Dependent and independent pronouns in English. Him or His? Object and possessive pronouns in English

We use pronouns to replace nouns in a sentence. Look at the word “pronoun” itself; it contains the main function of this part of speech: “ substitute", that is " instead of a noun" Pronouns are used to diversify speech and not repeat the same word from sentence to sentence.

There are several types of pronouns in English: , and possessive. We have given each type of pronouns Special attention in a separate article.

Let's see how a native speaker teacher Alex talks about words that show that someone owns something.

When we want to say that someone owns something, we use possessive forms. As you can see, Alex identified two forms: Possessive Adjectives And Possessive Pronouns.

Possessive adjectives

Let's start looking at possessive forms with possessive adjectives. Abroad these words are called Possessive Adjectives. Such words show a sign of an object, phenomenon or person, therefore they are classified as adjectives and not pronouns:

  • My book. - My book. (what book? – mine)
  • His friend. - His friend. (what friend? – his)

In Russian textbooks on English grammar it is written that my (your, his etc.) is a pronoun, but native English teachers insist that it is still an adjective, because it comes before a noun and defines it. Let's look at the sign:

Personal pronoun Possessive adjective Translation
I My My
You Your Is yours
He His His
She Her Her
It It's His her
We Our Our
You Your Your
They Their Their

My cat likes to play with a ball. – My the cat loves to play with the ball.

She wants to talk to your manager - She wants to talk to yours manager.

The teacher found his mistakes. - The teacher found his errors.

I like her dress. - I like her dress.

Our family likes to rest in Crimea, we adore its nature. – Our family loves to relax in Crimea, we adore his nature.

They look after our children. - They look after our children.

He is speaking with their mother - He's talking to their mom.

Please note: in all examples after my (his, their) goes a noun.

In the Russian language there is a universal word “svoy”, which we simply change according to numbers and persons. In English, the words “our”, “ours”, “ours” should be translated as “my”, “ours”, “his”/“hers”, respectively.

She cut mine finger. – She cut her finger.

I love my mom. – I love my mother

Do my work. – Do your work.

Possessive pronouns

If you need to replace a noun in a sentence, you must use one of the possessive pronouns. Usually the noun is replaced so that there is no repetition in the sentence.

  • This is not my pen, mine is purple. – This is not my pen, my purple one (replaced my pen on mine).
Personal pronoun Possessive pronoun Translation
I Mine My
You Yours Is yours
He His His
She Hers Her
It It's His her
We Ours Our
You Yours Your
They Theirs Their

Becky! That is mine! - This my, Becky!

My task is easier than yours. - My task is easier than your.

This is not his car, his is blue. - This is not his car. his– blue.

This is a friend of hers. - This her Friend.

It is not their house, theirs is bigger. - This is not their home their more.

The general rule for all possessive pronouns is that there is no need to use a noun after them, and, as a rule, it comes at the end of the sentence. And look at this couple: a friend of mine And my friend. Both phrases mean the same thing - my friend, only after a preposition of use possessive pronouns rather than adjectives ( a friend of mine).

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

Pronouns (Pronouns) in English replace a noun, which is why they are called “in place of a 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, let’s move on directly to the study.

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

Personal are the most important and most common pronouns. In a sentence they act as the subject. And the word "I (I)" always written capital letter, 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) used if they want to designate an animate person, and it- to designate animals, abstract concepts and inanimate objects. A "they" used as in relation to inanimate objects, and animate persons.

Personal pronouns in English are declined according to cases. When they act as the subject of a sentence, they are in the nominative case, and when they act as a complement, in the objective case. To make it clearer for you, please 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 his, 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 let me remind you that they express belonging, have two forms - adjective and noun, and answer the question “Whose?” and do not change in numbers. There is also a special absolute form. Look at the table showing how Possessive Pronouns are inclined:

pronouns

form

personal

possessive

absolute

Unit
number

I
he
she
it

my
his
her
its

mine is mine
his
hers
its his/her

Plural
number

we
you
they

our
your
their

ours ours
yours 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 are declined by number, that is, they have singular and plural forms. Wherein " this" refers to an object that is located next to the speaker, and the word " that" indicates 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 serve as subject, object, modifier or noun.

Reflexive pronouns in English

Reflexive or reflexive - express reflexive meaning, show that the action is aimed at itself actor Therefore, reflexive pronouns in English in a sentence correspond in form to the subject.

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

Singular Plural
myself ourselves
yourself yourselves yourself (yourself)
himself yourself (himself) themselves
herself
itself

oneself indefinite form

Indefinite pronouns in English

Indefinite - one of the largest groups English pronouns. Nouns and adjectives can be substituted in sentences. Indefinite pronouns in English can be divided into words formed from “no” (no, not at all), “any” (any, several, a little) and “some” (several, a little).

no

any

some

nobody/nobody nobody anyone/anybody somebody/anyone, whoever someone/somebody someone/anyone
nothing nothing anything something/anything, anything something anything
nowhere nowhere anywhere somewhere/anywhere, anywhere/somewhere somewhere somewhere
anyhow somehow/somehow, whatever 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 relatives, but perform completely different functions in a sentence where they are the subject, adjective or object: Who is there? - Who's there? Sometimes they can be a nominal part of the predicate. Interrogative pronouns Also called "question words" in English:

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

Other pronouns

We dwelled in more detail on the main and more numerous pronouns, 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

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

Exercises on possessive pronouns are relatively easy. And if you first repeat the basic subtleties of translation, then working on the tasks will be very easy. So, for your attention, tables with possessive pronouns that will put all the features of translation on the shelves.

