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Table of Personal Pronouns

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  Ed Good  —  Grammar Tips
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Now let’s put it all together. The first table below shows singular personal pronouns; the second, plural personal pronouns.

Singular Personal Pronouns
Person Subjective Case Objective Case Possessive Case
First Person I me my-mine
Second Person you you your-yours
Third Person he (masculine) she (feminine) it (neuter) him (masculine) her (feminine) it (neuter) his-his (masculine) her-hers (feminine) its-its (neuter)
Plural Personal Pronouns
Person Subjective Case Objective Case Possessive Case
First Person we us our-ours
Second Person you you your-yours
Third Person they them their-theirs

 

Click page 2 below. Check Out the Possessive Forms

As you study the tables above, a question should form in your mind. Why does the possessive case have two forms? What’s this our-ours, my-mine bit?

A pronoun in the possessive case can appear in two different ways in a sentence. Like the possessive noun, it can appear right before the word it modifies. Thus:

Natalie’s house is on the corner.

Here the possessive noun Natalie’s stands in the attributive position.

We can say the same thing by using the third-person, possessive, feminine pronoun like this:

Her house is on the corner.

Here the possessive pronoun her also stands in the attributive position.

But we might have stated our sentence this way:

The house on the corner is Natalie’s.

Here the possessive noun stands in the predicative position; it is linked to the word it modifies (house) by a linking verb (is).

Recognizing this little twist, the Pronoun Committee came up with a predicative form of the possessive pronoun enabling us to say the same thing:

The house on the corner is hers.

Thus:

This is my house. This house is mine. This is our office. This office is ours. This is your car. This car is yours.

Recall the Noun Functions

In the above sentences, the words mine, ours, and yours are really acting like nouns, aren't they? They serve as predicate nominatives. In fact, the words could serve as subjects of sentences, could they not?

Mine is faster than yours. Hers runs better than mine.

Here, the words mine and hers act as the subjects of the respective sentences. And what word acts as a subject? Right. The noun.

So these strange possessive forms really act in subjective ways. Technically, they are "possessive case," but they do things accomplished by subjective-case pronouns: subjects of sentences and predicate nominatives.

And if you think about it, these possessive-case personal pronouns would act like possessive pronouns only about 150 years ago:

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

What a wonderful language Miss Hamrick, Amber, and Igor devised.

 

Previous: Gender - Masculine, Feminine, Neuter

Next: “Your” and “Its”

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10 Comments
  • Rupai
    If I write first person then ther will be show second person and 3rd person
    LikeReply2 years ago
  • Vener Fajardo
    Vener Fajardo
    How about for You and Tony
    LikeReply4 years ago
  • Benjamin Mshandete
    Benjamin Mshandete
    good topic
    LikeReply4 years ago
  • Jose Galang
    Jose Galang
    Helpful and handy
    LikeReply5 years ago
  • Waqas Ahmad Gondal
    Waqas Ahmad Gondal
    thanks alot
    LikeReply5 years ago
  • Adama Diallo
    Adama Diallo
    very interesting job
    LikeReply5 years ago
  • Saif Ahmed
    Saif Ahmed
    good
    LikeReply5 years ago
  • Mandeep Kadian
    Mandeep Kadian
    Osm
    LikeReply5 years ago
  • Rjay Raliuga
    Rjay Raliuga
    gfgf
    fgfg
    LikeReply7 years ago
  • Queenie Pobar
    Queenie Pobar
    ghftrdc
    LikeReply 17 years ago

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Quiz

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»
Identify the sentence with correct use of the possessive pronoun:
A Our house is bigger than their.
B He gave the gift to she.
C They are going on vacation with we.
D This book is hers, not yours.

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