Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns show ownership and stand alone — without a noun after them. They are different from possessive adjectives, which must always be followed by a noun.
What are possessive pronouns?
A possessive pronoun replaces a noun phrase that shows ownership. Unlike possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their), possessive pronouns stand alone — they never appear directly before a noun.
That is my bag. → That bag is mine.
Is this your coat? → Is this coat yours?
We took our car. → The car is ours.
The six possessive pronouns
Note that it has no possessive pronoun form — only the possessive adjective its exists.
Possessive adjectives vs. possessive pronouns
This is the most important distinction to learn. A possessive adjective modifies a noun and cannot stand alone. A possessive pronoun replaces the entire noun phrase and stands alone.
| Person | Possessive adjective (+ noun) | Possessive pronoun (alone) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | my book | mine |
| 2nd singular/plural | your book | yours |
| 3rd singular (m) | his book | his |
| 3rd singular (f) | her book | hers |
| 3rd singular (n) | its cover | — (none) |
| 1st plural | our book | ours |
| 3rd plural | their book | theirs |
How possessive pronouns are used
Possessive pronouns can appear in several positions in a sentence — as subject, object, or after a preposition — as long as they stand alone.
- As the subject: Mine is the red one. Yours arrived yesterday.
- As the object: I prefer hers. She chose ours.
- After a linking verb: That seat is his. This jacket is mine.
- After a preposition: A friend of mine. A colleague of yours.
My car is blue. Hers is red.
Their garden is bigger than ours.
I've lost my keys — can I borrow yours?
He's an old friend of mine.
The "of + possessive pronoun" construction
In English, we often use of + possessive pronoun to express a partial or indefinite relationship. This is called the double genitive or post-genitive.
She is a friend of mine. (= one of my friends)
That idea of yours is brilliant.
Is he a colleague of hers?
We met some neighbours of theirs.
Tip: Notice that "a friend of mine" is not the same as "my friend". "A friend of mine" implies one among several friends. This construction always uses the possessive pronoun, never the adjective: say a friend of mine, never a friend of my.
Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe
Unlike possessive nouns, possessive pronouns never use an apostrophe. This is a very common spelling mistake.
| Incorrect ✗ | Correct ✓ | Note |
|---|---|---|
| your's | yours | No apostrophe needed |
| her's | hers | No apostrophe needed |
| their's | theirs | No apostrophe needed |
| our's | ours | No apostrophe needed |
| it's bag | its bag | it's = it is / it has |
Common confusion — their / there / they're: Their is a possessive adjective (their house). Theirs is the possessive pronoun (the house is theirs). There refers to a place. They're is a contraction of they are. None of these take an apostrophe as a possessive.