First form of possessive pronouns

My My, my, my, my
His His
Her Her
It's His her
Our Our, ours, ours, ours
Your
Their Their

Second form of possessive pronouns

Mine My, my, my, my
His His
Hers Her
Ours Our, ours, ours, ours
Yours Yours, yours, yours, yours; yours, yours, yours, yours
Theirs Their

As you already know, despite the fact that possessive pronouns (Possessive Pronouns) have two forms, they all answer the same question => whose? That is Whose? Whose? Whose? Whose? At the same time, we would like to remind you that the absolute form of possessive pronouns differs from the first (attributive) both in spelling and in 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 (possessive pronoun in absolute form mine, after which there is no need to put a noun).

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

Exercise 1. (possessive pronouns)

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

my his her our them

Book but she denied to return it to him.

I saw that picture in

his our its her their

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

I forgot my glasses in

your my their her our

Car. Probably they will return it to me tomorrow.

The teacher was listening to

my their your our its

Answer quite patiently but it was really silly one.

His It's Your Her

Jacket I found in

her his my their our

My Your His Our Their

Parents were absent while

his my their your our

Were at school.

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

We continue to use possessive pronouns

Exercise 2. (possessive pronouns)

Write correct option from those presented in brackets:

My grandfather has a cat. color is warm red.

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

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

cat sleeps when it has done all insidious 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 the most expensive dress!

Exercise 3. (possessive pronouns)

Place the pronouns correctly 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 color.

This shirt is.

Shirt is from the newest collection.

The business is

: my, his, her, our, its, their, mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs.

  1. Possessive pronouns in English they also have categories of gender, number and person, as well as personal pronouns.
  2. Possessive pronouns have two forms: independent (or absolute) and dependent (or combined).

Dependent form of possessive pronouns

The dependent form of possessive pronouns is used in cases where the pronoun stands before defined by a noun. In a sentence, it usually acts as a definition.

If you don't stop taking my toys, I will take your ones.

If you don't stop taking my toys, I'll take yours.

Their friend is the strongest in our class.

Their friend is the strongest in our class.

Independent form of possessive pronouns

The independent form of possessive pronouns is used in cases where there is no qualifying noun. In a sentence it can serve as a subject, predicate or object.

My pencil is broken, give me yours.

My pencil is broken, give me yours.

Whose computer is this? - It's mine.

WhoseThiscomputer? - My.

He is a friend of hers.

He's her friend.

  1. Possessive pronouns in English are often used with body parts, items of clothing, and things belonging to a particular person. As a rule, in such cases they are not translated into Russian.

You should clean your teeth every day.

You should brush your teeth every day.

She always helps her mother with household duties.

She always helps her mother around the house.

The girl dropped her handkerchief and the boy picked it up.

The girl dropped her handkerchief and the boy picked it up.

English Joke

After just a few years of marriage, filled with constant arguments, a young man and his wife decided the only way to save their marriage was to try counseling. They had been at each other’s throat for some time and felt that this was their last straw. When they arrived at the counselor’s office, the counselor jumped right in and opened the floor for discussion.
"What seems to be the problem?"
Immediately, the husband held his long face down without anything to say. On the other hand, the wife began talking 90 miles an hour describing all the wrongs within their marriage. After 5 - 10 - 15 minutes of listening to the wife, the counselor went over to her, picked her up by her shoulders, kissed her passionately for several minutes, and sat her back down. Afterwards, the wife sat there speechless.
He looked over at the husband who was staring in disbelief at what had happened. The counselor spoke to the husband, “Your wife NEEDS that at least twice a week!”
The husband scratched his head and replied, “I can have her here on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

Score 1 Score 2 Score 3 Score 4 Score 5

It may seem like they are the same thing, but this is a deep misconception. We think that this is probably how it should be, because in native language the same word is used in two phrases with different meanings: “ his coat" and "meet his In the underground". But in English they use two different types pronouns. Oh, how lucky we are with the Russian!

Objective and possessive pronouns in English. What is the difference?

Let's see what they look like first objective and possessive pronouns in English.


If we pay attention to examples of possessive pronouns in English, then we will see that they are found in pairs with nouns.

1. His father was very angry. – His father was very angry.

2. My pencil isn't broken. - My pencil is not broken.

3.Where are their children? -Where are their children?

4. We want to see our results! – We want to see our results!

5. Who is her husband? -Who is her husband?

6.What is your name? – What is your name? (literal translation)

The task of the so-called "object pronouns" to complete a verb (action), that is, to be an “object”. In other words, objective and possessive pronouns in English play different roles in a sentence.

Object pronouns in English table with examples

Nothing less than " object pronouns in English table with examples».

pronoun

example

translation

Give this bag to me !

Give me that bag!

He is willing to call you .

He's ready to call you.

Talk to him .

Talk to him.

I didn't see her yesterday.

I didn't see her yesterday.

They don't love us .

They do not like us.

Them

I want to invite them to the party.

I want to invite them to a party.

Nobody is watching TV. Turn it off!

Nobody watches TV. Turn off

His!

Object pronouns in English table showed us that in this case we are not talking about expressing the belonging of an object to something or someone. In such sentences, we clarify who or what the speaker’s action is directed at. It turns out something like this.

Possessive pronouns + noun

Verb + object pronouns

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