The absolute form of possessive pronouns in English: usage, examples. Possessive case of adjectives in English

Natalya Glukhova

Possessive case of adjectives in English

29/04 2018

Good afternoon dear friends!
We have already found out that in English there are much fewer cases than in Russian, which is why it is easy to learn (read in the article “Noun Cases in English”). But did you know that not everything that is a pronoun in Russian is such in a foreign one. Therefore, in the article “The Possessive Case of Adjectives in English”, we will, in fact, talk about pronouns.

From this article you will learn:

How do they look

Let's first remember what it is. It is used to indicate the ownership of something. For example, My cat is 7 years old (My cat is seven years old). The fact is that pronouns in this case are considered adjectives. I will present you a table, in the first column of which they are in their initial form, and in the second they are already possessive:

I	My
You	Your
He	His
She	Her
It	Its
We	Our
They	Their

As you remember, it refers to inanimate nouns, but it can also express possession, since, in addition, it also replaces animals. The cat was eating its food.

Like all adjectives, possessives are placed directly before the subject they refer to: Their house is very big (Their house is very big). Their refers to house, so it comes before it.

Possessive adjectives

What to look for:
It should be remembered that if the word is in the plural, the -s is not added to the adjective. Her gardens are really beautiful (Her gardens are very beautiful). Hers gardens are really beautiful.

However, the verb must necessarily agree with the noun, that is, if the noun is in the singular, then the verb must also be in the singular. If the noun is plural, then so is the verb.

Examples:
Our car is expensive (Our car is expensive) - singular.
Our cars are expensive (Our cars are expensive) - plural.
His child is smart (His child is smart).
His children are smart (His children are smart).
Be careful with its and it's. Just one apostrophe, but so many differences! Indeed, in the second case, this is an abbreviated form of the verb to be - it is or from it has. Accordingly, the construction of proposals will be completely different:
The dog is playing with its toy (The dog is playing with his toy).
It's (It is) a dog's toy (This is a dog's toy).
It's (It has) been nice to see you (It was nice to see you).

False doubles

Pronouns have a possessive case (possessive pronoun). It looks very similar to the possessive adjective, but at the end we add -s to almost everything. Take a look at the table and compare them:

My	Mine
Your	Yours
His	His
Her	Hers
Its	Its
Our	Ours
Their	Theirs

Possessive pronouns

Why are they so similar? Possessive pronoun (second column) is used to avoid repeating information that is already obvious. Compare:
This phone is my phone, not your phone (This is my phone, not yours).
This phone is mine not yours.
Agree, the second sentence is much more compact than the first? Mine here replaces two words at once: my phone. Yours replaces your phone.

As you have already figured out, a noun will never be placed after the words of the second column. Some of them have exactly the same form as adjectives. For example, its, and some are different: your - yours.

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In addition, you need to remember that they do not use an apostrophe.

Possessive adjectives and pronouns

They are also often used in the construction a friend + of + possessive pronouns.
For example, I'm going to see a friend of mine tonight (I'm going to see my friend today).

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They can also be found in a set expression used in a business letter when we finish it:
Yours faithfully (when we do not know the name of the person with whom we correspond).
Yours sincerely (when we know the name).

Let's work out the material

In order for everything that I have just told you to fit well in your head, you must definitely do the exercises.
In the missing places, insert the possessive adjective, suitable in meaning:

She walks dog every day.
Example: She walks ____ her dog every day.
We are checking ____ luggage in, we will call you back later.
The cat was feeding ____ kittens when I came home.
He never leaves ____ car open.
Ellen's parents have sold ____ yacht.
Have you found ____ keys?
I'm going to drink ____ coffee and then I'll go to work.
Anna is going to Ireland with ____ sister.
Daniel likes playing tennis, it's ____ favorite hobby.
Steve met ____ wife a year ago.
Paul and Lilly are going to see ____ parents tonight.

Fill in the gaps with an appropriate adjective or pronoun. More than one option is possible.

