The absolute form of possessive pronouns in English: usage, examples. Possessive pronouns in English

We use possessive pronouns in our speech every day. This is my cat, their dog, her portion of ice cream, his briefcase, their daughter ... In almost every sentence we will see pronouns. Since the theory on this topic has already been studied, today we will proceed directly to practice in order to consolidate the knowledge gained. Remember: learning possessive pronouns in English exercises will help you remember the theory much more effectively than even a hundred repetitions. So straight to the point! We are waiting for interesting tasks that will be easy enough even for children.

Exercises on possessive pronouns are relatively easy. And if you first repeat the main subtleties of the translation, then the work on the assignments will be quite easy. So, to your attention are tables with possessive pronouns that will put all the features of the translation on the shelves.

First form of possessive pronouns

Second form of possessive pronouns

As you already know, despite the fact that Possessive Pronouns have two forms, they all answer the same question => whose? That is Whose? Whose? Whose? Whose? At the same time, we want to remind you that the absolute form of possessive pronouns differs from the first (attributive) one both in spelling and in the role in the sentence: nouns do not follow the absolute form, they are missing.

Examples:

That is his cup => This is his cup (possessive pronoun in attributive form his+ noun cup)

But! That cup is mine=> This cup is mine (absolute possessive pronoun) mine, followed by no noun).

So, when we repeated the theory, we can safely proceed to the exercises. Now you can test your knowledge in practice. Forward!

Exercise 1. (possessive pronouns)

Correctly arrange the possessive pronouns, choosing from those proposed in the attributive form (my, his, her, its, our, your, their):

my his her ours

Book but she denied to return it to him.

I saw that picture in

his ours hers

House but don't remember whether it was her property or just a gift.

I forgot my glasses in

your my their hers

car. They will probably return it to me tomorrow.

The teacher was listening to

my theirs yours

Answer quite patiently but it was really silly one.

His Its Their Your Her

Jacket I found in

her his my ours

My Your His Our Theirs

Parents were absent while

his my their yours

Were at school.

Note! In these sentences, possessive pronouns can be interchanged. For example, in the last sentence, Possessive Pronouns can be interchanged without losing context. But, for example, in the third sentence there will be only one choice, since there is an identifier word they.

Continuing to use possessive pronouns

Exercise 2. (possessive pronouns)

Write the correct answer from those given in brackets:

My grandfather has a cat. color is warm red.

She saw dress washing in washing machine. The dress in the washing machine was (her, hers, its).

I saw him wearing best shirt. It suits him so much!

cat sleeps when it has done all insightful things.

They live in a big city. city ​​is so nice I would like to visit it this summer!

I like dress more than .

I have a rabbit. The rabbit is .

plane is a luxury one as well as pleasure boat.

My sister has a doll. doll is very expensive.

Her brother is very naughty. Only trousers costs 5 times more than my most expensive dress!

Exercise 3. (possessive pronouns)

Put the correct pronouns in attributive and absolute form:

I have a dress. The dress is.

Dress is very nice.

Her friend has a new lipstick. The new lipstick is .

Lipstick is of dark wine colour.

This shirt is .

Shirt is from the newest collection.

The business is

As you know, all parts of speech are divided into independent and auxiliary. As in Russian, pronouns in English belong to an independent part of speech, which denotes an object or is its attribute, but does not name persons and objects directly. These words do not name relations and properties, they do not give a spatial or temporal characteristic.

Pronouns (Pronouns) in English replace the noun, which is why they are called “in place of the name” - He, you, it. These words can also be used instead of an adjective - Such, that, these. As in Russian, so in English, there are a lot of such lexical units, but it is necessary to know them and use them correctly. Therefore, we proceed directly to the study.

According to their meaning, Pronouns can be classified into several groups. I suggest that you familiarize yourself with this classification and the features of each of the groups:

Personal (Personal) - the most important and common pronouns. In a sentence, they act as the subject. And the word "I (I)" is always capitalized, regardless of whether it is at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. And the pronoun you (you, you) expresses both the plural and the singular.

