English Grammar Understanding the Basics - Evelyn P. Altenberg, Robert M. Vago 2010
Lesson 24: Possessive pronouns
Unit 7: Pronouns
Part I: Kinds of words
You won’t be surprised to learn that possessive pronouns are pronouns that indicate possession, or ownership. Some possessive pronouns are underlined here:
1. Mr. Smith explained his ideas to the audience.
2. I wish I could accept their invitation.
3. That suitcase isn’t mine.
4. Yours was the best essay in the class.
If you look closely, you’ll notice that the possessive pronouns in sentences 1-4 fall into two groups. The ones in sentences1and2 are followed by a noun: his ideas, their invitation. The ones in sentences 3 and 4 are not followed by a noun; rather, they stand on their own in the sentence. We’ll talk about each kind separately.
The possessive pronouns in sentences 1 and 2 may look familiar to you. That’s because they were described in Lesson 14, as part of our discussion of determiners. Like articles (a, an, the), possessive pronouns which function as determiners can occur in the slot ... house (for example, his house, our house, your house). Since they function as determiners, you can understand why they are followed by a noun. In Quick tip 1 4.1 we called these determiner possessive pronouns and provided the full list. We repeat them here: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.
Test yourself 24.1
Underline the determiner possessive pronoun in each of the sentences below. Remember: determiner possessive pronouns are followed by nouns.
Sample: Many of our ideas back then were equally absurd.
Getting started (answers on p.100)
1. The woman hid her feelings well.
2. He was younger than his wife.
3. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford adored their son.
4. Thomas and Natalie were the best students in my class.
5. Your eyes look very tired.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. The salesman’s car does not show its age.
7. We should just pack up our things and get out of here.
8. I took a look at your face and I knew immediately that you were honest.
9. My daughter is very good about brushing her teeth regularly.
10. Gamblers are secretive about their losses.
Now on to the possessive pronouns in sentences 3 and 4, the kind that can stand alone in a sentence. Here are some more examples:
5. The Greens’ tent came loose in the storm but ours remained secure.
6. Yours was the first card I noticed.
7. The scientist hurried from that laboratory to mine.
These possessive pronouns replace a whole noun (actually, a whole noun phrase, but we haven’t gotten to that yet; see Lesson 28). And since the word nominal means ’’noun-like,’’ these pronouns are sometimes called possessive pronouns with nominal function. We will simply call them nominal possessive pronouns.
Quick tip 24.1
Nominal possessive pronouns replace a whole noun (or noun phrase). For example, instead of saying That book is Sally's book we can simply say, That book is hers. The nominal possessive pronouns are: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
Notice that the pronouns his and its can function either as determiner possessive pronouns (see Quick tip 14.1) or as nominal possessive pronouns (see Quick tip 24.1).
To enhance your understanding
Don’t confuse possessive pronouns with contracted pronouns:
8a. It’s (= it is) a wonderful day. (contracted pronoun)
8b. Its positives outweigh its negatives. (determiner possessive pronoun)
9a. You’re (= you are) absolutely right. (contracted pronoun)
9b. Your shoelaces are untied. (determiner possessive pronoun)
10a. They’re (= they are) leaving. (contracted pronoun)
10b. Their leaving early was unexpected. (determiner possessive pronoun)
As you can see, the contracted pronoun is always written with an apostrophe.
Test yourself 24.2
Underline the nominal possessive pronoun in each of the sentences below.
Sample: Pete and Cathy are convinced the idea was theirs.
Getting started (answers on p. 100)
1. The rattlesnake is his.
2. The mother needs her nourishment and the baby needs hers also.
3. Yours is the room on the left.
4. The computer on the table is mine.
5. Ours is the next house on the block.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. Theirs will probably be the best dog in the show.
7. Hiring the band is not Dave’s responsibility - it is yours.
8. Whatever the neighbors want to haul away is theirs for the taking.
9. Most people’s experience is probably similar to hers.
10. His is not the only opinion that matters.
Test yourself 24.3
Decide if each possessive pronoun below is a determiner or a nominal possessive pronoun.
Sample: yours nominal
Getting started (answers on p. 100)
1. my
2. theirs
3. mine
4. your
5. her
More practice (answers on the website)
6. our
7. their
8. ours
9. hers
10. his ...
Test yourself 24.4
Underline the possessive pronoun in each of the sentences below. Then indicate if it functions as a determiner or a nominal possessive pronoun.
Sample: Jack’s trip was good, but not nearly as exciting as theirs. (determiner)
Getting started (answers on p.101)
1. Listening to music might interfere with your ability to concentrate.
2. Some of the CDs are ours.
3. The prisoner was ordered to hand over his things.
4. In my opinion, you should apologize.
5. Hers is the only dissenting voice in the room.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. The big suitcase over there is mine.
7. Someone wants to buy our company.
8. Someday this will all be yours.
9. The suspects had their day in court.
10. The bank is going to need her signature.
Test yourself 24.5
Decide if each pronoun below is a determiner possessive pronoun (my, our, etc.), nominal possessive pronoun (mine, ours, etc.), subject pronoun (I, we, etc.), object pronoun (me, us, etc.), reflexive pronoun (myself, ourselves, etc.), or demonstrative pronoun (this, these, etc.).
Sample: that demonstrative
Getting started (answers on p.101)
1. their
2. them
3. yourselves
4. we
5. hers
More practice (answers on the website)
6. us
7. itself
8. those
9. me
10. yours
Test yourself 24.6 - Grand finale
Underline the pronouns in each of the sentences below. Label each as determiner possessive, nominal possessive, subject, object, demonstrative, or reflexive. Some sentences will have more than one pronoun.
Sample: They were convinced that she would do a great job for them. (subject; subject; object)
Getting started (answers on p. 101)
1. Their employees were working during lunch.
2. He asked us for the answer.
3. It made a huge difference to her and to her friends.
4. She looked at herself in the rearview mirror of my car.
5. Some guy introduced himself and gave me his business card.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. You shouldn’t compare your accomplishments to theirs.
7. The candidates presented themselves and their positions to us.
8. Are all these hers or mine?
9. You should thank him for bringing that to your attention.
10. We saved this for last because of its complexity and because the opportunity presented itself to include all pronoun types in it - but the final judgment is yours!