Possessive determiners & pronouns
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In short
Use a possessive determiner (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) before a noun to say who owns it. Use a possessive pronoun (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs) alone, with no noun after it.
The rule
We have two sets of words for showing who something belongs to.
1. Possessive determiners always come before a noun:
| Owner | Determiner | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | my | my phone |
| you | your | your name |
| he | his | his car |
| she | her | her bag |
| it | its | its colour |
| we | our | our house |
| they | their | their dog |
2. Possessive pronouns stand alone. There is no noun after them, because they replace the noun:
| Owner | Pronoun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | mine | It’s mine. |
| you | yours | Is this yours? |
| he | his | The book is his. |
| she | hers | The bag is hers. |
| we | ours | This table is ours. |
| they | theirs | The dogs are theirs. |
Note: its has no possessive pronoun form, and his is the same in both groups.
Agreement is with the OWNER, not the thing owned. Choose the word by looking at who owns it:
- Anna loves her job. (Anna is female -> her)
- Tom loves his job. (Tom is male -> his)
- The dog wags its tail. (the dog is “it” -> its)
In many other languages the form matches the noun (the thing owned). In English it never does - only the owner matters.
its vs it’s. These sound the same but mean different things:
- its = possessive (belonging to it): The cat licked its paw.
- it’s = it is or it has: It’s cold today. / It’s stopped raining.
Quick test: if you can say “it is” or “it has”, write it’s (with the apostrophe). If not, write its.
whose asks or tells who owns something:
- Question: Whose is this? / Whose car is that?
- Relative: That’s the man whose dog barks all night.
Forms & patterns
| Subject pronoun | Determiner (+ noun) | Pronoun (alone) |
|---|---|---|
| I | my | mine |
| you | your | yours |
| he | his | his |
| she | her | hers |
| it | its | - |
| we | our | ours |
| they | their | theirs |
own. Put own between a possessive determiner and its noun to add “and nobody else’s” - her own desk, its own logo. It never follows a stand-alone pronoun: say my own room, not mine own room.
Two useful patterns:
- a/an + noun + of + mine/yours/… = one of several: She is a friend of mine. (= one of my friends)
- Whose + noun + is this/are these? to ask about an owner: Whose keys are these? - They’re mine.
No apostrophe in hers, yours, its, ours, theirs. (The ‘s possessive on nouns - Anna’s job - was covered in Nouns: plurals & possessive ‘s.)
Examples
| English | Note |
|---|---|
| This is my umbrella, not yours. | determiner before a noun (umbrella) |
| Is this seat yours? | pronoun, stands alone, no noun after |
| The children finished their homework. | owner = they -> their |
| Maria called her sister. | owner = Maria (female) -> her |
| Daniel lost his keys at work. | owner = Daniel (male) -> his |
| The company changed its logo. | owner = it (the company) -> its possessive |
| It’s my birthday today. | it’s = it is, with an apostrophe |
| Whose jacket is on the chair? | whose asks who the owner is |
Common mistakes
- her car (when the owner is male) -> his car - match the owner, not the noun.
- The dog hurt it’s leg. -> its leg - possessive its has no apostrophe.
- Its a nice day. -> It’s a nice day - here it means “it is”, so use it’s.
- This book is your. -> This book is yours - the stand-alone form is yours.
- That is hers’ bag / a bag of her -> That is her bag / That is hers / a bag of hers - hers never takes an apostrophe, and it stands alone: use her before a noun, hers after of.
Tips
- One-line rule: determiner + noun (my book) vs pronoun alone (It’s mine).
- For its/it’s, say the sentence with “it is”. If it still makes sense, you need the apostrophe (it’s).
- The possessive words hers, yours, its, ours, theirs never take an apostrophe - the apostrophe belongs only to it’s (= it is/has).
- The word you choose depends on the owner: he -> his, she -> her, it -> its, they -> their.