Possessive pronouns are a type of pronoun that shows ownership or possession. They are used to replace nouns that have already been mentioned, and they do not use apostrophes.
The seven possessive pronouns are:
- mine
- yours
- his
- hers
- its
- ours
- theirs
Possessive pronouns can be used in a variety of contexts, but they are most commonly used in the following ways:
- To replace a noun that has already been mentioned:
- “This is my book.” (This book is mine.)
- “The dog is theirs.” (The dog belongs to them.)
- To show possession of a specific noun:
- “The keys are mine.” (The keys belong to me.)
- “The car is hers.” (The car belongs to her.)
- To stand alone as the subject or object of a sentence:
- “Mine is the red car.”
- “Yours is the blue car.”
There are a few rules that govern the use of possessive pronouns. For example, the possessive pronoun “its” is only used for singular nouns that do not have a gender. The possessive pronouns “his” and “hers” are used for singular nouns that have a gender, and the possessive pronouns “ours” and “theirs” are used for plural nouns.
Possessive pronouns can be a bit tricky to use, but they are an important part of English grammar. By following the rules above, you can use possessive pronouns correctly and avoid making common mistakes.
Here are some additional examples of possessive pronouns in sentences:
- The book is mine.
- The keys are yours.
- The dog is his.
- The cat is hers.
- The ball is its.
- The toys are ours.
- The house is theirs.