Possessive pronouns in English are examples. The absolute form of possessive pronouns in English: usage, examples. Personal pronouns instead of subject

Possessive pronouns in English, these are pronouns that indicate the ownership of objects or persons. Possessive pronouns are divided into two types:

• Possessive pronouns-adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, theirs,
• Possessive pronouns-nouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.

There are other names for these species, for example, possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns, in English they are called possessive determiners (possessive determiners) and possessive pronuous (possessive pronouns).

Table: possessive pronouns-adjectives

Possessive adjectives indicate that something belongs to a person. They refer to the so-called noun determiners (determiners) - words that clarify the meaning.

Suggestion examples:

This is my house. - This is my home.

I know your name. - I know your (your) name.

That is his dog. - It's his dog.

What is her name? - What is her name? (lit.: what is her name?)

Our town is small. Our city is small.

He is your teacher. - He is your teacher.

This is their choice. - This is their choice.

Features of possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns-adjectives have several features.

1. In English, possessive pronouns are used more often than in Russian: ownership is indicated where in Russian it is only implied.

He looked at his watch. He looked at his wrist watch.

I am walking my dog. - I'm walking the dog.

2. In English, there is no analogue of the pronoun “one’s own”, one of the possessive pronouns-adjectives plays its role.

He knows his trade. - He knows his craft.

I forgot my password. - I forgot mine password.

3. A possessive pronoun cannot be used with either an article or a pronoun.

• Maybe: 1) I walked my dog 2) I walked the\a dog.
• Impossible: I walked the\a my dog.

4. Don't confuse its with it's

Its is the possessive pronoun for “his” (referring to an inanimate object or animal), and it’s is short for “it is”. This error, by the way, occurs among native speakers.

Table: possessive pronouns-nouns

Possessive pronouns-nouns replace a noun in a sentence with an indication of ownership, usually this is necessary to avoid repetition.

For example:

Is it your suitcase? - This is your suitcase.

– Yes, it's my suitcase mine. - Yes, mine.

The pronoun "mine" replaces "my suitcase".

All possessive pronouns are listed in this table:

The difference between My and Mine, Your and Yours, etc.

The difference between the two types of possessive pronouns can not be understood due to the fact that in Russian my And mine are translated the same way - "my". In fact, the functions of these pronouns are completely different.

• Pronouns-adjectives are used as noun determiners - this is their only possible role.

This is my boat. - This is my boat.

Here is your passport. - Here is your passport.

• Noun pronouns are never used as noun determiners. They are used like a noun - as a nominal part of a compound nominal predicate.

Let me remind you that a compound nominal consists of a linking verb to be +

We use pronouns to replace nouns in a sentence. Look at the word “pronoun” itself, it contains the main function of this part of speech: “ instead of having", that is " instead of a noun". Pronouns are used to diversify speech and not repeat the same word from sentence to sentence.

There are several types of pronouns in English: , and possessive. We paid special attention to each type of pronouns in a separate article.

Let's see how a native speaker teacher Alex talks about words that show that someone owns something.

When we want to say that someone owns something, we use possessive forms. As you can see Alex identified two forms: Possessive adjectives And Possessive Pronouns.

Possessive adjectives

Let's start considering possessive forms with possessive adjectives. Abroad these words are called Possessive adjectives. Such words show a sign of an object, phenomenon or person, therefore they are classified as adjectives, not pronouns:

• my book. - My book. (what book? - mine)
• His friend. - His friend. (what friend? - his)

In Russian textbooks on English grammar it is written that my (your, his etc.) is a pronoun, but native English teachers insist that it is still an adjective, because it comes before a noun and defines it. Let's take a look at the table:

My cat likes to play with a ball. - My the cat loves to play with the ball.

She wants to talk to your manager. - She wants to talk to yours manager.

The teacher found his mistakes. The teacher found his errors.

I like her dress. - I like her dress.

Our family likes to rest in Crimea, we adore its nature. – Our family loves to relax in the Crimea, we adore his nature.

They look after our children. - They look after our children.

He is speaking with their mother. - He talks to their mom.

Please note that in all examples after my (his, their) is a noun.

In Russian there is a universal word "our", which we simply change by numbers and persons. In English, the words “one’s own”, “one’s own”, “one’s own” should be translated as “mine”, “ours”, “his” / “hers”, respectively.

She cut mine finger. – She cut her finger.

I love my mom. – I love my mother.

Do my work. – Do your work.

