Possessive pronouns
From A New English Grammar for Schools, by Thomas Harvey:
They are: mine, thine,
his, hers, ours, yours, theirs.
I. Possessive pronouns are words used to represent both the possessor and the thing possessed.
1. A possessive pronoun is not the possessive case of a personal pronoun, but a distinct form found only in the nominative and objective cases.
That is my book. (personal pronoun; possessive case)
That book is mine. (possessive pronoun)
Mine is the one on the table. (possessive pronoun)
That book is mine. (possessive pronoun)
Mine is the one on the table. (possessive pronoun)
2. For emphasis,
My own is used for mine; your own is used for yours; his own for his; her own for hers; their own for theirs.
This book is my own.Examples:
Stand fast; the ground’s your own, my braves!
Each player should have a mitt of his own.
II. Order of parsing possessive pronouns
1. A pronoun, and why?
2. Possessive, and why?
3. What is its antecedent?
4. Gender, person, and number?
5. Case?
III. Models for parsing
That house of mine is
rented.
“Mine” is a pronoun; possessive, because it represents both the possessor and the thing possessed; its antecedent is the name of the speaker; common gender, first person, singular number to agree with its antecedent; objective case, because it is the object of the preposition “of.”
That book is hers, not
yours.
“Hers” is a pronoun; possessive, because it is equivalent to “her book.” “Her” is a personal pronoun in the possessive case, and “book” is a predicate nominative. “Yours” is a pronoun; possessive, because it is equivalent to “your book.” “Your” is a personal pronoun in the possessive case, and “book” is a predicate nominative.
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