Possessive Pronouns: A Complete Guide To Possessive Pronouns & Adjectives

In this post, we’re going to look at possessive pronouns and adjectives. 

Why is it important to focus on these? 

Well, the fact that some of them are included in the list of the 100 most common words in English is a good enough reason to learn them, don’t you think?

So read on to learn what possessive pronouns and adjectives are, how they’re used, and some typical mistakes to avoid.

Let’s start.

What Are Possessive Pronouns In English?

A pronoun is a word we use instead of a noun or a noun phrase to avoid repetition.

There are many types of pronouns: personal (I, you, he, etc.) reflexive (myself, yourself, herself, etc.) demonstrative (this, that, etc.) and a few other kinds.

Can you guess what possessive pronouns are used for? To express possession – exactly.

Here are all 7 English possessive pronouns:

• Mine
• Yours
• His
• Hers
• Ours
• Yours
• Theirs

Here's how they correspond to personal pronouns.

Let’s now see them in action.

Mine

• John: I saw you won that art competition; your painting was great!
• Mary: Thank you, John! I liked your submission too, but the judges preferred mine.

Yours

• John: Your English is great!
• Mary: Thanks, but yours is even better!

His

• John: Is this the new guitar that James bought?
• Mary: Yes, it’s his. And it sounds much better than the old one he had.

Hers

• John: Sarah, one of my students, hasn’t submitted her essays yet.
• Mary: Same here. One of my students has been working on hers for weeks but still hasn’t sent it to me.

Ours

• John: The neighbours threw a fantastic party last night.
• Mary: Indeed, they did! It wasn’t as good as ours though.

Theirs

• John: Did you see the car parked outside? Does it belong to the Jeffersons?
• Mary: Yes, that’s the new model from Tesla. It's theirs; they just got it yesterday.

Let’s see some more example sentences:

Mine

• The opinions shared here are 100% mine.
• That list contained five more names besides mine.
• The choice is entirely mine and entirely arbitrary.

Yours

• That is why my “theory” beats yours.
• My life is very close to yours.
• My problems are very similar to yours.

His

• No, those are Ellie's kids, not Jack's. His are upstairs.
• The decision was his and his alone.
• He took my hands in his.

Hers

• Then furious dark eyes were glaring into hers.
• His eyes met hers briefly, before looking away.
• He took his hand away from hers.

Ours

• Their house is very similar to ours, but ours is bigger.
• Their garden is quite lovely, much like ours.
• Their vacation photos are amazing, but ours include more historical sites.

Theirs

• The idea was theirs, not mine.
• Our operation was totally separate from theirs.
• Our families will never mix with theirs.

What Are Possessive Adjectives?

What’s an adjective? Simply put, an adjective is a word that shows something about a noun. That “something,” in the case of a possessive adjective, is possession.

For example, “car” alone is just a noun. But if we put the possessive adjective “my” before it, we indicate that the car belongs to me. 

Easy, right?

There are 8 possessive adjectives in English, one for each personal pronoun. 

Remember the table above that included subject pronouns and possessive pronouns? Here’s how they fit into that table:

Let’s see some examples:

My

• John: I want to see my friends!
• Mary: Why?
• John: Because they are the best people in the world!

Your

• John: Mary, I think your English is great!
• Mary: Oh, thank you!

His

• John: Have you heard what happened to Bob? His wife has left him!
• Mary: No way! When did that happen?!

Her

• My friend Julie is a lucky woman. Her boyfriend is just so kind!

Its

• StoryLearning.com is a great-looking website. Its design is so clean and organised. I love it!

Our

• John: What’s your plan for tomorrow?
• Mary: I’m not sure. My boyfriend and I would like to meet our friends but we’re not sure what to do yet.

Your 

• John: What are you and your partner going to do? Are you going to eat at your favourite fast-food restaurant?
• Mary: Yeah, we might do that.

Their

• John: When I was in school, I loved my English teachers. Their lessons were so much fun!

Would you like to see some more examples?

Here are some random sentences I’ve taken from 101 Conversations in Simple English, a book where you’ll see lots and lots of possessive adjectives in context. 

In the following dialogue from page 44 there are three. Can you find them?

Alice: I would like to talk some more about your staff. Is that okay?

Lawrence Windsor: Yes, of course-that’s not a problem.

Alice: Who is the cleaner?

Lawrence Windsor: The cleaner is called Charlie. Charlie is Welsh and I have known him my whole life. His father was a friend of my father.