It should also be remembered that lexemes he (he) and she (she) use when they want to designate an animated person, and it- to refer to animals, abstract concepts and inanimate objects. A "they" It is used both for inanimate objects and for animate persons.

Personal pronouns in English are declined by case. In the case when they play the role of a subject in a sentence, they are in the nominative case, and when they play the role of an object, they are in the object case. To make it clearer to you, study the table

Possessive pronouns

English possessive pronouns (Possessive) we discussed in detail in the previous article. But still, let me remind you that they express belonging, have two forms - an adjective and a noun, answer the question “Whose?” and do not change in numbers. There is also a special absolute form. Look at the table, how Possessive Pronouns are declined:

Demonstrative pronouns in English

Demonstrative or demonstrative - point to a person or object. Demonstrative pronouns in English do not change by gender, but decline by number, that is, they have singular and plural forms. Wherein " this"They call an object that is next to the speaker, and the word" that” denotes an object located at a considerable distance.

In addition, “that” can be translated into Russian as “this, this”. Demonstrative pronouns in English in a sentence can act as a subject, object, attribute or noun.

Reflexive pronouns in English

Reflexive or reflexive - express a reflexive meaning, show that the action is directed to the actor himself, therefore, reflexive pronouns in English in a sentence correspond in form to the subject.

Their distinguishing feature is that they end in "- self"in the singular or "- selves" in plural)". In Russian, this is the verbal suffix “-sya (-s)” or the pronoun “himself (himself, himself, himself)”: He cut himself - He cut himself

Indefinite pronouns in English

Indefinite is one of the most numerous groups of English pronouns. In sentences, nouns and adjectives can be replaced. Indefinite pronouns in English can be conditionally divided into words, formed from “no” (no, not at all), “any” (any, a few, a little) and “some” (a few, a little).

Other Indefinite Pronouns include: every, each, both, all, few, little, many, much.

Interrogative pronouns in English

Interrogatives are very similar to relative ones, but perform completely different functions in a sentence where they are subject, adjective or object: Who is there? - Who's there? Sometimes they can be a nominal part of the predicate. Interrogative pronouns in English are also called "question words":

• who? - Who?
• which? - which?
• whom? - whom? to whom?
• where? - Where?
• what? - What?
• whose? - whose?
• when? - When?
• why? - Why?

Other pronouns

We have looked at the main and more numerous pronouns in more detail, but there are other groups of pronouns in English:

• Universal: all, both, everyone, everybody, everything, every, either, each
• Dividers: another, other
• Negative: no, nobody, nothing, no one, neither, none
• Relative: that, which, whose, who

Possessive pronouns (possessive pronouns) in English express belonging and answer the question whose? whose? For example: my - mine, your - yours etc.
They have two forms - dependent And independent. Possessive pronouns in the dependent form are sometimes called possessive pronouns-adjectives. Possessives in the independent form are sometimes called possessive noun pronouns.

*Note! Possessive pronoun its spelled without an apostrophe. with an apostrophe ( it's) is an abbreviation for the phrase it is.

1. Possessive pronouns in dependent form are always used only together with the corresponding nouns. not used in this case.

Examples:My dress is red. – My dress is red.
Our interview was interesting. – Our interview was interesting.

2. Possessive pronouns in the independent form replace nouns with themselves, i.e. after this form, nouns are never put. The article in this case, similarly, as in the dependent form, is not used.

Examples: This is my cap. This cap is mine. - This is my cap. This cap is mine.
This is not her bag hers is brown. This is not her bag, hers is brown.

3. When translating from Russian into English, pronouns mine, confusion can arise, since this pronoun can refer to all three persons, singular and plural. In order to correctly translate the pronoun, it is necessary to pay attention to the person of the subject in the sentence.

Examples:I washed their hands. - I have washed my hands.
She washed their hands. - She has washed her hands.
I don't have a pen. You can you give me my(handle)? I have no pen. Can you give me yours?

