It would seem that there is nothing simpler than the pronouns: “I, you, he, she - together the whole country,” “You have yours, and I have mine.” But how to say this in English? In today's article we will look at the basic rules for using personal and possessive pronouns in English language.

Personal pronouns in English

In English, a personal pronoun is used instead of a noun that we know or have already mentioned. This allows you to avoid repetitions in speech.

This is Jim. Jim is a policeman. Jim lives in New York. - This Jim. Jim police officer. Jim lives in New York.

Agree, there is too much Jim for three sentences. This is easy to fix if we combine the two sentences into one and replace the name Jim with the pronoun he (he).

This is Jim. He is a policeman and lives in New York. - This Jim. He police officer and lives in New York.

A personal pronoun can be:

1. Subject pronoun

   This pronoun is used in place of the subject in a sentence and denotes the one who performs the action. Subjective pronouns come before the verb and answer the questions “who?” So what?".

2. Object pronoun

   The pronoun is used in a sentence instead of an object, that is, the action is directed to it. Object pronouns come after the verb and answer the questions “whom?/what?”, “to whom?/what?”, “whom?/what?”, “by whom?/what?”, “about whom?” / about what?".

Personal pronouns instead of subject

The table below shows personal pronouns that are used in English instead of the subject.

Now let's look at some features of these pronouns:

• Pronoun I

  I is always written with a capital letter.

  I am a dreamer. - I dreamer.
  Mom says I can do it. - Mom says that I I can do it.

  If I is in a sentence next to another personal pronoun, then I is placed in second place.

  She and I are best friends. - We With her best friends.
  He and I played tennis together. - We With him played tennis.

• Pronouns he, she and it

  The pronouns he and she are used to refer to people. And to indicate inanimate objects, phenomena and animals the pronoun it is used.

  You know Jane. She is kind and modest. - You know Jane. She kind and modest.
  Did you see the new building yesterday? It is big. - Did you see the new building yesterday? It big.

  And if you treat your pet as a member of the family, when talking about him, you can use he or she rather than it.

  Your dog doesn't like me. It barks at me.
  - My dog ​​never barks at people. He's a good boy.
  - Your dog doesn't love me. He barks at me.
  - My dog ​​never barks at people. He good boy.

  The pronoun it is also used in impersonal sentences(in which there is no character) to describe weather, time, distance, etc.

  It's a quarter to nine. - It's fifteen minutes to nine now.
  It's foggy outside. - It's foggy outside.
  It's three kilometers between the villages. - The distance between the villages is three kilometers.

• Pronoun you

  You is translated as "you", "you" or "you" depending on the context, but agrees with the verb in plural.

  You look good in this dress. - You you look good in this dress.
  You all are beautiful. - You everyone is beautiful.
  Mrs. Walmer, I think you will be a good nurse. - Mrs. Walmer, I think You you will be a good nurse.

Personal pronouns instead of objects

In the table we present personal pronouns that are used instead of an object and appear in a sentence after the verb.

Let's look at examples:

He will help me tomorrow. - He will help to me Tomorrow.
He told us the story. - He said us this story.

We also use these pronouns after the prepositions about, on, in, with, for and others.

Stay with us. - Stay with us.
I am doing this for her. - I'm doing it for her.

You can fix the topic and take tests in our articles “Personal pronouns in the English language” and “”.

Possessive adjectives and pronouns in English

In English there are two possessive forms:

1. Possessive adjectives
2. Possessive pronouns

Both forms denote that something belongs to someone and answer the question “whose?/whose?/whose?/whose?”

Although this article is about pronouns, we will also cover adjectives so you don't get them confused.

So what is the difference between a possessive adjective and a pronoun? A possessive adjective in English always comes before a noun and characterizes it.

This is my cup. - This my cup.
His phone is on the table. - His phone lies on the table.
Your music is annoying. - Your music annoys.

A possessive pronoun does not characterize a noun, but replaces the construction “possessive adjective + noun”. Most often, such pronouns appear at the end of a sentence.

Are those shoes mine? - Those shoes my?
It's their dog, and that is ours. - This is their dog, and this is - our.
My dress is prettier than yours. - My dress is more beautiful yours.
Her cake was better than theirs. - Her cake was tastier than their.

We can also use a possessive pronoun after a noun with the preposition of.

This is Ross. He is a friend of me my mine. - This is Ross. He my Friend.

