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Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used in English to avoid repeating information that is already clear.

 

    This book is my book, not your book. 

    ( Sounds repetitive )

 

    This book is mine, not yours.

    ( Mine and yours are possessive pronouns. ) 


In the sentence, mine replaces my book and your book is replaced by yours.

The possessive pronouns are:

 

I - Mine

    The car is mine.

You - Yours

    Those books are yours.

He - His

    That house is his.

She - Hers

    The ice cream is hers.

We - Ours

    These boxes are ours.

You-all - Yours

    The computer is yours    

They - Theirs

    The bananas are theirs. 

 

* Remember when using possessive pronouns, you don't use apostrophes.

Of Yours

It's very common to say "a friend" or "some friends" + of + possessive pronouns. For example:


    I saw a friend of mine today.

    She's a friend of yours.

    One of your friends like me. 

 

Yours faithfully / Your sincerely

Yours in English is also used with faithfully and sincerely at the end of writing a formal letter or an email. For example:


    Yours faithfully

    (if it's someone that you don't know.)  


    Yours sincerely

    (if it's someone that you know.)