Here they are (in order): your, my, and my.

Here’s another sentence from my book Short Stories in English for Beginners (page 105). What’s the possessive adjective?

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived in Scotland. The man was quite old. His name was Walter. 

Found it?

“His name was Walter.”

And here’s one more from the same book (page 91). How many possessive adjectives can you find? 

A moment later, Frank returned. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

‘What? Why are you sorry?’ Susan asked.

“Because Eric is crazy.’

Susan and Carl looked at each other. ‘Crazy?’ asked Carl.

‘Crazy,’ Frank paused and looked at them.

‘Completely.’

‘I see,’ replied Carl. ‘And why do you say that?’

‘Because he thinks he can use you.’

‘Use us?’

‘To stop the English ships. The English know about the watch. Their aim is to get it at any price. They attack us every night. Eric must stop them. He claims you can help.’

So, how many? 1, 2, 3 or 4?

The answer is 1: “Their aim is to…”

Okay, shall we now look at possessive pronouns? 

Some Interesting Language Points About Possessives

Here are some things about possessives that are worth considering:

• We sometimes use possessive adjective + own to emphasise that something is related to or belongs to someone. For example:
  • These were my own words 12 months ago.
  • He too has his own human limitations.
  • Readers should seek their own professional advice before making decisions.

• We use possessive adjectives to talk about people’s age. Some examples:
  • Our teacher was a quiet man in his fifties.
  • They were both probably in their twenties.
  • A woman in her forties told me this.

• We use of + possessive because we can't use a possessive before an article and a noun. Here’s what I mean:
  • Incorrect: He’s a my friend.
  • Correct: He’s a friend of mine

Mistakes With Possessive Adjectives And Pronouns 

Here are some of the most common mistakes I’ve seen learners of English make.

Confusing Possessive Adjectives With Possessive Pronouns

Possessive adjectives always come before a noun, whereas possessive pronouns don’t need the company of a noun – they replace the noun.

Here’s what I mean:

Incorrect: This book is my.

Correct: This book is mine.

Incorrect: Is this book your?

Correct: Is this your book? OR Is this book yours?

Incorrect: Their is the fastest car, not our. 

Correct: Theirs is the fastest car, not ours.

Spelling Possessive Pronouns Using An Apostrophe 

Some possessive pronouns might seem like they should have an apostrophe. They don’t! Here are some common misspellings.

By the way, if you have problems with spelling, check out my post on English spelling rules.

“Its” Not “It’s”

We pronounce “its” in the same way we pronounce the contraction of “it is” (it’s). This often creates confusion when we write. 

Incorrect: The dog is barking and it’s wagging it’s tail.

Correct: The dog is barking and it’s wagging its tail.

“Yours” Not “Your’s”

Incorrect: My book is here. Your’s is on the table.

Correct: My book is here. Yours is on the table.

“Your” And “You're”

Incorrect: Your going to love this movie!

Correct: You're going to love this movie!

Using Articles Before A Possessive Adjective Or Pronoun

We don’t need articles (a, an, the) before possessive adjectives, nor do we need them in front of possessive pronouns.

Incorrect: She’s lost the her keys

Correct: She’s lost her keys.

Incorrect: Can I borrow your pen? I can’t find the mine. 

Correct: Can I borrow your pen? I can’t find mine. 

Confusing Gender (His/Her – His/Hers)

Some languages don’t have this distinction or they may use “his,” “her,” and “hers” differently. This can create confusion. Let’s say Julie lost her wallet and then found it. Here’s what some typical mistakes might look like:

Incorrect: Julie found his wallet.

Correct: Julie found her wallet.

One more:

Incorrect: Kevin lost her book in the library. (This is incorrect because Kevin, a man, lost his own book, not a woman’s book. If he had lost Julie’s book, then the sentence would be okay.)

Correct: Kevin lost his book in the library.

Pick Up Possessive Pronouns & Adjectives By Reading

Did you enjoy reading this grammar guide? I hope so!

Learning English possessive adjectives and pronouns is useful. One of the best ways to do it is not to memorise tables; it’s to learn them in context.

These words are so frequent and come up so often in stories and you’ll find many of these in the books I wrote for you (Short Stories in English for Beginners, Short Stories in English Intermediate, 101 Conversations in Intermediate English, and 101 Conversations in Simple English).

Those books are mine, but they can be yours, too!

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.