Also, possessive adjectives and pronouns have other features that should be remembered:

• In English there is no pronoun corresponding to the Russian “svoy”. Therefore, we translate it according to the context using possessive adjectives or pronouns.

  I'll take my(possessive adjective) bag and you take yours(possessive pronoun). - I will take my (mine) bag, and you take it my (yours).

• The possessive adjective and the possessive pronoun its are written without an apostrophe. If you meet it's, then this is a shortened grammatical form: it's = it + is.

  The cat played with its(possessive adjective) toy. - The cat was playing with his a toy.

• Formally, its exists as a possessive pronoun, but its use is avoided. It is used only with the pronoun own - its own (own, own).

  Each district of the city has the charm of its own(possessive pronoun). - Every district of the city has your own Charm.

We have also collected personal and possessive pronouns English in one diagram for clarity. You can use it as a cheat sheet.

We invite you to watch a funny video from the Looney Tunes cartoon series. In this episode you will see how desperately the drake Daffy Duck tries to get hunter Elmer Fudd to shoot Bugs Bunny the rabbit. But Daffy has one problem - he gets confused about pronouns.

Try taking a short test on the use of personal and possessive pronouns in English.

Test on the topic “Personal and possessive pronouns in English”

We hope that our article helped you understand the features correct use personal and possessive pronouns in English. If you want to practice the rules you have learned using examples that you understand, go to one of them.

Possessive (translated possessive) in English grammar is a form of nouns and pronouns that expresses the belonging of objects to someone or something, answering the question whose(whose?). There are possessive nouns, pronouns and adjectives, which we will look at in this article.

Possessive nouns - possessive nouns

The possessive form of nouns in English is formed in two ways:

1) By adding an apostrophe and a letter s (-‘s) at the end of a word. Typically this form is used when we're talking about about people, groups of people, organizations, animals, as well as time periods and geographic places.

2) By adding a preposition of. This form is most often used for things, objects, ideas, but can also be used for people and organizations (groups of people).

In some cases, it is possible to use both forms.

People: Steve's daughter, Marina - Marina's hand
Animals: dog's tail, bird's eggs
Groups of people: the Smith‘s children, company‘s success = the success of the company
Time periods: today‘s magazine, next week‘s work, Monday‘s news
Places: Russia‘s president, the city‘s streets

the window of the house (windows of the house)
the title of the book (book title)
the top of the tower(top of the tower)
the middle of the night (middle of the night)
the buildings of the town (city buildings)
the name of the company (Company name)
the sister of Mary (Mary's sister)

Most plural nouns end in - s. To form a possessive form, only an apostrophe is added to them. Adding an apostrophe only affects writing and has no effect on pronunciation.

Let’s take two sentences as an example: “ They are his sisters" And " “His sisters’ house is very big.” Pronunciation of words sisters[ˈsɪstəz] and sisters'[ˈsɪstəz] will be the same.

However, not all plural nouns end in - s. Such nouns form the possessive form by adding 's at the end of a word:

women's dresses, children's names, men's hats, people's steps

Possessive adjectives - possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives or possessive determiners may also be called possessive pronouns, which are discussed in the next paragraph, but to distinguish them from the latter, they are separated into a special group. The following table shows which pronouns belong to which group.

Application examples possessive adjectives:

1) To indicate the ownership of things:

It's my bycicle. (This is my bike)
Their house is very nice. (Their house is very nice)
His hat is red. (His hat is red)

2) To indicate family and friendly ties between people:

My mother (my mother), her friends (her friends) their parents (their parents)

3) For body parts:

She's broken her leg (She broke (her) leg)
They looked at their hands (They looked at their hands)
I am brushing my teeth (I brush (my) teeth)

Possessive pronouns - possessive pronouns

Used instead of a noun with a possessive determiner, for example, instead of It's my sweater one might say It's mine. More examples:

Are they your parents? - Yes, they are mine. (Are these your parents? - Yes, they are mine.)
Whose carpet is this? Is it yours? (Whose carpet is this? Is it yours?)
Are these books ours? - No, they’re theirs. (Are these our books? - No, these are theirs.)
Whose cup is that? - That's hers. (Whose cup is this? - It’s hers.)

Possessive pronouns are also used after of:

He is one of my teacher. He is a teacher of mine (He is one of my teachers. He is my teacher.)

