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7 pronouns in English. Possessive pronouns in English

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 the subject in the sentence, then they are in nominative case, and when they play the role of an addition - in the object. To make it clearer to you, study the table

Face	Nominative		Objective case
	Singular
1	I	I	me	me, me
2	you	You	you	you, you
3	he	He	him	him, his
	she	she	her	her, her
	it	it, he, she	it	him, her, him, her
	Plural
1	we	We	us	us, us
2	you	You	you	you, you
3	they	They	them	them, them

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:

pronouns
form	personal	possessive	absolute
unit. number	I he she it	my his her its	mine his hers her its his/her
Plural number	we you they	our your their	ours yours theirs

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

Return (Reflexive) or reflexive - express a return value, show that the action is aimed at itself actor, hence, reflexive pronouns in English, in a sentence, the form corresponds to the subject.

Their distinctive feature is that they end with "- 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

Singular		Plural
myself		ourselves
yourself		yourselves	yourself (themselves)
himself	himself (himself)	themselves
herself
itself
oneself indefinite personal form

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).

no		any		some
noone/nobody	nobody	anyone/anybody	someone/someone, anyone	someone/somebody	somebody/someone
nothing	nothing	anything	something/something, whatever	something	anything
nowhere	nowhere	anywhere	somewhere/somewhere, anywhere/anywhere	somewhere	somewhere
		anyhow	somehow / somehow, somehow	somehow	somehow / somehow
		any day/any time	whenever	some time/some day	some day

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 there may be nominal part 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

To make your speech in a foreign language expressive, correct and varied, as well as to learn to understand what other people say (write), you need to know English pronouns. A table (and more than one) will be presented in this article with the necessary explanations to facilitate the assimilation of grammatical material.

What is a pronoun and what is it for?

This part of speech is used in any language to avoid tautology, to enliven dry statements, and also to make them more logical. Pronouns in English are called Pronouns, which translates as "instead of nouns."

This service component acts as a substitute for those parts of speech that have already been mentioned in oral or written text. Nouns and adjectives can be replaced, a little less often - adverbs and numerals. Pronouns help us to maintain the logic and clarity of the presentation of thoughts, but at the same time not to repeat ourselves, naming the same people, objects, phenomena, signs, etc. again.

What are the pronouns in English

English pronouns, like Russian ones, change in person, gender, and number. In addition, they must be consistent with the part of speech that they replace. For example, agreement on the basis of gender: girl (girl) - she (she). In the same way, coordination is carried out in the number: boys (boys) - they (they).

Now let's take a closer look at what each variety is and how this service part of speech manages to simplify English.

Personal Pronouns

They have their name because they replace nouns - animate and inanimate. There are seven in total.

I - I;
you - you (you);
he - he;
she - she;
it - it;
we - we;
they - they.

Pay attention to the following features:

1. You is used in both the singular and the plural. It is translated accordingly: “you”, “you” (appeal to one person) or “you” (appeal to a group of people).

2. It denotes not only inanimate objects, but also animals.

The above personal pronouns are given in the nominative case. But what if you need to say: “you”, “me”, “about us”, etc.? What is transmitted in Russian by other cases (dative, genitive, prepositional, etc.), in English is called in one word - the subjective case. Such pronouns replace words that are not subject in the sentence. The correspondence table is shown below.

Who? What?	Whom? What? To whom? What? By whom? How? About whom? About what?
	me - me, me, me, etc.
	you - you (you), you (you), etc.
	him - to him, him, etc.
	her - her, her, etc.
	it - to him, him, etc.
	us - us, us, etc.
	them - them, them, etc.

Start practicing using the subjective case when you thoroughly understand and learn the forms of the nominative. Otherwise, you just run the risk of getting confused. In general, remembering pronouns is quite simple, and the more often you study a foreign language, the more confident you will become to speak.

Possessive Pronouns

This group is the second most frequently used. But do not rush to get scared when you see new English pronouns. The table below shows the correspondence between personal and possessive types.

Personal pronoun	Possessive pronoun

you - you (you)	your - your (your)

As you can see, the basis of almost all pronouns is the same, and the differences are most often only in one letter.

It is recommended to learn and work out in the exercises first personal pronouns, then possessive ones, and then practice in mixed tests, where you need to choose the option that is suitable in meaning and grammar: you or your, etc. So you will firmly learn everything and will never confuse these two superficially similar groups.

