371. Possessive Pronouns – Your and Yours

A pronoun is used in place of a person’s name. A possessive pronoun shows that the person has ownership. The pronoun your takes the place of the name of the person to whom you are speaking. If I talk about you and something you own, I use the word your.

I like your new car.
Is that your book on the table?
I would like to read your paper when you’ve finished it.

Notice that the possessive pronoun your has no apostrophe.

We also use the possessive pronoun yours.
Your new car is yours. The car belongs to you.
The book on the table is yours. The book belongs to you.
The paper you’ve written is yours. The paper belongs to you.

The words your and yours are possessive pronouns. The words are used to show that you own something.

▶ It’s your turn. Choose either the word your or the word yours to fill in this blank: Did you bring ____ racket so we can play tennis? Did you find the correct possessive pronoun for this sentence? Good for you!