What are POSSESSIVE pronouns

The pronouns are words that are used in the predicate for replace name that has previously been named in the subject. What possessive pronouns do, in addition to replacing the noun, is replace the possessive adjective, therefore they indicate the belonging of the subject.

In this lesson of a teacher you will learn exactly what the possessive pronouns with examples clear to know how to use them within sentences.

In Latin the word pronoun is translated as promiseand it comes from two different roots. On the one hand pro- what does it mean "in front of" and then the noun nomen that refers to the name. Therefore, we could say that the exact definition of pronoun derived from its origin in Latin would be "instead of the name ".

Secondly the word possessive also has its origin in Latin and is the clear evolution of the word posidere. This word is made up of two roots as well: potis which translates as "powerful" and I will settle which means "to sit". Therefore, the exact translation of possessives would be "feel powerful".

We can then deduce that possessive pronouns are words that are used in place of the name for show possession of an object by a certain subject. Possessive pronouns do not have any meaning by themselves, but will depend on the relationship they establish with other words in the whole of a sentence. These pronouns have variations by person, gender or number to which they refer.

A clear example to understand the function of possessive pronouns we can find it in the phrase "That apple is yours". This phrase uses the possessive yours to refer to the property of a particular object, the apple. Clearly this possessive pronoun refers to the apple is your propertyOn the contrary, if the apple were my property, the phrase would be "That apple in mine."

On the other hand, if instead of having only one apple there would be more than one the sentence would change to "Those apples are mine" and the pronoun would match the name in number, but it would still be in the first person because it belongs to me. Another example is if we changed the name and, instead of an apple it were a pencil, the phrase would be "That pencil is mine", therefore the pronoun would change the gender to be masculine.

Characteristics of possessive pronouns

The main characteristics of possessive pronouns are the following:

• They are always after having cited a nameotherwise they would be meaningless
• They will always have the same gender and the same number as the noun therefore it would be wrong to make them acquire the gender and number of the person who owns them. For example: "This apple is mine", if the person who owns it is a man. This is a common mistake that people who are learning the Spanish language come across.
• You can use a more generic form when the person speaking and the interlocutor know exactly what they are referring to. It is a subject already previously agreed. For example: "mine", "yours" or "yours".

Next we want to show you a list with all possessive pronouns according to the modifications that we can find due to the person, the gender or the number.

• First person of singular: my, mine, mine; my, mine, mine
• Second person singular: you, yours, yours; your, yours, yours
• Third person singular: hers, his, his; hers, his, his
• First person plural: our, our; our, our
• Second person plural: yours, yours; yours yours
• Third person plural: hers, his, his; hers, his, his

To be able to clearly understand the function that pronouns play within a sentence and learn how to modify the pronoun according to the name they replace, but also in relation to the person we are referring to, we want show you some examples of possessive pronouns.

These pronouns are inside sentences and we have them highlighted in bold so you can quickly identify and study them.

1. In that patio I celebrated my best birthdays
2. Open the fridge like it's yours
3. These rugs are your
4. On our home people take off their shoes, not like in the your that they don't
5. Your friends made you a surprise cake for your birthday
6. The accident was only fault our
7. Their grandparents are lovely
8. You bike is very fast
9. I think this mobile is Own
10. its house is giant, not like the our
11. Is this pencil yours?

If you are interested in continuing to learn about possessive pronouns or other grammar topics, do not hesitate to take a look at our section on Grammar and Linguistics where you will find lessons on all the topics that may interest you.