He is not James's friend, he is.
He is not James's friend. He is mine.
– Where is my coffee?
– Fred has dank ____ coffee.
Jenny was a friend of ____.
My city is big while ____ isn't.
Has ____ father called?
Lucy talked to ____ grandmother yesterday.
It isn't my pencil. It is ____ .
Mary has got two brothers. ____ names are Rick and John.
Our car is white and ____ is black.
Is it your tea? No it's not ____.
Don't touch this toy. It is not ____.
Janet can't find ____ bag.
Max is going on holidays with a friend of ____.
Mr. and Mrs. stone love gardening. ____ garden is really lovely.
Look at this beautiful dog. ____ fur is so fluffy.

By the way, did you really know?

And finally, I offer an exercise for the youngest polyglots. If you are a family, show this picture to your children and ask them to insert the correct word.

We very often use possessive pronouns both in Russian and in English. Do you think it's enough to learn my, his, her, theirs? No, their use sometimes embarrasses those who do not know all the secrets.

Ask yourself: what is a pronoun? Yes, a part of speech that replaces a noun or an adjective. But a special group of Possesive Pronouns, so to speak, characterizes an object, phenomenon, property, indicating belonging to someone and answers the question whose? whose? whose? (whose?).

This is my note-book - This is my notebook.

Their decision was unexpected. Their decision was unexpected.

Our car is broken. Our car is broken.

What are possessive pronouns in English?

This group takes its roots from personal pronouns in terms of education, and it is by comparing them that we will consider the use of these parts of speech. To make it easier to understand and remember, we will divide all Possesive Pronouns into two groups.

Possessive pronouns are adjectives. This name suggests that the listed parts of speech are before a noun which it describes characterizes it. In this case, never articles are not used. However, after these possessive pronouns in English, there may be other definitions (adjectives) that follow after them. I would also like to note that these pronouns are placed after all and both, if any, in the proposal. Let's dive into the examples and consider all cases.

Her ticket is on the table. Her ticket is on the table.

It isn't my bus. - This is not my bus.

Your friend came to see me yesterday. Your friend visited me yesterday.

He gave me her address. He gave me her address.

Where is mygreen pencil? Where is my green pencil?

Hiselder brother writes poems. — His older brother writes poetry.

Allmy books are in the bag. All my books are in the bag.

Bothhis friends smoke, but he doesn't. Both of his friends smoke, but he doesn't.

Possessive noun pronouns(or absolute form). This subgroup is used without a noun and performs its function as a subject, a nominal part of a predicate or an object. They can be either at the end or in the middle of a sentence.

As can be seen from the table, they are identical in meaning and translation, but the formation and use will have to be remembered. To make it easier to put into memory, look: his - the two forms are the same, I changes to mine, and the ending -s is added to all the others. Let's look at examples where the absolute form is used. According to lexical norms, it is advisable to use it so as not to duplicate the noun that was used in the previous remark.

Are these your spectacles? — No, they are not mine. - Are these your glasses? No, they are not mine.

Her house is not far from ours. Her house is not far from ours.

Does this book belong to Mary? — No, It's yours. Does this book belong to Mary? - No, it's yours.

Her score was better than theirs. Her score was better than theirs.

We'll leave her house after dinner, so we should be at yours before 10.

Translation

When translating from English into Russian, there are usually no problems. You just have to memorize all the forms. But in English! Here they often come across bumps on which they stumble painfully. So that you are on the right path to learning a language, remember some features:

1. In the Russian version, they can stand "his, them" , which can be translated by English possessive and personal pronouns. The first answers the question whose? whose?, and the second - whom? what?

I saw him. - I saw him (personal).

This is his watch. - This is his watch (whose - possessive).

I met them. - I met them (whom - personal).

This is their home. - This is their house (whose - possessive).

2. Russian often confuses "mine", because in English there is no corresponding form. Therefore, we translate with one of the possessive pronouns, which depends on the subject.

I gave my car to my son. — I have given my car to my son.

He lost his keys. — He has lost his keys.

They gave us their food. — They gave us their food.

I don't have a ticket. Can you sell me yours? — I haven't got a ticket. Can you sell me yours?

3. Very often in Russian in general missingt possessive pronoun, and in English it should be. Only if the meaning "one's own" is meant, it is necessary to use this part of speech. This is where many people make the mistake of using the instead of pronoun. Most often, this situation occurs before nouns denoting parts of the body, family members, clothes.

I told my wife everything. — I have told everything to my wife (and not the wife - meant to his wife.)

They put their hands in their pockets. — they put their hands into their pockets (your hands in your pockets).

