What is the Difference Between a Possessive Pronoun and

a Possessive Adjective?
The difference between a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective is best understood when
the definitions of each are clear. A pronoun is a term used in place of a noun: she, you, they, we,
and it. An adjective is used to modify or describe a noun, or in some cases
anadverb: Ugly dog, beautiful tree, tasty soup.
People may get confused with the distinctions between a possessive pronoun and apossessive
adjective because the words used as possessive pronouns are often slight modifications of the
words used for possessive adjectives. The main distinction is that the possessive pronoun is used in
place of a noun, while the possessive adjective will always modify a noun.
Consider the following example:

The car is Sally’s.

If we want to substitute in a possessive pronoun to replace the noun Sally’s, we’d merely write:
The car is hers.

This is clearly a possessive pronoun since we have taken out the possessive noun Sally’s and
replaced it with hers.
When you’re trying to determine the difference between a possessive pronoun and a possessive
adjective, a further example helps. If we want to use a possessive adjective, we might write:

That is her car.

Suddenly, instead of using a pronoun, we have used her to modify and further describe the
noun car, Her is an adjective in this case, indicating possession.

It can help you understand differences between a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective
when you see a list of those most commonly used. Simple possessive pronouns include: mine, his,
hers, ours, theirs, your. Simple possessive adjectives include: my, his, her, your, our, their. The
terms its and his can stand either as possessive pronouns or possessive adjectives, but most words
undergo a slight change. In general, with the exception of his, its, my, mine most possessive
adjectives end in an s.
For extra practice, indicate in the next ten sentences whether the italicized words are possessive
pronouns or possessive adjectives. (Answers are below, but don’t cheat!)

1. My mother went to the store.

2. I can’t find her keys.
3. I think that dog is yours.
4. The cat chased its tail.
5. That opinion is theirs not ours.
6. Can you help our sister move?
7. That coat is definitely his.
8. Your haircut looks great.
9. I believe yours is in the back.
10. That cookie is mine.
Answers: 1,2,4,6,8 are possessive adjectives. 3,5,7,9,10 are possessive pronouns.

Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives

1. Forms of Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives

Person Pronoun Adjective

1st singular mine my

2nd yours your

3rd (female) hers her

3rd (male) his his

3rd (neutral) its its

1st plural ours our

3rd plural theirs their

2. Using Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives

A possessive pronoun is used instead of a noun:

Julie's car is red. Mine is blue.

A possessive adjective is usually used to describe a noun, and it comes before it, like other
adjectives:

My car is bigger than her car.

Remember:
 There are no apostrophes in possessive pronouns and adjectives.

The dog wagged its tail.

“It's” is not a possessive pronoun or adjective — it means “it is”:

It's not my dog.

What is a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective?

Look at the following set of sentences. We may all agree that both mean the same. But the difference here is in the
function of the words such as his and my in the first set of sentences which are possessive adjectives and the use of
words his and mine in the second set which are possessive pronouns. So what you have to learn basically is
the difference between a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective.

 This is his car
 That is my bicycle.
 This car is his
 That bicycle is mine.
 

What is the difference between a pronoun and Adjective?

To understand the difference between a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective, it is important to know
the function of a pronoun and adjective as parts of speech. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a
sentence. It is common to replace the noun with a pronoun when it is used repeatedly in a sentence or paragraph.
Thus while the name is used in the introductory sentence, it is often replaced by pronouns such as he, she,
him or her in the consecutive sentences. For example, in the sentence, "Tom is an intelligent boy. He always scores
good grades in his assignments." The pronoun ‘he’ is used instead of repeating the name ‘Tom’.
We all know that adjectives describe or modify nouns. For example, in the statement, “The bright moon lit our path”
the word ‘bright’ is an adjective as it describes the noun ‘moon’. 
 

What are the characteristics of Possessive Pronoun and a Possessive Adjective?

Possessive is used to show possession, when something is owned, thus we can have possessive nouns,possessive
adjectives and possessive pronouns. For example in the sentence “Sam’s son bought a new car” Sam is
possessive as he has a son. ‘Sam’s’ is a possessive noun. If you replace ‘Sam’s with ‘his’ you would be using the
possessive adjective- “His son bought a new car’. ‘His’ is a possessive adjective as it is showing possession and also
describing the son. The same sentence could be used with a possessive pronoun as in “The car is his” which means
the car belongs to him. Thus if the possessive word describes a noun it is called apossessive adjective and when
the possessive word replaces a noun it is called a possessive pronoun.
 
