Possessive Pronouns: Mine, Yours, His, Hers, Ours, Theirs
Use possessive pronouns — mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs — to stand alone in place of a possessive adjective and noun, and avoid the common apostrophe error (your's, their's, her's).
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This coffee isn't yours — it's ___.
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mine
A possessive pronoun stands alone, with no noun after it — 'it's mine'.
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That umbrella is ___ — I saw you buy it.
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yours
A possessive pronoun stands alone — 'that umbrella is yours'.
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Our garden is quite small, but ___ is huge.
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theirs
A possessive pronoun stands alone — 'theirs is huge'.
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My bag is the black one; ___ is the brown one.
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hers
A possessive pronoun stands alone — 'hers is the brown one'.
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Your team played well, but the trophy is ___.
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ours
A possessive pronoun stands alone — 'the trophy is ours'.
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This decision is entirely ___ — you must choose.
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yours
Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe — 'yours', not 'your's'.
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The mistake was ___, not ours — they sent the wrong file.
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theirs
Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe — 'theirs', not 'their's'.
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Please don't use that laptop — it's ___.
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hers
Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe — 'hers', not 'her's'.
Possessive Pronouns: Mine, Yours, His, Hers, Ours, Theirs
A possessive pronoun replaces a possessive adjective and the noun it modifies, avoiding repetition: 'This is my coffee' becomes 'This coffee is mine' once the noun 'coffee' has already been mentioned. English has six possessive pronouns — mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs — one for each possessive adjective except 'its', which has no separate pronoun form in everyday use. Unlike possessive nouns (Sarah's, the dog's), which always take an apostrophe, possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe. This creates a persistent spelling error: learners who have internalised the noun rule ('s marks possession) sometimes apply it to pronouns, writing 'your's' or 'their's' instead of 'yours' and 'theirs'. No possessive pronoun in English ever contains an apostrophe.
Standing Alone, No Noun After
That umbrella is yours — I saw you buy it.
Our garden is quite small, but theirs is huge.
My bag is the black one; hers is the brown one.
Your team played well, but the trophy is ours.
Never Use an Apostrophe
Possessive pronouns are already grammatically possessive — they do not need, and never take, an apostrophe. Adding one (your's, their's, her's, our's) treats the pronoun like a possessive noun, which it is not.
The mistake was theirs, not ours. (not 'their's')
Please don't use that laptop — it's hers. (not 'her's')
Common Mistakes
✗ The mistake was their's, not ours. → ✓ The mistake was theirs, not ours.
✗ It's her's, not mine. → ✓ It's hers, not mine.
✗ My bag is the black one; her is the brown one. → ✓ My bag is the black one; hers is the brown one.
Last updated: · Satori Editorial