Demonstrative Pronouns

We continue to study pronouns in English and now we are moving on to the variety that helps to navigate in space, show a certain object, direction and place. They do not change according to persons and genders, but they have forms of the singular and Further in the table you will see demonstrative English pronouns with translation.

For example, if a picture hangs on the wall in the distance, then they say about it: That is a picture. And if there are pencils nearby on the table, this can be indicated as follows: These are pencils.

There is another function for this group of service parts of speech. They can replace individual words or even entire expressions. This is done to avoid repetition. For example: Air quality in the village is better than that in the city - The air quality in the village is better than (air quality) in the city.

Relative Pronouns

This variety is often found in complex sentences to connect the main and subordinate parts. Such an English pronoun with translation and understanding of foreign speech can create difficulties. Therefore, it is necessary to understand this issue well. The following relative pronouns exist:

that - what, which (used to refer to both animate and inanimate objects);
which - which (only to designate objects or phenomena);
who - who, who (indicates people only);
whom - to whom, who, whom (in spoken language does not occur, is used only in official speech as a speech cliché).

Interrogative Pronouns

As you might guess, this type is used in interrogative sentences. If you are already familiar with the topic “Special Questions”, then you know these English pronouns well. All of them are notable for the fact that they begin with the letter combination wh:

what? - What? Which? which?
which? - Which? which one (of the two)?
who? - Who?
whom? - to whom? whom?
whose? - whose?

Sometimes the suffix -ever can be added to them, and then combinations of whatever (any, anything), whoever (any, anyone), etc. are obtained.

Pay special attention to the following features.

Who is used in the singular and assumes the verb form is, as well as the ending -s in the present simple tense.

Who is there? Who likes this film?

The exception is when the plural personal pronoun is used (you, we, they), if the answer involves naming several people, objects, phenomena, etc.

Who of you live in this house? - We do. (Which of you lives in this house? - We.)

(Indefinite Pronouns)

Often there are situations when the information is not entirely clear, or the speaker is not sure of its veracity. For such cases, there is a special group service words. Below you can see all indefinite English pronouns with translation.

Animated objects	inanimate objects
anyone, anyone - anyone, anyone	anything - anything, anything
everybody, everyone - everyone, everyone	everything - everything
no one, nobody - no one	nothing - nothing, nothing
someone - someone	something - something
other - other either - any (when choosing from two) neither - none (when choosing from two) each - each

Please note that all the pronouns listed in the table are singular (even if translated into Russian they refer to many objects or people).

The plural of indefinite pronouns is represented by the following words:

any - any;
both - both;
several - several;
others - others, others;
many - few;
few - few.

Reflexive Pronouns

Used to refer to actions that are performed on oneself. These English pronouns are related to the varieties you already know - personal and possessive. Only in this case, the particle -self (in the singular) or -selves (in the plural) is added.

(I) I - myself;
(you) you - yourself;
(he) he - himself;
(she) she - herself;
(it) it - itself (about animals and inanimate objects);
(we) we - ourselves;
(you) you - yourselves;
(they) they - themselves.

How to translate This is best understood with examples.

Sometimes it can be translated as "yourself", "yourself", etc.

“Why?”, she asked herself - “Why?” she asked herself.

We arranged a great holiday for ourselves - We arranged a great holiday for ourselves.

In some cases, you can translate such pronouns with reflexive particles -s and -sya.

A cat washed itself - The cat washed itself.

Where are you hiding yourself? - Where are you hiding?

In cases where the fact that the action was performed by someone on their own is emphasized, reflexive pronouns can be translated with the words “himself”, “herself”, etc.

He has built this house himself - He built this house himself.

Reciprocal pronouns (Reciprocal Pronouns)

This variety includes only two representatives: each other and one another. They are synonyms.

Such pronouns are used in cases where two objects perform the same action directed at each other.

We love each other - We love each other.

They hugged and kissed one another - They hugged and kissed.

On Christmas day the friends gave each other presents - On Christmas day, friends gave each other gifts.

In cases where it is necessary to designate a group of people performing the same action in relation to each other, it is necessary to use the form one another. For example:

We are a united family and always help one another. We are a friendly family and always help each other.

People of different generations have difficulties in understanding one another - People of different generations have difficulty understanding each other.