Possessive pronouns

If you need to replace a noun in a sentence, you must use one of the possessive pronouns. Usually the noun is replaced so that there are no repetitions in the sentence.

• This is not my pen, mine is purple. - This is not my pen, my purple (replaced my pen on mine).

Becky! That is mine! - This my, Becky!

My task is easier than yours. - My task is easier than your.

This is not his car, his is blue. - It's not his car. his- blue.

This is a friend of hers. - This her Friend.

It is not their house theirs is bigger. - This is not their house. their more.

The general pattern for all possessive pronouns is that you do not need to use a noun after them, and, as a rule, it is at the end of the sentence. Also, take a look at this couple: a friend of mine And my friend. Both phrases mean the same thing - my friend, only after the preposition of use possessive pronouns rather than adjectives ( a friend of my).

In English, as in Russian, there are words that indicate the belonging of an object to a person and answer the question Whose? (whose?): mine, yours, yours, ours, his, her, theirs / my, your, our, his, her, its, theirs. In Russian these words are called possessive pronouns. In English, both pronouns and adjectives (mine, yours, etc.) are possessive. Unfortunately, many often confuse my and mine. To sort out this confusion and to clearly understand which word to use, the accessible and detailed explanation that follows will help.

Possessive adjectives in English are used in speech only in combination with nouns. The main function of any adjective is to describe the noun. The place of the possessive adjective is usually placed before the noun.

• This is my car. - This is my car.
• This is your dress. - This is your dress.
• This is his pen. - It's his pen.
• This is her desk. This is her table.
• This is our flat. - This is our apartment.
• This is their pictures. These are their drawings.

Possessive pronouns are used when you need to replace a noun. In most cases, this is done to avoid repetition.

• This car is mine. - This car is mine.
• This dress is yours. - This dress is yours.
• This pen is his. This pen is yours.
• This is not her bag. This is not her bag. / Hers is red. - Her red. (hers = her bag).
• I've got a parrot. Its cage is not big. - I have a parrot. His cell is not big.
• This flat is ours. - This is our apartment.
• This is not their style. “That's not their style. / Theirs is much more original. - They are much more original. (theirs = their style).

*Attention! Write the possessive pronoun its without an apostrophe. The apostrophe (it "s) is placed only when abbreviating the phrase it is.

Possessive Adjectives: features of use

If there is another descriptive adjective before the noun in the sentence, then the possessive is written before it, but after words such as all (all) and both (both, both).

• Jane is my best friend. Jane is my best friend.
• They are reading their new magazine. They are reading their new magazine.
• All my colleagues are here. All my colleagues are here.
• Both her parents are medicines. Both of his parents are doctors.

A possessive adjective before a noun eliminates the need for an article.

• He took his book and left. He took his book and left.
• The children are playing with their new toy. The children are playing with their new toy.

"own" in English

There is no pronoun “one’s own” in English, therefore, when translating, it is replaced by one of the possessive adjectives my, your, his, her, its, our, their (according to the person and number of the subject).

• I love my dead. - I love my dad.
• She is washing her car. She is washing her car.
• We adore our children. - We love our children.

Used in combination with nouns, English possessive adjectives that refer to parts of the body, personal belongings, and items of clothing are usually omitted in translation.

• She usually dyes her hair every month. She usually dyes her hair every month.
• Every morning I clean my teeth. — I brush my teeth every morning.
• He has broken his arm. - He broke his arm.
• Put on your hat, please. It's rather windy today. - Put on your hat, please. It's pretty windy outside today.

Article the instead of Possessive Adjectives

There are two rules that are useful for intermediate learners and above. There are cases when nouns denoting parts of the body are preceded by the definite article the instead of the possessive adjective.

This is possible when:

1) the noun refers to the object (object), and not to the subject (subject), that is, not to the performer of the action, but to the one to whom the action is directed.

• The woman patted the child on the head. The woman stroked the child's head.

2) if the sentence refers to pain, injury or blows. Here the prepositions (in, on) are combined with such verbs as:

• hit - beat, hit;
• punch - hit with a fist;
• bite - bite;
• pat - to clap;
• slap - clap, spank;
• sting - sting.

• An old woman has a pain in the leg. The old woman's leg hurts.
• A strange insect stung me in the arm. A strange insect stung my arm.

Constructions of your own / on your own

After possessive adjectives, the word own is sometimes used (one's own), reinforcing the meaning of belonging.

• It was his own project. - It was his own project(that is, it was he who developed this project, and no one else).
• She saw it with her own eyes. She saw it with her own eyes (that is, she saw it herself).
• This is our own house. - This is our own house(that is, this house belongs exclusively to us).

