38. Possessive Pronouns

Pronouns take the place of nouns.
Possessive pronouns take the place of possessive nouns.
A possessive pronoun shows ownership, just like a possessive noun shows ownership.

Here are the strong possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, its
Each of these possessive pronouns can replace a possessive noun.

Look at this example:
Mom has keys. The keys are Mom’s. The keys are hers.
We replaced the possessive noun Mom’s with the possessive pronoun hers.

Here’s another example:
Billy and Tom have a dog. The dog is Billy’s and Tom’s dog. The dog is theirs.
We replaced Billy’s and Tom’s with the pronoun theirs.

More examples:
This is your homework. The homework is yours.
Dan gave me his jacket. The jacket is his.
We have a new car. The new car is ours.

Each of these bolded words is a possessive pronoun because it takes the place of a possessive noun.

Possessive nouns use an apostrophe -s (‘s) to show ownership: Mom’s, Billy’s, Tom’s
Possessive pronouns do not use an apostrophe: hers, his, ours, theirs

Remember: Possessive pronouns take the place of possessive nouns. Possessive pronouns do not use an apostrophe.

  • Now you try it. Replace the possessive noun in each sentence with a possessive pronoun. The horse is Mary’s. The horse is _____. The cat belongs to my sister and me. The cat is ____.