4. In English possessive pronouns in dependent form are used more often than in Russian. They are used when before the corresponding Russian nouns the pronoun own (own) absent.

Examples: I told sister about it. – I told my sister about it.
He bought wife present. – He bought his wife a present.

Possessive pronouns go hand in hand with personal pronouns: every personal pronoun has a possessive pronoun. Possessive pronouns in English answer the question whose? (whose?), their function is to determine belonging. It is important to note that the absolute form of possessive pronouns in English is used to replace the noun itself, that is, the directly defined word. Consider the types of possessive pronouns and the features of their use.

The absolute form of possessive pronouns in English: a parallel with the main form

Possessive pronouns are characterized by the presence of two forms => basic and absolute. The main form performs the function of definition and its task is to always stand before the noun. The absolute form, which is the second, is used directly to replace the noun itself, that is, the word being defined.

So, the table shows that possessive pronouns include such as my, your, his, her, its, our, their, mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.

Examples

• Sarah decided to leave her job to find the better one => Sarah decided to leave her job to find a better one.
• Mr. Thompson took his shirt to see whether it will suit to his trousers => Mr. Thompson took his shirt to see if it would match his trousers.
• We really want to taste our cakes to see whether they are really so delicious as people say => We really want to try our cakes to see if they are really as delicious as people say.

The main task of possessive pronouns is to reflect belonging to something or the connection of objects.

• My window is of white color and her is brown => My window is white, hers is brown.
• My pencils are sharp but his– not => My pencils are sharp, his is not.

Today we are studying the topic of absolute pronouns, but in order to understand the peculiarities of their use, we will draw a parallel with pronouns in the attached form.

So, as we have already said, attached pronouns are necessarily used with a noun =>

• My rabbit is black and white => My rabbit is black and white.
• your husband is so handsome I can't stand but look at him! => Your husband is so handsome that I can't help but look at him!
• Our plates are of yellow color while our neighbors decided to buy some of red color => Our plates are yellow, but our neighbors decided to buy some red.

Features of using the absolute form

It can be seen from the examples that the main form of the possessive cannot be used without a noun, the meaning is lost and the sentence will not be correct. As for absolute pronouns, they are created in order to . The use of the absolute form of possessive pronouns is convenient when you need to avoid repeating the object being defined =>

• It is his pen => This is his pen.
• This pen is his => This pen is his.

Let's give examples with her - hers, since the pronoun his is the same in different forms.

• It is her car => This is her car.
• This car is hers=> This car is hers.

Another great example =>

• Whose phone is it? — It's his/hers .
• Whose car is this? - It's his/her.

(his/hers are used instead of his car/her car).

Important! Absolute pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs) are meant to replace nouns

• What do cats like to eat? => Mine likes Kitekat.
• What do cats like to eat? – Mine loves Kitekat.
• Mine use instead my cat.
• Are this mine? => Yes, it is yours.
• It is mine? - Yes, it's yours.

On a note! If we are talking about the possessive pronoun its, then it is important to remember that it must be used without an apostrophe. If you see a form it's, then this is a shortened version of the phrase it is .

Functions of possessive pronouns in absolute form

Possessive pronouns in the absolute form perform several functions in a sentence. Functions are different and depend on the specifics of the context. Consider vivid examples =>

1. In the function of the subject

These are not her pencils. Hers are in her bag => These are not her pencils. Her (are) in her bag.

Where is the lollipop? Yours is in fridge. It is too hot here => Where is the lollipop? Yours is in the fridge. It's very hot in here.

1. In addition function

Our texts are better than yours(instead of your texts) => Our lyrics are better than yours.

Her shoes are much more glamorous than yours(instead of your shoes) => Her shoes are much more glamorous than yours.

1. In the function of the nominal part of the predicate

Whose chinchilla is this? – It is hers .

Whose chinchilla is this? - Her.

Whose red Maybach is it? – It is mine.

Whose red Maybach is this? - My.

Note! After the absolute form of the noun we do not set!