Exercises on possessive

1. Fill in the correct possessive pronoun or adjective(fill in with the correct possessive pronoun or adjective)

Please take off ____________ shoes when you enter my house.
My father always loses ____________ glasses.
I saw Joe and Cathrine with ____________ son, Harry.
My mother helped me with ____________ homework.
This is their book. Those other books are ____________ too.
Clara didn't have a ticket, so I gave her ____________.

2. Fill in the correct possessive noun(fill in with the correct possessive noun)

What is your ____________ name? (sister).
Where are ____________ children (Chris).
Do you still have ____________ newspaper? (yesterday).
Two days ago I visited ____________ school (girls).
There is a ____________ nest on the tree (bird).
I like our ____________ ecology policy (government).

Natalya Glukhova

Possessive case of adjectives in English

29/04 2018

Good afternoon dear friends!
We have already found out that in English there are much fewer cases than in Russian, which is why it is easy to learn (read the article “Cases of nouns in English”). Did you know that not everything that is a pronoun in Russian is such in a foreign one? Therefore, in the article “Possessive case of adjectives in English” we will, in fact, talk about pronouns.

From this article you will learn:

How do they look

Let's first remember what it is. It is used to indicate ownership of something. For example, My cat is 7 years old (My cat is seven years old). The fact is that pronouns in this case are considered adjectives. I will present to you a table, in the first column of which they are in the initial form, and in the second they are already possessive:

As you remember, it refers to inanimate noun, but it can also express belonging, since, in addition, it also replaces animals. The cat was eating its food.

Like all adjectives, possessives come directly before the subject they refer to: Their house is very big. Their belongs to house, so it comes before it.

Possessive adjectives

What to pay attention to:
It should be remembered that if the word is in the plural, –s is not added to the adjective. Her gardens are really beautiful (Her gardens are very beautiful). Hers gardens are really beautiful.

However, the verb must be consistent with the noun, that is, if the noun is in singular, then the verb must also be singular. If the noun is plural, then so is the verb.

Examples:
Our car is expensive (Our car is expensive) – singular.
Our cars are expensive (Our cars are expensive) – plural.
His child is smart (His child is smart).
His children are smart (His children are smart).
Be careful with its and it's. Just one apostrophe, but so many differences! Indeed, in the second case, this is a shortened form of the verb to be - it is or from it has. Accordingly, the construction of sentences will be completely different:
The dog is playing with its toy (The dog is playing with his toy).
It’s (It is) a dog’s toy (This is a dog’s toy).
It’s (It has) been nice to see you (It was nice to see you).

False doubles

Pronouns have a possessive case (possessive pronoun). It looks very similar to the possessive adjective, but we add –s to almost everything at the end. Take a look at the table and compare them:

Possessive pronouns

Why are they so similar? Possessive pronoun (second column) is used to avoid repeating information that is already obvious. Compare:
This phone is my phone, not your phone (This is my phone, not yours).
This phone is mine not yours.
Do you agree that the second sentence is much more compact than the first? Mine here replaces two words at once: my phone. Yours replaces your phone.

As you have already realized, a noun will never be placed after the words of the second column. Some of them have exactly the same form as adjectives. For example, its, and some are different: your – yours.

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In addition, you need to remember that they do not use an apostrophe.

Possessive adjectives and pronouns

They are also often used in the construction a friend + of + possessive pronouns.
For example, I’m going to see a friend of mine tonight (I’m going to see my friend today).

I want to advise you to take a couple of lessons at the marinarusakova school. I tried this service myself and really liked it! It’s simple, it’s interesting to study and the tasks are useful! Learning English can be fun, and the teacher knows how to work with all levels and will quickly find a common language with you.

They can also be found in a stable expression used in business letter when we finish it:
Yours faithfully (when we don’t know the name of the person with whom we are corresponding).
Yours sincerely (when we know the name).

Let's work through the material

In order for everything that I just told you to fit well into your head, you must definitely do the exercises.
In the missing places, insert the possessive adjective that suits the meaning:

1. She walks dog every day.
   Example: She walks ____ her dog every day.
2. We are checking ____ luggage in, we will call you back later.
3. The cat was feeding ____ kittens when I came home.
4. He never leaves ____ car open.
5. Ellen’s parents have sold ____ yacht.
6. Have you found ____ keys?
7. I’m going to drink ____ coffee and then I’ll go to work.
8. Anna is going to Ireland with ____ sister.
9. Daniel likes playing tennis, it’s ____ favorite hobby.
10. Steve met ____ wife a year ago.
11. Paul and Lilly are going to see ____ parents tonight.

