mine! And those gloves are his," she says, pointing to Tom.

The teacher picks up a big lunchbox. "Whose is this?" Two students shout, "It's ours!"

In this story, we used mine, yours, his, hers, and ours. These possessive pronouns replaced the nouns so we didn't have to repeat them!

Complete Possessive Pronouns Chart

Use this chart to remember all possessive forms.

Subject	Possessive Adjective	Possessive Pronoun	Example
I	my	mine	This is mine.
you	your	yours	Is this yours?
he	his	his	That is his.
she	her	hers	The bag is hers.
it	its	its	This food is its.
we	our	ours	The house is ours.
they	their	theirs	Those are theirs.

Important Notes

✓ "His" is both possessive adjective and pronoun: "his car" (adjective) / "This is his." (pronoun)

✓ "Its" as possessive pronoun is rare, usually we say "The dog's food"

✓ "Hers", "Ours", "Theirs" end with 's'

✓ No apostrophe in possessive pronouns: NOT "your's", "our's", "their's"

Quick Practice

Change to possessive pronouns:

1. "This is my book." → "This book is __________."

2. "Is this your phone?" → "Is this phone __________?"

3. "That is their house." → "That house is __________."

💡 Check your answers

1. "This book is mine."

2. "Is this phone yours?"

3. "That house is theirs."

When to Use Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used in these common situations.

Avoiding Repetition

Instead of repeating nouns

"This is my book. That is your book."

→ "This book is mine. That one is yours."

In comparisons

"Your car is bigger than my car."

→ "Your car is bigger than mine."

Identifying Belongings

Whose questions

"Whose bag is this?" "It's hers."

"Whose keys are these?" "They're mine."

Claiming ownership

"This seat is mine."

"That laptop is his."

"These cookies are ours."

In Conversations

Short answers

"Is this your coat?" "Yes, it's mine."

"Are these your glasses?" "No, they're hers."

Showing possession clearly

"The blue one is yours, the red one is mine."

"This part is ours, that part is theirs."

Want to try a Possessive Pronouns quiz?

Practice with multiple choice questions

Common Situations & Examples

Practice possessive pronouns in everyday situations.

At Home

In the kitchen

"This cup is mine."
"That plate is hers."

In the bedroom

"This bed is ours."
"That desk is his."

"Whose towel is this?" "It's mine."

At School & Work

Classroom

"This pencil is yours."
"That notebook is mine."

Office

"This computer is hers."
"That chair is his."

"Is this your desk?" "No, it's theirs."

Social Situations

Gifts & Parties

"This gift is for you." "Thank you, it's mine now."

"Whose cake is this?" "It's ours to share."

Public Places

"This seat is mine."

"That parking space is theirs."

"Whose umbrella is this?" "I think it's hers."

Ready to test your Possessive Pronouns knowledge?

Challenge yourself with fill-in-the-blank exercises

Common Mistakes

❌ This is mines.

✓ This is mine.

No 's' added to 'mine'

❌ Is this your's?

✓ Is this yours?

No apostrophe in possessive pronouns

❌ That car is her's.

✓ That car is hers.

'Hers' has no apostrophe

❌ These books are our's.

✓ These books are ours.

'Ours' has no apostrophe

❌ This is my.

✓ This is mine.

Use 'mine' not 'my' as possessive pronoun

❌ That is him book.

✓ That is his book.

Use 'his' not 'him' for possession

Master Possessive Pronouns sentence building!

Drag and drop words to form correct sentences

Comparisons with Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are very useful in comparisons.

Comparative Sentences

With "than"

✓ Your house is bigger than mine.

✓ Her car is faster than his.

✓ Our team is stronger than theirs.

With "as...as"

✓ My phone is as new as yours.

✓ His answer is as good as hers.

✓ Our idea is as creative as theirs.

Showing Similarity or Difference

Similar possessions

✓ My bag is like yours.

✓ His phone is similar to mine.

✓ Our car is the same as theirs.

Different possessions

✓ My style is different from hers.

✓ His opinion is unlike mine.

✓ Our approach is not the same as theirs.

Practice Exercise

Complete with possessive pronouns:

1. "Your English is better than __________ (I)."

2. "Her dress is similar to __________ (you)."

3. "Our house is bigger than __________ (they)."

💡 Check your answers

1. "Your English is better than mine."

2. "Her dress is similar to yours."

3. "Our house is bigger than theirs."

Practice Tips

Remember: Possessive adjectives need a noun (my book), possessive pronouns don't (mine)

Practice with "Whose...?" questions: "Whose is this?" "It's mine/yours/his/hers"

No apostrophes: yours (NOT your's), hers (NOT her's), ours (NOT our's), theirs (NOT their's)

Use the chart: I→my→mine, you→your→yours, he→his→his, she→her→hers

Practice with the speaking exercises to improve pronunciation

Speaking Practice

To practice your pronunciation, listen to the native speaker audio first. Then 'Record' yourself repeating what you heard, then use the 'Playback' button to compare your pronunciation with the native speaker. If you want to record yourself again, simply click 'Delete'!

This book is mine.

Is this pen yours?

That car is his.

The red bag is hers.

This food is its.

The house is ours.

Those toys are theirs.

Whose phone is this? It's mine.

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