My vs. Mine
(Possessive Adjectives vs. Possessive Pronouns)
Possessive Possessive
Adjectives Pronouns
(Whose ...?) (Whose?)
my ... mine
your ... yours
his ... his
her ... hers
our ... ours
their ... theirs
Note: "Your" and "yours" are used in the same way in 2nd person singular and 2nd person plural.
Here is a short Explanation to show the difference:
- Possessive Adjectives:
These are words like
my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.
They are used before a noun to show
ownership or possession.
For example: “My book” or “Your car”.
They describe whose something is.
("Whose book is this?" - "It's my book".)
2. Possessive Pronouns:
These are words like
mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs.
They also show ownership or possession.
For example: “The book is mine” or
“The car is yours”.
They can stand alone and don’t come
before a noun.
("Whose book is this?" - "It's mine.")
Here are some sentences to show how they work:
my, mine
(1st person singular)
my - My book is red.
mine - The book is mine.
your, yours
(second person singular)
your - Your car is nice.
yours - The car is yours.
his, his
(3rd person singular- masculine)
his - His phone is new.
his - The phone is his.
her, hers
(3rd person singular- feminine)
her - Her dog is black.
hers - The dog is hers.
its, its
(3rd person neuter)
its - Its colour is blue.
its (not commonly used)
our, ours
(1st person plural)
our - Our house is big.
ours - The house is ours.
their, theirs
(3rd person plural)
their - Their van is fast.
theirs - The van is theirs.
Remember:
- Possessive Adjectives are used before a noun to show ownership.
For example:
- "my book" or "your car"; in these cases, "my" and "your" describe the nouns "book" and "car".
2. Possessive Pronouns are used to refer back to a noun that has already been mentioned
(or implied), without needing to repeat the noun.
For example:
- "This book is mine." Here, "mine" refers back to "book" without needing to say "book" again.("This book is my book.")
- "Which car is yours?" Here, "yours" refers back to "car" without needing to repeat it. (Which car is your car?)