 What are the examples of Possessive Pronouns?
Possessive pronouns replace nouns that show ownership or possession. A list of possessive pronouns would
include the words, mine, his, hers, yours, its, ours, theirs.
Examples:

 His car is faster than mine. (mine is the possessive pronoun that takes the place of the word car and shows
that it is possessed by me)
 This is my cup and that is yours. (yours takes the place of the word cup and shows that it is owned by you.)
 

What are the examples of Possessive Adjectives?

Possessive adjectives modify nouns that show ownership or possession and usually placed before a noun. A list
of possessive adjectives would include the words, my, his, hers, yours, its, our, their.
Examples:

 This is my car. (my is a possessive adjective as it describes and comes before the noun.)

 Our dog is lost.( our is a possessive adjective)

possessives: adjectives

Can you match these possessive adjectives to the right personal pronouns?

its, your, my, their, our, her, his

Subject Object Possessive

I me  

You you  

He him  

She her  

It it  
Subject Object Possessive

We us  

They them  

We use possessive adjectives:

• to show something belongs to somebody:

That’s our house.
My car is very old.

• for relations and friends:

My mother is a doctor.
How old is your sister?

• for parts of the body:

He’s broken his arm.
She’s washing her hair.
I need to clean my teeth.

possessives: pronouns

Can you match these possessive pronouns to the right personal pronouns and possessive adjectives?
 

yours, mine, theirs, ours, hers, his

Subject Object Possessive adjectives Possessive pronouns

I me  my  

You you  your  

He him  his  

She her  her  

Subject Object Possessive adjectives Possessive pronouns

It it  its  

We us  our  

They them  their  

We can use a possessive pronoun instead of a noun phrase:

Is that John’s car?   No, it’s [my car] > No, it’s mine.

Whose coat is this?   Is it [your coat]? > Is it yours?

Her coat is grey, [my coat]is brown   Her coat is grey,   mine is brown.

We can use possessive pronouns after of.

We can say:

Susan is one of my friends.

or
Susan is a friend of mine.
but not 
Susan is a friend of me

or

I am one of Susan's friends.

or
I am a friend of Susan's.
but not 
I am a friend of Susan
Pronouns
Definition:
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns can be in one of three cases: Subject, Object, or
Possessive.

Rule 1
Subject pronouns are used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. You can remember subject pronouns
easily by filling in the blank subject space for a simple sentence.

Example:
______ did the job.
I, you, he, she, it, we, and they all fit into the blank and are, therefore, subject pronouns.
Rule 2
Subject pronouns are also used if they rename the subject. They follow to be verbs such asis, are, was, were, am,
and will be.
Examples:
It is he.
This is she speaking.
It is we who are responsible for the decision to downsize.
NOTE: In spoken English, most people tend to follow to be verbs with object pronouns. Many English teachers
support (or at least have given in to) this distinction between written and spoken English.
Example:
It could have been them.
Better:
It could have been they.
Example:
It is just me at the door.
Better:
It is just I at the door.
Rule 3
Object pronouns are used everywhere else (direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition). Object pronouns
are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them.
Examples:
Jean talked to him.
Are you talking to me?
To be able to choose pronouns correctly, you must learn to identify clauses. A clause is a group of words containing a
verb and subject.

Rule 4a
A strong clause can stand on its own.
Examples:
She is hungry.
I am feeling well today.
Rule 4b
A weak clause begins with words such as although, since, if, when, and because. Weak clauses cannot stand on
their own.
Examples:
Although she is hungry...
If she is hungry...
Since I am feeling well...
Rule 4c
If a sentence contains more than one clause, isolate the clauses so that you can decide which pronoun is correct.

Examples:
Weak Strong
[Although she is hungry,] [she will give him some of her food.]
[Although this gift is for him,] [I would like you to have it too.]
Rule 5
To decide whether to use the subject or object pronoun after the words than or as, mentally complete the sentence.
Examples:
Tranh is as smart as she/her.
If we mentally complete the sentence, we would say, "Tranh is as smart as she is." Therefore, she is the correct
answer.
Zoe is taller than I/me.
Mentally completing the sentence, we have, "Zoe is taller than I am."
Daniel would rather talk to her than I/me.
We can mentally complete this sentence in two ways: "Daniel would rather talk to her than to me." OR "Daniel would
rather talk to her than I would." As you can see, the meaning will change depending on the pronoun you choose.
Rule 6
Possessive pronouns show ownership and never need apostrophes.
Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
NOTE: The only time it's has an apostrophe is when it is a contraction for it is or it has.
Examples:
It's a cold morning.
The thermometer reached its highest reading.
Rule 7
Reflexive pronouns - myself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, ourselves, yourself, yourselves- should be used only
when they refer back to another word in the sentence.
Correct:
I worked myself to the bone.
Incorrect:
My brother and myself did it.
The word myself does not refer back to another word.
Correct:
My brother and I did it.
Incorrect:
Please give it to John or myself.
Correct:
Please give it to John or me.

