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Last time we looked at possessive adjectives, which MUST have a noun following them:

(possessive adjective) + N:  my, your, his, her, its, our, their

my alarm
your keys
his book
her father
its tail
our children
your hats
their pictures

Now, let’s look at possessive pronouns, which do NOT have a noun following them:

 Pattern:  (possessive pronoun) + (nothing)

Examples:

Where did you get your book?  I bought mine from the local bookstore. (= I bought my book)
I found a pen – is it yours? (= is it your pen)
Mary is done with her project, but Jack didn’t finish his. (= Jack didn’t finish his project)
Mother told me that the sweater on the sofa is hers.  (= the sweater is her sweater)
Did you see the Wilsons got a new tent?  It looks just like ours. (= it looks just like our tent)
John and Susan said that the dog barking last night wasn’t theirs. (= the dog wasn’t their dog)

Note:  The possessive pronouns are used when showing possession with the preposition “of.”

Examples:

A friend of mine gave me that book.  (not friend of me)
That dog of hers is nothing but a troublemaker. (not dog of her)
The Wilsons went out for dinner with some friends of theirs.  (not friends of them)
A neighbor of ours recently got a new car.  (not neighbor of us)

To ask about possession, use “whose”:

Examples:

Whose cell phone is this?  It’s mine.

or (if it’s clear what item is meant)

Whose is this?  It’s mine.

Whose glasses are these?  / Whose are these?  They’re Jack’s.

Exercises.  Complete the following sentences, using one of the possessive pronouns:  mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs.

Example:

These are my shoes.  They’re _______. ==> These are my shoes.  They’re mine.

1.    This is my sandwich.  It’s _______.
2.    That is our dog.  It’s _______.
3.    This is your sweater.  It’s _______.
4.    These are his books.  They’re _______.
5.    That is their car.  It’s _______.
6.    These are her sunglasses.  They’re _______.
7.    That is their house.  It’s _______.
8.    This is our new sofa.  It’s _______.
9.    That’s my laptop.  It’s _______.
10.    This is your pen.  It’s _______.
11.    That is his cell phone.  It’s _______.
12.    Those are her gym shoes.  They’re _______.

Exercises.  Choose the right form of the possessive.

Example:

Those are not (my/mine) shoes.  (My/Mine) are brown. ==> Those are not my shoes.  Mine are brown.

1.    I’ve met (her/hers) parents, but I don’t know (their/theirs) names.
2.    At whose house do you want to have the surprise party?  (Your/Yours) or (our/ours)?
3.    Be sure to take (your/yours) project home.  I’ve got (my/mine).
4.    (My/Mine) dog is smarter than (your/yours).
5.    I took the money out of (my/mine) pocket and put it in (her/hers) purse.
6.    The Smiths had some old books, so we sold (their/theirs), along with (our/ours), at a garage sale.
7.    Whose backpack is this?  (Your/Yours) or (her/hers)?
8.    The Jones send (their/theirs) children to camp every summer.
9.    The teacher reminded us to bring all (our/ours) books home to study over the holidays.
10.    (Your/Yours) garden is bigger than (my/mine), isn’t it?

Exercises.  Complete the sentences using the phrase “friend(s) of mine / yours,” etc.

Example:

I saw an old _______ the other day.  ==> I saw an old friend of mine the other day.

1.    After the show, Jack and Jill went out with some _______.
2.    Mother had lunch with a high school _______.
3.    If you gossip about my brother, you’re no _______!
4.    When we went out for a walk, we ran into a _______.
5.    Once a month, my uncle goes fishing with a _______.
6.    I was just writing a letter to a _______.
7.    Grandmother and Grandfather went on a cruise with some _______.
8.    My sister got into a fight with a _______, and now they’re not talking.
9.    Aunt Molly got the recipe from a _______.
10.    We asked a _______ to take care of our dog while we were on vacation.

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