This is what the pronoun system looks like in English. There is nothing complicated in it, since some groups of functional words are formed from others: reflexive and possessive - from personal, mutual - from indefinite, etc.

Having studied and understood the theory, start practicing in various types of exercises. The more often you do this, the sooner you will achieve a noticeable result: you will start using English pronouns in your speech without hesitation.

Pronouns in English are the part of speech that we use to replace a noun. The purposes of this can be very different, but most often this part of speech is resorted to in order to avoid repetitions in the use of the same noun in a sentence. Before talking about English pronouns, it is important to remember one thing - they are used without, because they themselves perform their function.

There are several types of pronouns:

Personal pronouns

The English language includes two types of personal pronouns: object and subject.

Subjective: I (I), you (you), he (he), she (she), we (we), they (they).

Object: me (me, me), you (you, you), him (him, him), her (her, her), it (this, this), us (us, us), them (them, them).

They/them are used not only as "they", but also in cases where the gender of the person in question is unknown. In Russian, in such cases, the masculine pronoun is used:

Go to your psychologist. Ask them to consult you- Talk to a psychologist. Ask him to advise you.
You need to find a good florist. They will help you You need to find a good florist. He will help you.
He should visit a doctor. They may help him- He should go to the doctor. He can help him.

Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns are used as subjects for a verb:

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I want the whole orange- I want the whole orange.
You are my love- You are my Love.
He is a bad actor- He's a bad actor.
It is snowing- Snowing.
She loves John She loves John.
We have no drugs We don't have drugs.
They are very strange- They are very strange.
I need it- I need it.
You are so right!- You are so right!
He is my new fiance He is my new fiancé.
It is too soon- It's too soon.
She is my favorite actress- She is my favorite actress.
We don't need your help We don't need your help.
They are our family“They are our family.

Object pronouns

Object pronouns, respectively, perform the object function for:

bring me my money Will you bring me my money?
They don't like us“They don't like us.
mike can beat you Mike can beat you.

Object pronouns are also placed after prepositions:

Pete is looking for me Pete is looking for me.
I'll do my best for you“I will do my best for you.
Give this soap to him Give this soap to him.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns come in two forms: in the attached form (your, my, their, our, her, his, its) or in the absolute form (yours, mine, theirs, ours, hers, his, its). The former are used only in conjunction with a noun, while the latter can replace it:

Is that John's car?- No, it's my car.
Is this John's car? No, this is my car.
Is that John's car?- No, it's mine.
Is this John's car?- No, she's mine.

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns include this (this), that (that), these (these), those (those).

This is a periodic chart- It's a periodic table.
Whose gloves are these? Whose gloves are these?
I like that sound— I like this sound.
What's that?– What is it there?
Those are very expensive earrings Those earrings are very expensive.

Interrogative pronouns

Who (who, whom) is used when talking about people:

Who is that?- Who is this?
Who do you like more?- Who do you like more?
Who is who?- Who is who?
Who told you that?- Who told you that?

What (what) is used when talking about inanimate objects:

What is that?- What is this?
What do you feel about it?- What do you feel about this?
What do you want?- What do you want?

Which (what, what) is used when the speaker offers to make a choice:

I have three magazines. Which do you want?- I have three magazines. What do you want?
Which one was your brother? Which one was your brother?

Relative and connecting pronouns

English contains five relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that. They also perform the function of connecting, depending on the situation. Both of them open subordinate clauses. Only relative pronouns open attributive subordinate clauses, and connectives open additional, subject and predicate.

Relative pronoun:

The girl who improved my pronunciation– The woman who improved my pronunciation.

Connective pronoun:

This is Jordan, who you saw at the party This is Jordan, the one you saw at the party.

Useful video on the topic:

Quick jump:

A pronoun is a part of speech that is used instead of a noun.

Pushkin is the greatest Russian poet. He was born in 1799
Pushkin is the greatest Russian poet. He was born in 1799.

Pronouns in English can be used in a sentence in the function:

Not a doctor.
He is a doctor.

The red pencil is mine.
My red pencil.

I have not seen him.
I didn't see him.

I cannot find my pencil.
I can't find my pencil.

simple form possessive pronouns always require a noun after itself and being its definition, excludes the use of the article before this noun:

My pencil is on the table.
My pencil is on the table.

