We use pronouns to refer to possession and ‘belonging’. There are two types: possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives (possesive determiners).
We use possessive adjective before a noun. We use possessive pronouns in place of a noun.
Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives show that something belongs to someone.
Possessive adjectives include the following: my, your; our, their, his, her and its.
They are sort of pronouns in that they refer to an understood noun, showing possession by that noun of something.
They go before noun.
- My money is all gone.
- I gambled it all away on your race horse.
- His jockey was too fat.
In all of these examples, there is a noun (money, race horse, jockey) that has not been replaced with a pronoun. Instead, an adjective is there to show whose money, horse and jockey we’re talking about.
Note: Possessive adjective are never spelled with apostrophes.
A Common Mistake: Its vs. It’s
A very common error is putting an apostrophe in the possessive adjective its. It is easy to confuse its with the contraction of it is (it’s) which does have an apostrophe. Remember, though, possessive adjective never use apostrophes.
The boat lost it’s mast in the storm. (Incorrect)- The boat lost its mast in the storm. (Correct)
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. (Incorrect)- Don’t judge a book by its cover. (Correct)
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns, on the other hand – mine, yours, ours, theirs, his, hers, its – are truly pronouns because they refer to a previously named or understood noun. They stand alone, not followed by any other noun.
For comparison's sake, look at this sentence:
- You have your vices, and I have mine.
There are two types of pronouns here: subject (you/I) and possessive (mine). There's also a possessive adjective (your). We'll deal with the subject pronouns momentarily, but for now, just look at the others.
Your is followed by the noun, vices, so although we know that your refers to you, it is not the noun or the noun substitute (pronoun). Vices is the noun. In the second half of the sentence, however, the noun and the possessive adjective have both been replaced with one word – the pronoun, mine. Because it stands in the place of the noun, mine is a true pronoun whereas your is an adjective that must be followed by a noun.