In the same meaning, the construction of (your) own (of + possessive adjective + own) is used.

• I need a computer of my own. I need my own computer (I don't want to share it with anyone).
• They have three small children of their own. They have three small children of their own (meaning they have their own small children, so, for example, they cannot look after their girlfriend's children).

When translated, the expression on (your) own can have two meanings:

• alone, alone:

Margaret lives on her own. Margaret lives alone.

She often likes being on her own. She often likes to be alone.

• independently, without outside help:

We did it on our own. - We did it ourselves.

I can make salad on my own. — I can make the salad myself.

It would seem that there is nothing simpler than pronouns: "I, you, he, she - together the whole country", "To you - yours, and to me - mine." But how do you say it in English? In today's article, we will look at the basic rules for using personal and possessive pronouns in English.

Personal pronouns in English

In English, the personal pronoun is used instead of a noun that we already know or have already mentioned. This avoids repetition in speech.

This is Jim. Jim is a policeman. Jim lives in New York. - This Jim. Jim police officer. Jim lives in New York.

Agree, too much Jim for three sentences. This is easy to fix if we combine the two sentences into one and replace the name Jim with the pronoun he (he).

This is Jim. He is a policeman and lives in New York. - This Jim. He police officer and lives in New York.

A personal pronoun can be:

1. Subjective (subject pronoun)

   This pronoun is used in a sentence instead of the subject and denotes the one who performs the action. Subject pronouns come before the verb and answer the questions “who?” So what?".

2. Objective (object pronoun)

   The pronoun is used in the sentence instead of the object, that is, the action is directed to it. Object pronouns come after the verb and answer the questions “who? / what?”, “to whom? / what?”, “who? / what?”, “by whom? / what?”, “about whom? / about what?".

Personal pronouns instead of subject

The table below shows personal pronouns that are used in English instead of the subject.

Now let's look at some of the features of these pronouns:

• Pronoun I

  I is always capitalized.

  I am a dreamer. - I dreamer.
  Mom says I can do it. - Mom says that I I can do it.

  If I in a sentence is next to another personal pronoun, then I is put in second place.

  She and I are best friends. - We With her best friends.
  He and I played tennis together. - We With him played tennis.

• Pronouns he, she and it

  The pronouns he and she are used for people. And to refer to inanimate objects, phenomena and animals, the pronoun it is used.

  You know Jane. She is kind and modest. - You know Jane. She kind and humble.
  Did you see the new building yesterday? It is big. - Did you see the new building yesterday? It big.

  And if you treat your pet like a family member, you can use he or she instead of it.

  Your dog doesn't like me. It barks at me.
  - My dog ​​never barks at people. He's a good boy.
  Your dog doesn't love me. He barks at me.
  My dog ​​never barks at people. He good boy.

  The pronoun it is also used in impersonal sentences (in which there is no actor) to describe the weather, time, distance, etc.

  It's a quarter to nine. - It's fifteen minutes to nine.
  It's foggy outside. - It's foggy outside.
  It's three kilometers between the villages. - The distance between the villages is three kilometers.

• Pronoun you

  You translates to "you", "you", or "you" depending on the context, but agrees with the plural verb.

  You look good in this dress. - You you look good in this dress.
  You all are beautiful. - You all are beautiful.
  Mrs. Walmer, I think you will be a good nurse. - Mrs. Walmer, I think You be a good nurse.

Personal pronouns instead of object

In the table we give personal pronouns that are used instead of the object and are in the sentence after the verb.

Let's look at examples:

He will help me tomorrow. - He will help to me Tomorrow.
He told us the story. - He said us this story.

We also use these pronouns after the prepositions about (about), on (on), in (in), with (from), for (for) and others.

stay with us. - stay with us.
I am doing this for her. - I'm doing it for her.

You can fix the topic and take the tests in our articles “Personal pronouns of the English language" and "".

Possessive adjectives and pronouns in English

There are two possessive forms in English:

1. Possessive adjectives
2. Possessive pronouns

Both forms denote the belonging of something to someone and answer the question “whose? / Whose? / Whose? / Whose?”

Although this article focuses on pronouns, we will also look at adjectives so that you do not confuse them.

So what is the difference between a possessive adjective and a pronoun? A possessive adjective in English always comes before a noun and characterizes it.

This is my cup. - This my cup.
His phone is on the table. - His phone lies on the table.
your music is annoying. - Your music annoys.