Absolute form possessive pronouns are used independently - nouns are never put after them.

This pencil is mine.
This pencil is mine.

Refundable pronouns come after many verbs and correspond in Russian to the particle - "sya" ("si"), which is attached to verbs, showing that the action passes to the actor himself:

Not defended himself.
He defended himself.

Don't cut yourself.
Don't cut yourself.

Pronouns in English: table with translation and examples

Table. Pronouns.

1. Personal (Personal Pronouns)	Nominative case (Nominative Case)	objective case (objective case)
	I- I you- you you he- He she- she it- he she it we- We you- You they- They	me- me, me you- you, you, you, you him- him, him her- her, her it- him, her, him, her us- us, us you- you, you them- them, them
2. Possessive (Possessive Pronouns)	I form	II form
	mu- my (I, -e, -i) your- your (-i, -e, -i), your (a, -e, -i) his- his her- her its- his her our- our (a, -e, -i) your- your (-a, -e, -i) their- their all these pronouns can also be translated with the word your	mine- my (I, -e, -i) yours- yours (I, -e, -i), your (a, -e, -i) his- his hers- her its- his her ours- our (-a, -e, -i) yours- your (-a, -e, -i) theirs- their
3. Return and amplifying (Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns)	myself- (I) myself, myself (-a) yourself- (you, you) yourself, yourself (s) himself- (he) himself, himself herself- (she) herself, herself itself- (it) itself, itself ourselves- (we) ourselves, ourselves yourselves- (you) yourself, yourself themselves- (they) themselves, themselves
4. Mutual (Reciprocal Pronouns)	each other- each other one another- one another
5. pointing (Demonstrative Pronouns)	this (these) - this, this, this, (these) that (those) - that, then, that, (those) such- such same- the same, the same
6. Interrogative (Interrogative Pronouns)	who (whom) - who will win) whose- whose what- what, which, what, who which- which, which, who, what
7. Relative and connective (Relative and Conjunctive Pronouns)	who (whom) - who (of whom), which (of whom) whose- whose, whom what- what, what which- which, which, who, what that- which
8. indefinite (Indefinite Pronouns)	some- some, some, a little (approved suggestion) any- some, some (in question and negative sentences), any one- someone, someone all- all, all, all, all each- every every- everyone, everyone other- other(s) another- another both- both many- many, many much- a lot of few- few, few little- few either- any (of two) no- none, none, none none- nobody, nothing neither- neither one nor the other, no one, nothing
Use
1. Personal	subject I shall speak to him. - I'll talk to him. addition I shall speak to him. - I'll talk to him. part of the predicate That was he. - That was him.
2. Possessive	definition Her paper was interesting. - Her article was interesting. subject My room is large, yours is larger. My room is big, yours is bigger. part of the predicate This paper is his. - This article is his. addition We haven't seen your paper, we have seen only theirs. We haven't seen your article, we've only seen them.
3. Return and amplifying	addition I wash myself. - I wash my face. Not himself saw it. - He saw it himself. Didn't see it himself. - He saw it himself.
4. Mutual	addition they greeted each other.- They greeted each other.
5. pointing	subject This were pleasant. - It was nice. addition He likes this. - He likes it. part of the predicate It was that. - It was (just) that. definition I know these songs. - I know these songs.
6. Interrogative	subject Who knows this story? - Who knows this story? addition What did you see there? - What did you see there? part of the predicate What has she become? - What did she become? definition Which month is the warmest? - Which month is the warmest?
7. Relative and connective	subject The man who is sitting there is my friend. - The man who sits there is my friend. addition I don't know whom he sent there. I don't know who he sent there. part of the predicate The question is who will go there. - The question is who will go there. definition I don't know whose paper this is. - I don't know whose article this is.
8. indefinite	subject One must do it. - We need to do it. addition He told us something. - He told us something. definition Any student can do it. - Any student can do it. part of the predicate It is too much for me. - It's too much for me.
Translation: pronouns

Any student who starts learning English from scratch on his own or with a teacher will learn how to answer the question “ What's your name?”(Russian. What is your name?).

Answering " My name is…“(Rus. My name is ...), he doesn’t even think that he already knows two possessive pronouns: my(mine, mine, mine. mine) and your(Russian yours, yours, yours, yours), without which it is impossible to build communication in English.

