62    Possessive adjectives and pronouns

Note that no apostrophes are used here. Students should guard against the common mistake of writing the possessive its with an apostrophe. it's (with an apostrophe) means it is.

The old form of the second person singular can be found in some bibles and pre-twentieth century poetry:

thy      thine one's is the possessive adjective of the pronoun one.

Agreement and use of possessive adjectives

A Possessive adjectives in English refer to the possessor and not to the thing possessed. Everything that a man or boy possesses is his thing; everything that a woman or girl possesses is her thing:

Tom's father is his father but

Mary's father is her father.

Everything that an animal or thing possesses is its thing:

A tree drops its leaves in autumn.

A happy dog wags its tail.

But if the sex of the animal is known, his/her would often be used. If there is more than one possessor, their is used:

The girls are with their brother.

Trees drop their leaves in autumn.

Note that the possessive adjective remains the same whether the thing possessed is singular or plural:

my glove, my gloves      his foot, his feet

B.     Possessive adjectives are used with clothes and parts of the body:

She changed her shoes.       He injured his back.

C.     To add emphasis, own can be placed after my, your, his etc. and after one's:

my own room      her own idea

own can be an adjective, as above, or a pronoun:

a room of one's own Note the expression:

I'm on my own = I'm alone.

Possessive pronouns replacing possessive adjectives + nouns

A.           This is our room or This (room) is ours.

This is their car. That car is theirs too. You've got my pen. You 're using mine. Where's yours?

B.     The expression of mine etc. means 'one of my' etc.:

a friend of mine = one of my friends

a sister of hers = one of her sisters