Singular Possessive Pronoun: 9 Facts You Should Know

Example 1 – This old English text book is mine and that new English text book is yours.

Explanation – We can see use of two singular possessive pronouns, ‘mine’ and ‘yours’ in the above mentioned sentence.

Example 2 – Julie is the name of my cat and I love its nature to cuddle me at the time of sleeping.

Explanation – We can see use of one singular possessive pronoun, ‘its’ in the above mentioned sentence.

Example 3 – Rana went to play with his cricket bat while Mina went to play the same game with a ball of hers.

Explanation – We can see use of two singular possessive pronouns, ‘his’ and ‘hers’ in the above mentioned sentence.

Why are possessive pronouns singular?

Mine, yours, his, hers and its are called singular possessive pronouns because they show possession of only singular living or non-living object.

1. The possessive pronoun ‘mine’ is called singular possessive pronoun because it shows possession of 1^st person singular number.
2. The possessive pronoun ‘yours’ is called singular possessive pronoun because it shows possession of 2^nd person singular number.
3. The possessive pronoun ‘his’ is called singular possessive pronoun because it shows possession of 3^rd person singular number (male).
4. The possessive pronoun ‘hers’ is called singular possessive pronoun because it shows possession of 3rd person singular number (female).
5. The possessive pronoun ‘its’ is called singular possessive pronoun because it shows possession of 3rd person singular number (object).

Example 1 – I don’t want help of anyone to pack suitcase of mine as Pijush can also pack suitcase of his.

Example 2 – You must read book of yours as Rita is busy in painting of hers.

Explanation –

Both the examples are evidences of singular possessive pronouns. In the first example, we can see possession of 1^st person singular number and 3^rd person singular number (male). In the second example, we can see examples of both 2^nd person singular number and 3^rd person singular number (female).

Which possessive pronouns are always singular?

There are only five possessive pronouns which are always used as ‘Singular’ possessive pronouns. Those five singular possessive pronouns are

1. Mine
2. Yours
3. His
4. Hers
5. its

Sentence with ‘Mine’ – One day, I want to purchase a flat of mine.

Sentence with ‘Yours’ – You must change subject combination of yours for your B.A.

Sentence with ‘His’ – Rana wants to draw the picture of horse with his own sketch pens.

Sentence with ‘Hers’ – Manisha and calligraphy of hers are quiet commendable.

Sentence with ‘Its’ – My computer and its tantrum for not showing a clean screen is hard to resist.

Sentence with ‘Its’ – My computer and its tantrum for not showing a clean screen is hard to resist.

Explanation – Here, all five sentences are showing possession of singular number.

‘Singular Possessive Pronoun’ examples –

Example 1 – My mother doesn’t allow anyone in her kitchen as she is possessive about kitchen of hers.

Explanation – Here, the possessive pronoun ‘hers’ can be categorized under the group ‘Singular Possessive Pronoun’ as it refers to 3^rd person singular number ‘She’.

Example 2 – I am not giving up decision of mine.

Explanation – Here, the possessive pronoun ‘mine’ can be categorized under the group ‘Singular Possessive Pronoun’ as it refers to 1^st person singular number ‘I’.

Example 3 – Though you are my elder brother but I am not going to wear blazer of yours.

Explanation – Here, the possessive pronoun ‘yours’ can be categorized as ‘Singular Possessive Pronoun’ as it refers to 2^nd  person singular number ‘You’.

Example 4 – Sandip and his poems, both are intolerable.

Explanation – Here, the possessive pronoun ‘his’ can be categorized as ‘Singular Possessive Pronoun’ as it refers to 3rd  person singular number ‘He’.

Example 5 – My puppy and its possession over its favourite toy is hilarious to watch.

Explanation – Here, the possessive pronoun ‘its’ can be categorized as ‘Singular Possessive Pronoun’ as it refers to 3rd person singular number ‘It’.

Which possessive pronouns can be either singular or plural?

There is only one possessive pronoun which can be used either as singular or plural possessive pronoun. It is a general concept that the words ‘theirs’ is a possessive pronoun but we can use the same as singular possessive pronoun.

Example – Though there were lots of umbrellas but Pijush knew which one is theirs.

Explanation – Here, the possessive pronoun ‘theirs’ is in use to refer singular mode.

Types of possessive pronouns –

Possessive pronouns can be categorized in three groups; ‘Singular Possessive Pronouns’, ‘Plural Possessive Pronouns’ and  possessive Pronouns which can be either singular or plural.

Example – All the age old furniture of this palace are property of ours.

Explanation – Here, the possessive pronoun ‘ours’ can be called plural possessive pronoun as it is showing possession of more than one person.

How to identify possessive pronouns?

There are two common ways to identify a possessive pronoun.

First, a possessive pronoun usually placed in a sentence by replacing the main noun.

Second, a possessive pronoun usually placed at the end of a sentence.

Example – I am not bothered about dance performance of mine.

Explanation – Here, the possessive pronoun ‘mine’ is not followed by a noun. The possessive pronoun ‘mine’ has its placement at the end of the sentence. Both the cases are way to identify possessive pronoun.

Conclusion –

We must not mix up concept of singular possessive pronouns with singular possessive adjectives. We must keep in mind that singular possessive pronouns are always placed after ‘Noun’ while singular possessive adjectives are placed before a noun to show possession.

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