English Grammar & Vocabulary

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Types of Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

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Hello reader! In this chapter, let us delve into the concept of possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives, their meanings, rules, and some examples related to them. Let’s get started!

Possessive Pronouns

We all know that a pronoun is any word that is used instead of a noun. A possessive pronoun is a form of the pronoun that denotes ownership of something in the sentence. For example,

  • It is his car.
  • That group invited me to their party.

It is interesting to note that possessive pronouns are also similar to possessive adjectives, which describe the possessions of a noun in the sentence. For example,

That car is mine / That is my car. (The word ‘mine’ is an adjective while ‘my’ is a pronoun).

Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

A thin line of difference exists between possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives. The following are the differences between the two for the three persons of personal pronouns.

     Possessive Pronouns        Possessive Adjectives
My, Our Mine, Ours
Your Yours
        His, Her, Its, Their           His, Hers, its, theirs

Rule: A common confusion exists while writing the possessive pronoun. That is the presence of an apostrophe (‘) and s to the pronoun while describing the possessive case. However, while writing about the possession of any pronoun, ‘s should not be used. Let us see this example.

  • The dress is her’s (Incorrect) /// The dress is hers (Correct).
  • The box is missing it’s lid (Incorrect) /// The box is missing its lid (Correct).
  • Is that pen your’s? (Incorrect) /// Is that pen yours? (Correct).

Difference between It’s and Its

Another area where many people make a mistake is between the use of it’s and Its. As discussed above, it’s is a contracted form of it is, and its is a possessive pronoun. For a clear explanation on this and for more examples, see this article on its vs it’s.

In the same manner,

  1. Their = Belonging to them /// They’re = they are
  2. Your = belonging to you /// You’re = You are
  3. Whose = Belonging to who /// Who’s = Who is

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Pronouns – Definition and Classification

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What are Pronouns?

Definition: Pronoun is word that substitutes the noun in a given sentence. In other words it acts as a replacement for a noun.

Pronouns Classification

 

Classification of Pronouns:

They are classified into eight types. They are:

  1. Personal 
  2. Possessive 
  3. Reflexive/ Intensive 
  4. Relative 
  5. Demonstrative 
  6. Indefinite 
  7. Interrogative 
  8. Reciprocal 

Let us see each of them in detail.

1. Personal Pronoun:

  • These refer to the speaker or speakers, called first person, and include the following

I, my, mine, me, myself,

We, our, ours, us ourselves.

  • Those spoke to are said to be in second person and include the following

You, your, yours, yourself, yourselves

  • Those spoken about are said to be in the third person an include the following

He, his, him, himself,

She, her, hers, herself,

It, its, itself

They, their, theirs, them, themselves.

Impersonal Pronoun:

  • These substitute Nouns which are in the Neuter gender.

It, its, itself

They, their, theirs, them, themselves.

Antecedent: The noun/ Pronoun or phrase which the Pronoun is referring to is called its antecedent.

Example: The boy bought a nice flower bouquet. He gifted it to his friend. Here, boy is the antecedent for he, and flower bouquet is the antecedent for it.

2. Possessive Pronoun:

  • Some of the personal pronouns listed above can be categorized as Possessive as they show to whom something belongs. They are:

My, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their and theirs.

Example: The mobile is mine. Here mine denotes to whom the mobile belongs.

3. Reflexive Pronoun:

  • Myself, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, ourselves and themselves are compound personal pronouns formed by combining My, your, him, her, it, our, them. with self or selves. These are called reflexive pronouns.

Example: He hurt himself while hitting the dog.

4. Relative Pronoun:

  • These join the dependent clause to the independent clause. They are,

Who, whose, whom which and that.

Example: He found his ring that he had lost in the gathering.

5. Demonstrative Pronoun:

  • These are the pronouns which point out something. They are,

This, that, these and those.

These are also called Definite Pronouns.

Example:  This is my book.

Indefinite Pronoun

  • Any, anybody,anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everything, many, neither, nobody, none, no one, one, other, others, some, somebody, someone are called Indefinite Pronouns.

6. Interrogative Pronoun:

  • These ask questions. They are:

Who, whom, whose, which, and what.

  • The compounds formed by suffixing the above pronouns with ever also belong to this category. They are: Whoever, whomever, whichever, and whatever. They can also be used as relative type and sometime they may act as adjectives as well.

Example:  Whom do you wish to take with you?; Who will receive the delegates from the airport?

7. Reciprocal Pronoun:

  • Each other,  One another are called reciprocal pronouns.

Example: They love each other.

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