The possessive pronoun does not characterize the noun, but replaces the construction "possessive adjective + noun". Most often, such pronouns are at the end of a sentence.

Are those shoes mine? - those shoes my?
It's their dog, and that is ours. - This is their dog, and this is - our.
My dress is prettier than yours. - My dress is prettier your.
Her cake was better than theirs. - Her cake was tastier than their.

We can also use a possessive pronoun after a noun with the preposition of.

This is Ross. He is a friend of me my mine. - This is Ross. He my Friend.

Also, possessive adjectives and pronouns have other features that should be remembered:

• In English, there is no pronoun corresponding to the Russian "own". Therefore, we translate it according to the context using possessive adjectives or pronouns.

  I'll take my(possessive adjective) bag and you take yours(possessive pronoun). - I will take my (mine) bag, and you take my (yours).

• The possessive adjective and possessive pronoun its are written without an apostrophe. If you meet it "s, then this is an abbreviated grammatical form: it's \u003d it + is.

  The cat played with its(possessive adjective) toy. - The cat played with his toy.

• Formally, its exists as a possessive pronoun, but its use is avoided. It is used only with the pronoun own - its own (own, own).

  Each district of the city has the charm of its own(possessive pronoun). - Each district of the city has your own Charm.

We have also collected personal and possessive pronouns for you. in English in one diagram for clarity. You can use it as a cheat sheet.

We invite you to watch a funny video from the animated series Looney Tunes. In this episode, you will see how desperately the drake Daffy Duck tries to get the hunter Elmer Fudd to shoot Bugs Bunny the rabbit. But Duffy has one problem - he gets confused in pronouns.

Try to pass small test on the use of personal and possessive pronouns in English.

Test on the topic "Personal and possessive pronouns in English"

We hope that our article helped you understand the features of the correct use of personal and possessive pronouns in English. If you want to work out the rules you have learned using examples that you understand, go to one of the.

What are possessive pronouns? These are short words expressing belonging and answering the question “Whose?” / “Whose?”. They can be represented in adjoint or absolute form, which differ somewhat in their appearance and position in the offer.

Possessive pronouns in the attached form

This form is characterized by the position before the noun. The easiest way to remember possessive pronouns is paired with their corresponding personal pronouns based on the following simple table, understandable even for children:

Consider some examples of the use of possessive pronouns in the attached form. Please note that in English this type of pronoun does not change by case, gender or number, unlike the corresponding Russian pronouns. Compare pronouns in English sentences and their Russian equivalents:

*Pronoun your not capitalized (capitalized) in the middle of a sentence, even if it means polite treatment " Your”, because in English there is no separate polite form of address of this nature.

**Be careful with the pronoun its , because in English it means belonging to an inanimate object or animal, since they belong to the middle gender in English. In Russian, the gender category can be different for animals and inanimate objects, so often in Russian its translated as both "his" and "her". Just don't confuse the possessive pronoun its with abbreviated form it 's , consisting of the pronoun it and verb is.

Probably, the attentive reader did not go unnoticed by the fact that quite often (but not always) it is convenient to translate possessive pronouns into Russian using the “ubiquitous” possessive pronoun "mine". But there is no such universal pronoun in English. Therefore, be careful when translating from Russian into English - find the subject in each case and determine what the word “own” means in each specific case: “mine”, “his”, “them”, etc. For example:

Possessive pronouns in absolute form

In general, this subspecies of possessive pronouns is both similar to the attached form and has a number of significant differences:

1) Possessive pronouns in absolute form for the most part somewhat longer the first subspecies, but not all of them. Most of these pronouns are formed from their relatives in the attached form by adding -s, but also not all of them. At the same time, the meaning of pronouns in the absolute form is the same as that of their counterparts in the attached form. Compare:

2) The absolute form of the possessive pronoun is used when it is not followed by a definable noun. For example:

We note that the absolute form of possessive pronouns is no longer translated by the pronoun "one's own".

3) The absolute form of possessive pronouns is also characterized by the use in set expressions, for example a friend of mine , where the noun being defined stands before the pronoun in absolute form and is connected with it by a preposition of . Such a verbal turn is usually attached to the expression of uncertainty, that is, one of the friends, some of the friends is meant. Judge for yourself:

In general, we can briefly define the difference in the use of the attached and absolute forms with a short and understandable even for a child rule: The "short" form is used BEFORE THE NOUN, and the "long" form is WITHOUT THE NOUN.

We hope that now the choice of the correct possessive pronoun will not present any difficulties for you.