Possessive Determiners
Use the determiner form when a following noun phrase is present, and the pronoun form when the possessive expression stands on its own. Some teaching traditions call these forms possessive adjectives, but modern grammars commonly analyze them as determiners.
Possessive determiners such as my, your, his, her, its, our, and their come before a noun or noun phrase: “their plan.” Possessive pronouns such as mine, yours, hers, ours, and theirs stand independently: “The plan is theirs.”
Key details
Further guidance
Before Nouns
Use a possessive determiner directly before the noun phrase: “our proposal,” “her new office,” “their revised schedule.”
His And Its
Some forms can look less obviously different across categories. “His” can function before a noun or independently, while “its” is normally a determiner and does not use an apostrophe for possession.
Standalone Forms
Use an independent possessive pronoun when no following noun is expressed: “The red folders are ours.”
Terminology
If a textbook says possessive adjective, check how it defines the category. The same words are often called possessive determiners in modern reference grammars.
Worked Example
“This is their desk” uses their before desk. “This desk is theirs” uses the independent possessive pronoun theirs.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Pronouns: possessive (my, mine, your, yours, etc.) — Cambridge Grammar (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge Grammar evidence distinguishing possessive pronouns such as “mine” from possessive determiners such as “my.”
- Determiners (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Current grammar guidance places possessives within the determiner system alongside articles, demonstratives, quantifiers and numbers.