Possessive Pronouns
We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or thing/things
(the "antecedent") belonging to a person/people (and sometimes belonging to
an animal/animals or thing/things).

We use possessive pronouns depending on:

 number: singular (eg: mine) or plural (eg: ours)

 person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd person
(eg: his)

 gender: male (his), female (hers)

Below are the possessive pronouns, followed by some example sentences.

Notice that each possessive pronoun can:

 be subject or object
 refer to a singular or plural antecedent
number person gender (of "owner") possessive pronouns

singular 1st male/female mine

2nd male/female yours

3rd male his

female hers

plural 1st male/female ours

2nd male/female yours

3rd male/female/neuter theirs

 Look at these pictures. Mine is the big one. (subject = My picture)

 I like your flowers. Do you like mine? (object = my flowers) 

 I looked everywhere for your key. I found John's key but I couldn't
find yours. (object = your key)

 My flowers are dying. Yours are lovely. (subject = Your flowers) 

 All the essays were good but his was the best. (subject = his essay)

 John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her
passport)

 John found his clothes but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her clothes) 

 Here is your car. Ours is over there, where we left it. (subject = Our car)

 Your photos are good. Ours are terrible. (subject = Our photos) 

 Each couple's books are colour-coded. Yours are red. (subject = Your

books)

 I don't like this family's garden but I like yours. (subject = your garden) 
  These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair. (subject =
Their children)

 John and Mary don't like your car. Do you like theirs? (object = their car)

Notice that the following (with apostrophe [']) do NOT exist: her's, your's,
their's

Notice that the interrogative pronoun whose can also be a possessive pronoun

(an interrogative possessive pronoun). Look at these examples:

 There was $100 on the table and Tara wondered whose it was.

 This car hasn't moved for two months. Whose is it?

Determiners

Determiners are used in front of nouns to indicate whether you are referring to something specific or
something of a particular type.

Determiners are different to pronouns in that a determiner is always followed by a noun. Therefore
personal pronouns ( I , you, he , etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) cannot be
determiners.

The definite and indefinite articles a/an/the are all determiners.

You use a specific determiner when people know exactly which thing(s) or person/people you are
talking about.

The specific determiners are:

the definite article : the

demonstratives : this, that, these, those

possessives : my, your, his, her, its, our, their

For example:-
"The dog barked at the boy."
"These apples are rotten."
"Their bus was late."

You use general determiners to talk about people or things without saying exactly who or what they
are.

The general determiners are:

the indefinite articles : a, an

few 
fewer 
a few both 
less  neither 
a little  each 
little  no 
all  either 
many other 
another  enough 
more  several 
any every
most  some 
much

For example:-

"A man sat under an umbrella."

"Have you got any English books that I could have?"
"There is enough food to feed everyone."

Either and Neither

Either and neither are used in sentences concerning a possible choice between two items.

Either can mean one or the other (of two) or each of two.

For example:-

I've got tea and coffee, so you can have either. (One or the other)
The room has a door at either end. (Both)
Neither means not the first one and not the second one.

For example:-

Neither of the students were listening.

Possessive Pronouns

The possessive pronoun shows who the thing being referred to belongs to or is associated with.

You
  I (singular and He/She/It We They
plural)

Possessive Pronouns mine yours his/hers/its ours theirs

In English these pronouns change form to show their function.

Form

First Person Pronoun  

singular mine

plural ours

Second Person Pronoun  

singular yours

plural yours
 Third Person Pronoun  

singular his, hers, its

plural theirs

For example:-

Q. Whose is this web site?

A. It'smine.

Q. Does Lynne own this web site?

A. Yes, it's hers.

Q. Does Lynne own the Internet?

A. No. It's ours.

!Note
my, your, his/her/its, our and their are possessive determiners (sometimes called possessive
adjectives).

Watch out for the following:-

Possessive Pronoun Short Form of 'it is'

its it's

(no apostrophe) (with apostrophe)