Possessive pronoun
Encyclopedia
A possessive pronoun is a part of speech that substitutes for a noun phrase that begins with a possessive determiner (also known as a possessive adjective
). For example, in the sentence These glasses are mine, not yours, the words mine and yours are possessive pronouns and stand for my glasses and your glasses, respectively. Like other pronoun
s, possessive pronouns can thus obviate the need to repeat nouns or noun phrases. (Sometimes the possessive determiners – my, your etc. – are themselves classified as possessive pronouns; see Possessive adjective: Nomenclature.)
There are eight possessive pronouns in modern English: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, and whose, plus the antiquated possessive pronoun thine and the Middle English yourn (see also English personal pronouns
). The word "its" is, however, rarely used as such (almost always it functions as a possessive adjective).
Among these, "its" and "whose" are properly distinct from "it's" (a contraction of "it is" or "it has") and "who's" ("who is" or "who has"); however, these and other misspellings with apostrophes ("her's" to mean "hers", etc.) are common.
Some languages express possession
by regular declension of the personal pronoun
s (the equivalents of I, you etc.) in the genitive case
, or by using possessive suffix
es. In Finnish, for example, minun (literally "I's"), means mine or my.
Possessive adjective
Possessive adjectives, also known as possessive determiners, are a part of speech that modifies a noun by attributing possession to someone or something...
). For example, in the sentence These glasses are mine, not yours, the words mine and yours are possessive pronouns and stand for my glasses and your glasses, respectively. Like other pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
s, possessive pronouns can thus obviate the need to repeat nouns or noun phrases. (Sometimes the possessive determiners – my, your etc. – are themselves classified as possessive pronouns; see Possessive adjective: Nomenclature.)
There are eight possessive pronouns in modern English: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, and whose, plus the antiquated possessive pronoun thine and the Middle English yourn (see also English personal pronouns
English personal pronouns
The personal pronouns in the English language can have various forms according to gender, number, person, and case. Modern English is a language with very little noun or adjective inflection, to the point where some authors describe it as analytic, but the Modern English system of personal pronouns...
). The word "its" is, however, rarely used as such (almost always it functions as a possessive adjective).
Among these, "its" and "whose" are properly distinct from "it's" (a contraction of "it is" or "it has") and "who's" ("who is" or "who has"); however, these and other misspellings with apostrophes ("her's" to mean "hers", etc.) are common.
Some languages express possession
Possession (linguistics)
Possession, in the context of linguistics, is an asymmetric relationship between two constituents, the referent of one of which possesses the referent of the other ....
by regular declension of the personal pronoun
Personal pronoun
Personal pronouns are pronouns used as substitutes for proper or common nouns. All known languages contain personal pronouns.- English personal pronouns :English in common use today has seven personal pronouns:*first-person singular...
s (the equivalents of I, you etc.) in the genitive case
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
, or by using possessive suffix
Possessive suffix
In linguistics, a possessive affix is a suffix or prefix attached to a noun to indicate its possessor, much in the manner of possessive adjectives. Possessive suffixes are found in some Uralic, Altaic, Semitic, and Indo-European languages...
es. In Finnish, for example, minun (literally "I's"), means mine or my.
See also
- Genitive caseGenitive caseIn grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
- Possessive casePossessive caseThe possessive case of a language is a grammatical case used to indicate a relationship of possession. It is not the same as the genitive case, which can express a wider range of relationships, though the two have similar meanings in many languages.See Possession for a survey of the different...
- Possessive mePossessive mePossessive me is the apparent use of "me" in places where English has "my". For example:"That's me house" : [ðæts mi haʊs]This is probably not a result of confusion between the possessive pronoun "my" and the object pronoun "me", as is often believed...
- Possessive suffixPossessive suffixIn linguistics, a possessive affix is a suffix or prefix attached to a noun to indicate its possessor, much in the manner of possessive adjectives. Possessive suffixes are found in some Uralic, Altaic, Semitic, and Indo-European languages...