We use the same possessive pronouns for everything, but do we own our lives or sisters or husbands in the same way we own our shoes? Do we own any of them at all?

We use possessive pronouns for everything, but do we really own our lives, sisters or husbands as much as we own our shoes? Do we own all this?

~ Samantha Harvey

They can cause some misunderstanding on the part of those who are just starting to learn English and have encountered Possessive pronouns for the first time.

In English grammar, two varieties of possessive pronouns peacefully coexist: Possessive adjectives(possessive adjectives) and Possessive Pronouns(possessive pronouns). Today we will talk about them in this article.

Possessive pronouns in English

Possessive pronouns help us understand that someone or something owns something. Signature on key chains: I am yours (Russian I am yours), And you are mine (Russian And you are mine)

Let's first remember what a possessive pronoun is.

Possessive pronouns(mine, yours, ours, and others) indicate the sign of belonging to a certain person and answer the question whose? In Russian, they agree with the noun in number, gender, and case.

What about English possessive pronouns? There are two forms of possessive pronouns in English ( Possessive adjectives and Possessive pronouns), which differ in spelling and how they are used in a sentence.

Let us consider in more detail both forms of possessive pronouns in English.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive pronouns in English, resembling an adjective in their role in a sentence, and which are always used with a noun, are called Possessive adjectives(Russian possessive adjective).

Below is a table of the formation of possessive pronouns in English and their comparison with personal pronouns.

Possessive pronouns dependent form (Table 1)

Possessive pronouns dependent form (Table 2)

When we want to indicate ownership, we cannot use !

Offer He name was Carl(Russian. His name was Karl) sounds strange and wrong in both English and Russian. He is a personal pronoun. Replace it with a suitable possessive adjective his and get a grammatically and logically correct sentence: His name was Car l (Russian. His name was Karl)

Sometimes this form of possessive pronouns or Possessive adjectives called dependent, since it cannot be used on its own, without a noun.

Remember!

Possessive pronouns-adjectives (Possessive Adjectives) in English they are used only in conjunction with a noun and always come before it.

Since dependent possessive pronouns resemble adjectives in their functionality, they also play the role of a definition in a sentence.

Examples of sentences with possessive adjectives in English

English beginners often confuse possessive adjectives with contracted forms of the verb. to be:

your And you're (= you are)

its And it's (= it is)

Compare the use of possessive pronouns and the contracted form of the verb:

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns in English that can be used in a sentence without a noun are called Possessive Pronouns(Russian possessive pronoun).

Possessive Pronouns also called absolute or independent form of possessive pronouns. In this form, nouns are never placed after possessive pronouns, since these pronouns are used instead of nouns.

Remember!

Absolute possessive pronouns ( Possessive Pronounss) in English are used without a noun and perform the function of the subject, object or nominal part of the predicate in the sentence.

Below is a table of the formation of absolute possessive pronouns in English and their comparison with personal pronouns.

Possessive pronouns in English absolute form (Table 1)

Possessive pronouns in English absolute form (Table 2)

English possessive pronouns in absolute form replace the possessive adjective ( Possessive Adjective) with a noun to avoid repetition of information, since everything is clear without it. For example:

This book is my book, not your book(Russian This book is my book, not your book)

This book is mine, not yours(Russian This book is mine, not yours)

As you noticed in both Russian and English, the second sentence sounds more natural. Let's take a look at how possessive pronouns are used in a sentence.

Examples of sentences with possessive pronouns in English

Sentence with a possessive pronoun	Translation into Russian
What's mine is yours, my friend.	What's mine is yours, my friend.
I have broken my pencil. Please give me yours.	I broke my pencil. Please give me yours.
Are those gloves hers?	Those gloves are hers?
All the essays were good but his was the best.	All the writings were good, but his was the best.
The world is mine.	The world is mine.
Your photos are good. Ours are terrible.	Your photos are great, ours are terrible.
These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair.	These are not John and Mary's children. Theirs is black haired.
John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers.	John found his passport, but Mary couldn't find hers.
Is that chair yours?	Is this chair yours?
I know this drink is yours but I need to drink something.	I know this drink is yours, but I need something to drink.

Possessive pronoun its in absolute form is used extremely rarely, only in conjunction with the word own:

The cottage seems asleep yet, but it may have a life of its own(Russian. It seemed that the cottage was still sleeping, but perhaps it lived its own life).

