Adjective vs Pronoun

Choose between possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, our, their) used before a noun and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs) used when the noun is omitted.

Possessive Adjectives vs Possessive Pronouns

The distinction between possessive adjectives and pronouns is one of the most frequent error sources for B1–B2 learners. The forms look almost identical — the difference is purely positional. Analysis of the Cambridge Learner Corpus shows that adjective-pronoun swaps (e.g. 'yours jacket', 'the decision is my') appear in a large share of intermediate learner writing samples, persisting even at upper-intermediate level.

The Rule in One Sentence

Possessive adjectives modify a noun that follows them. Possessive pronouns replace a noun that has been dropped to avoid repetition.

This is my umbrella. (my + noun = adjective)
I forgot mine. Is this yours? (no noun — pronoun replaces 'your umbrella')
My flat is small but theirs is huge. (theirs = their flat)
Your handwriting is neat, but mine is terrible. (mine = my handwriting)

The Full Paradigm

Note: his and its have identical forms for both functions.

Common Mistakes

✗ Is this yours jacket? → ✓ Is this your jacket?
✗ The decision is my, not yours. → ✓ The decision is mine, not yours.
✗ Your idea was brilliant, but her was even better. → ✓ …but hers was even better.
✗ My phone is old but your is brand new. → ✓ …but yours is brand new.