My or mine? Possessive adjectives and pronouns in English

In English, two groups of words show possession: possessive adjectives go before a noun (“This is my book.”), and possessive pronouns replace the noun and stand alone (“This book is mine.”). Turkish can say both with “benim”, so the choice depends on whether a noun follows.

The list

I: my / mine. You: your / yours. He: his / his. She: her / hers. It: its / –. We: our / ours. They: their / theirs. Example: “Is this your phone?” – “No, it isn't mine. It's hers.”

's with names

To show that something belongs to a person, add 's to the name: “Ali's car”, “my sister's room”. Plural nouns ending in -s take only an apostrophe: “my parents' house”. This form can also stand alone like a pronoun: “Whose bag is this?” – “It's Ayşe's.”

Common mistakes for Turkish speakers

Because Turkish uses “onun” for both men and women, “his” and “her” are often mixed up: say “her mother” when talking about a woman and “his mother” when talking about a man. The second common mistake is mixing “its” and “it's”: “its” shows possession (“The dog wagged its tail.”), while “it's” is short for “it is”.

A short exercise

Write who five things in your home belong to, in two ways: first with a possessive adjective (“This is my mug.”), then with a possessive pronoun (“This mug is mine.”). Use “his” at least once, “her” once, and 's once.

To keep going, see Family members in English and introducing your family and Am, is, are in English: how to use the verb to be.

Frequently asked questions

How is “whose” used? It asks who owns something: “Whose keys are these?” “Who's” is short for “who is”.

Is “a friend of mine” correct? Yes. It is a common pattern meaning one of my friends: “She's a friend of mine.”