Summing up

The absolute pronoun helps to make speech simpler and easier without violating the meaning of the sentence. Possessive pronouns in the absolute form are best studied in parallel with the topic, which reveals the features of the use of the main form of such pronouns. The topic is easy, and if you reinforce the acquired knowledge with examples, you will understand it very quickly.

The study of any topic begins with its basics. The same goes for English pronouns. Yes, you can immediately rush into the pool with your head, studying all the subtleties of this topic. However, if you do not know how this or that pronoun is translated or pronounced, immediately combining the word with other members and making sentences with them will be at least difficult, and at most impossible. Therefore, if you are just starting your acquaintance with this topic, let's look at English pronouns with translation and pronunciation in order to avoid problems in their further development.

English pronouns types

To begin with, it is worth noting that pronouns in English are divided into 9 types:

1. Personal Pronouns or Personal Pronouns
2. Possessive Pronouns or Possessive Pronouns
3. Reflexive Pronouns or Reflexive Pronouns
4. Reciprocal Pronouns or Reciprocal Pronouns
5. Interrogative Pronouns or Interrogative Pronouns
6. Relative and Conjunctive Pronouns or Relative and Connective Pronouns
7. Demonstrative Pronouns or Demonstrative Pronouns
8. Quantitative pronouns or Quantitative pronouns
9. Indefinite Pronouns and Negative Pronouns or Indefinite Pronouns and Negative Pronouns

Each species has a limited number of words that you need to remember to express your thoughts. These words, as a rule, consist of a small number of letters and do not contain sounds, the pronunciation of which can cause difficulties at the initial stage. Let us dwell on each type in more detail and study the pronouns of the English language with transcription and translation.

English pronouns with translation and pronunciation: meaning and transcription

1. The main place among English pronouns is occupied by Personal Pronouns (Personal pronouns). This is the only group in which English allows for case inflection. Table for clarity:

1. The second most important group is Possessive Pronouns or the group of possessive pronouns. It also has two forms: attached and absolute. They both answer the same question (“whose?”), but differ in that the first requires a noun after itself, while the second does not. Compare:

As you can see, these forms have something in common, but they are written and pronounced differently. Consider the full list of possessive pronouns:

1. Reflexive Pronouns or reflexive pronouns - a group of pronouns, which is translated into Russian in the meaning of "himself (a)" and "yourself" depending on the situation:

The second part of these pronouns may remind you of the famous word "selfie" (selfie), which just came from the word "self" (himself). The first parts repeat the pronouns of the two above-mentioned groups.

1. Reciprocal Pronouns or reciprocal pronouns in English is the group that will probably take the least time to memorize. It consists of two words with the same meaning:

1. The group of Interrogative Pronouns or the group of interrogative pronouns is more extensive. These pronouns, as the name implies, are used to form questions:

1. Relative and Conjunctive Pronouns or relative and connective pronouns are used in complex sentences. There are not so many of them, but you need to know these words:

Some words of this group and the group of interrogative pronouns are similar, but their functions and meanings are different.

1. Demonstrative Pronouns or demonstrative pronouns in English are also common in speech. Some of them have singular and plural forms:

1. There are pronouns in English that denote quantity. They are called Quantitative pronouns or quantitative pronouns. These include:

1. The most extensive group can rightfully be considered Indefinite Pronouns and Negative Pronouns or indefinite and negative pronouns. Most of them are formed by a combination of pronouns, which also independently perform the functions of this group, and other parts of speech:

And also pronouns:

These were all English pronouns with translation and pronunciation. I would like to pay special attention to pronunciation. The fact is that the sounds of the English language are different from the sounds of Russian, so it is actually quite difficult to convey how pronouns are pronounced in English.

The variants presented are close to English pronunciation and have been added to make them easier to understand at an elementary level. With such a pronunciation, you will definitely be understood, however, for a more correct sound, study transcriptions in English. Listening to audio of native speakers and imitating their manner of speaking is also great for remembering the correct pronunciation.