My or Mine? Possessive pronoun or adjective?

On the poster is an inscription with a vivid example of the use of possessive pronouns in dependent and absolute form: “Because my body is mine (belongs to me!)”

As already mentioned, we use possessive adjectives and pronouns when we need to express ownership. Both forms are translated into Russian in the same way.

Possessive adjective ( Possessive Adjective) is always used with a following noun:

This is my pen(Russian This is my pen), where my is a possessive adjective, pen is a subsequent noun.

Possessive pronouns ( Possessive Pronouns) are always used on their own, without an accompanying word:

This pen is mine(Russian This pen is mine), where mine- a possessive pronoun, after which we DO NOT NEED a noun.

Comparative table of possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns.

The semantic load does not change in these two sentences. However, when we need to focus on someone or something, it is better to use the absolute form.

Translation of English possessive pronouns

There is no difference in the meaning of possessive adjectives and pronouns in English and in their translation into Russian.

English possessive pronouns in dependent and absolute form are translated into Russian in the same way, but there are a few things you need to know about.

Translation of the possessive pronoun your into English

There is no special possessive pronoun in English that corresponds to the Russian possessive pronoun ""own"".

Russian pronoun ""own" in English corresponding possessive pronouns.

Example sentences in English with the translation of the pronoun svoi

English possessive pronouns usually not translated into Russian when combined with nouns denoting parts of the body or items of clothing, but are always present before the noun.

In Russian, with similar nouns, possessive pronouns are usually not used. Compare English sentences with possessive sentences with translation:

Special cases of using possessive pronouns

Using the Of yours structure

Very often (especially in American English) you can hear the following construction: a friend/some friends of + mine, yours, etc:

I saw a friend of yours last night(eng. I saw one of your friends last night) = I saw one of your friends last night.

Here are some friends of mine(Russian. And here are my friends) = Here are my friends.

Offers I saw one of your friends last night and I saw a friend of yours last night translated will be the same "Last night I saw one of your friends." However, there is a slight semantic difference.

Let's look at phrases "my friend" And “a friend of mine”.

"My friend" will say about close friend. If you call a person "my friend" It means that you have a warm and trusting relationship with him. But, each of us has people with whom we simply a good relationship. These are just our friends and acquaintances. This is exactly what we need here the expression “a friend of mine”.

Myself indefinite article indicates to us that "one of" friends, someone undefined:

This is my friend Jessica.("my friend" - before the name)

This is Jessica, a friend of mine.("a friend of mine" - after the name)

With a phrase "a friend of mine" associated one fun fact. In English culture, there is a concept urban myth(BrE) or urban legend(Ame). This is a story, usually with an unexpected, humorous or instructive ending, which the narrator passes off as a real event.

We call these stories "tales" or "fictions". These incidents allegedly happen to a certain acquaintance of the narrator, and the name of the acquaintance is never specified.

Most of these stories (or "tales") begin with the words: This happened to a friend of mine... (This happened to one of my friends...).

When to use Yours faithfully and Yours sincerely

You have probably come across the phrase Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely at the end of a formal letter, for example:

Yours sincerely, Mary Wilkinson(Russian. Sincerely, Mary Wilkinson).

In business correspondence, these are irreplaceable phrases that need to be written at the end of the letter. Read more about the features of business English.

Examples of using the phrases “Yours faithfully” and “Yours sincerely”

Using an English noun in the genitive case

Possessive nouns can be used as possessive pronouns to talk about belonging to someone in particular.

As a rule, the use of nouns in the possessive case does not affect the form of possessive pronouns, for example:

Whose cell phone is that? - It's John's.(Russian Whose phone is this? - John.)

Who do these computers belong to? - They"re our parents".(Russian. Who owns these computers? - Our parents.)

The relation of belonging or involvement of one object to another can also be indicated using the possessive case ( The Possessive case). which we will talk about in our next article.

Possessive pronouns in English: video

To finally consolidate the knowledge gained, we recommend that you watch a video about possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns.

English Grammar Lessons - Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns

Finally:

In this article, we tried to explain the use of possessive pronouns in English as simply as possible and how to correctly answer the question “whose” in English.

We hope that after reading our article, you will no longer have questions about this topic and you will be able to use this grammar correctly in your speech and writing.

Stay on our site and you will discover a lot from the world of English grammar!