Put on your coat! — Put on your coat!

There is nothing complicated here. If you need to insert possessive pronouns in an English sentence, then look for the presence of a noun: if there is, then the relative form, if not, the absolute form. Of course, you need to do exercises to consolidate all the material.

Exercises

An old friend of (us, our, ours) phoned yesterday and said he would visit (us, our, ours).
Is that picture on the wall (your, yours, you)?
(They, their, theirs) holiday starts the week after (we, our, ours).
Can we have (you, your, yours) suggestion first and then we'll hear (he, him, his)?
I didn't bother going to (she, her, hers) party and she won't be coming to (me, my, mine).
(Us, our, ours) flight was delayed but (their, theirs, them) took off on time.
Can I borrow (your, yours, you) pen? - I'm sorry, it isn't (my, mine, me).
Bob is one of (our, ours, us) best pupils.
She has no mistakes in (her, hers, she) test.
(My, mine, me) hands are cold, but (your, yours, you) are warm.

1. ours, us.
2. yours
3. theirs, ours
4. your, his
5. her, mine
6. our, theirs
7.your, mine.
8.our
9. her
10. my, yours

Possessive forms help when we want to say that something belongs to someone. In English, unlike Russian, two forms are distinguished: possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives. We are talking about the latter - possessive adjectives in English today.

General information

Before proceeding to the consideration of theory, let's turn to practice. You can say the following about your house: “This is my house” or “This house is mine.” At first glance, there is no difference: the meaning of the sentence does not change from the rearrangement of the place of the lexeme "my". This statement is partly true for the English language. But only in part, since in the first case the possessive adjective my (my) is used, and in the second, the possessive pronoun mine (mine).

The structure of these proposals is also different:

This is my house - This is my house.
This house is mine - This house is mine.

As you can see, in the first example, the possessive adjective my (my) stands before the noun, describing it and answering the question What? (Which?). In the second, the possessive pronoun is at the end of the sentence, replacing the noun and not naming it. But this is practice. Now let's move on to theory.

Possessive adjectives

There are 8 possessive adjectives in English according to the number of personal pronouns:

*Personal pronouns*	*Possessive adjectives*	Possessive pronouns

		Yours (your)

They answer the question "Whose?" and describe an object, indicating its belonging to someone or something. As an adjective should, it is used before the noun it defines, but always without an article:

Possessive pronouns

As can be seen from the table above in English there are 7 possessive pronouns. They indicate the belonging of an object or objects to one or more persons. Their function is to replace a noun. Therefore, in a sentence, they, as a rule, are used independently, without nouns, at the beginning or at the end of a sentence:

This city is ours - This city is ours.
This red bag is hers - This red bag is hers.
These pens are theirs - These pens are theirs.

In the case when earlier we were talking about some object, person or phenomenon expressed by a noun, and this is clear from the context, instead of this noun, the corresponding possessive pronoun is used at the beginning of the sentence:

Our flat is on the third floor. Theirs (their flat) is on the fifth. - Our apartment is on the third floor. Their - on the fifth.
His brother works at the factory. Mine (my bother) works at the office. - His brother works in a factory. Mine is in the office.

note to the fact that in Russian textbooks on English grammar, possessive forms are not divided into possessive adjectives and pronouns, and refer only to possessive pronouns. English and American textbook authors insist on separation.

What have we learned?

In English, there are possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns. The former are always used without an article before a noun. Possessive pronouns are at the end or at the beginning of the sentence, and after them the noun is not used.

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

A personal pronoun can be:

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?” and what?".
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 is 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.

Personal pronouns
Singular	Plural
me (me, me, me, about me)	us (us, us, us, about us)
you (you, you, you, about you)	you (you, you, you, about you)
him, her, it (his/her, him/her, him/her, about him/her)	them (them, them, them, about them)

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:

Possessive adjectives
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.

Personal pronouns	Possessive adjectives	Possessive pronouns
I	my (my)	mine (mine)
he	his (his)	his (his)
she	her (her)	hers (her)
it	its (his/her)	its (his/her)
we	our (our)	ours (our)
you	your (your / yours)	yours (your / yours)
they	their (them)	theirs (theirs)

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 is 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 them.

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 the charm.

We have also collected for you the personal and possessive pronouns of the English language in one scheme 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 take a short 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.