In the missing places, insert an appropriate adjective or pronoun. More than one option is possible.

1. He is not James’s friend, he is.
   He is not James's friend. It's mine.
2. – Where is my coffee?
3. – Fred has dank ____ coffee.
4. Jenny was a friend of ____.
5. My city is big while ____ isn’t.
6. Has ____ father called?
7. Lucy talked to ____ grandmother yesterday.
8. It isn't my pencil. It is ____.
9. Mary has got two brothers. ____ names are Rick and John.
10. Our car is white and ____ is black.
11. Is it your tea? No it's not ____.
12. Don't touch this toy. It is not ____.
13. Janet can't find ____ bag.
14. Max is going on holidays with a friend of ____.
15. Mr. and Mrs. Stone love gardening. ____ garden is really lovely.
16. Look at this beautiful dog. ____ fur is so fluffy.

By the way, did you really know?

And finally, I offer an exercise for the youngest polyglots. If you are with the whole family, show this picture to your children and ask them to insert a word that makes sense.

Personal and possessive pronouns are one of the basic topics of the English language. Therefore, it is very important to understand them and learn how to use them correctly. This article will be especially useful for those who are just starting to learn the language.

Don't be intimidated by complex and obscure terms. Now you will see how simple and easy everything really is.

Pronouns in English

Let's first look at what a pronoun is and why it is needed.

Pronoun- a word that indicates objects (I, you, he, she) and signs (mine, yours, hers).

We use pronouns to replace words in a sentence to avoid repetition. Let's look at this with an example:

Tom studies at the university. He(we replace the name Tom so as not to repeat) will finish his(replace the word university) in a year.

This is how we used pronouns to replace the words “Tom” and “university” so as not to repeat them in the next sentence.

There are several groups of pronouns in English. Today we will look at 2 of them: personal pronouns and possessives.

Personal pronouns in English

Personal pronouns are the words with which we replace the main character.

For example:

Mary and Sara bought tickets.
Mary and Sarah bought tickets.

They will go to the concert.
They will go to the concert.

As you can see from the example, we replaced “Mary and Sarah” with the pronoun “they.”

Such pronouns can replace either one character (he, I, she, she, you) or several (you, we, they).

Examples:

I am reading a book.
I am reading a book.

You should watch this film.
You should watch this movie.

They love each other.
They love each other.

She likes sweets.
She loves sweets.

He fixed his car.
He fixed his car.

Possessive pronouns in English

Title "possessive pronouns" (p ossessive pronouns) comes from the French word possessif (relating to possession). Such pronouns reflect the belonging of objects and the connection between them.

They come in 2 types:

1. Used with an item

Such pronouns answer the question “whose?” and are placed in front of the object, indicating its belonging.

For example: This my computer.

Examples:

He didn't answer my question.
He answered my question.

I need your help.
I need your help.

They reached their goal
They achieved their goal.

She attracted our attention.
She caught our attention.

Let's follow his advice
Let's follow his advice.

Finding her office was easy.
Finding her office was easy.

The dog wagged its tail.
The dog wagged her tail.

2. Used independently, without an object

Such pronouns are used to avoid repetition in a sentence. There is no need to place an object after them, since they already imply it.

For example: This is my computer. Is yours on the table.

Examples:

Can I borrow a pen? I lost mine.
Can I borrow a pen? I lost mine.

My box is smaller than yours.
My box is smaller than yours.

It's not their suitcase. Theirs is purple.
This is not their suitcase. Theirs is purple.

Their price is below ours.
Their price is lower than ours.

He bought a new car and sold his.
He bought new car and sold his (his).

She took his keys and gave hers.
She took his keys and gave hers (her keys).

Please note that these two types of pronouns are translated the same way, but are used differently in the sentence. After the first type there is always an object, after the second there is not. Now let's practice using them in practice.

Reinforcement task

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. This is not her car. Hers is red.
2. My dog ​​loves to play with the ball.
3. Their task is easier than ours.
4. Don't touch my computer, take her.
5. I like her dress.
6. My pen is blue, hers is green.
7. What do cats like? Mine loves to sleep.
8. My car is faster than yours.

Leave your answers in the comments below the article.