Home › A2 › Grammar › Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
A2 A2 grammar · lesson 24 of 25
You know possessive adjectives like my and your from A1. Possessive pronouns like mine and yours replace a noun, so you don’t need to repeat it.
Possessive adjectives and pronouns
| Subject | Possessive adjective (+ noun) | Possessive pronoun (no noun) |
|---|---|---|
| I | my book | mine |
| you | your book | yours |
| he | his book | his |
| she | her book | hers |
| we | our book | ours |
| they | their book | theirs |
Use
A possessive adjective comes before a noun. A possessive pronoun stands alone, without a noun. We often use it to avoid repeating the noun.
This is my bag. That one is yours.
‘Is this your phone?’ ‘No, it isn’t mine. I think it’s Tom’s.’
Anna’s car is red. Hers is the red one.
Our house is small, but theirs is very big.
These seats are ours.
Leo’s bike is new, and his sister’s is old.
‘Whose coat is this?’ ‘It’s hers.’
My English is good, but yours is better.
You know whose and the possessive ‘s from A1. You can use ‘s alone in the same way: ‘Whose book is this?’ ‘It’s Maria’s.’
His is the same in both columns: This is his room. The room is his. There is no possessive pronoun for it that we use in everyday English.
Common mistakes
✗ This pen is my.
✓ This pen is mine.
✗ Is this your’s?
✓ Is this yours?
✗ That is hers bag.
✓ That is her bag. / That bag is hers.
✗ The house is their.
✓ The house is theirs.