Questions: Possessive Pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs

Question 1

Which sentence uses the correct possessive form?

• A. That backpack is my.
• B. That is mines backpack.
• C. That backpack is mine.
• D. That is my backpack's.

Answer: (C)

After a linking verb ('is'), the possessive must stand alone without a following noun — that calls for the possessive pronoun 'mine,' not the determiner 'my.' Option A fails because 'my' requires a noun after it ('my backpack'). Option B uses the nonstandard 'mines,' which is not a word in standard English. Option D misuses a possessive apostrophe incorrectly.

Question 2

'I forgot _____ umbrella.' Which word correctly fills the blank?

• A. mine
• B. hers
• C. theirs
• D. her

Answer: (D)

The blank is followed directly by the noun 'umbrella,' so a possessive determiner is required — one that modifies the noun. 'Her umbrella' uses 'her' as a determiner. Options A, B, and C are all standalone possessive pronouns that cannot precede a noun: 'mine umbrella,' 'hers umbrella,' and 'theirs umbrella' are all ungrammatical.

Question 3

In the sentence 'The red bicycle is hers,' the word 'hers' is used correctly as a possessive pronoun standing alone without a following noun.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

'Hers' is an absolute (standalone) possessive pronoun — it replaces the entire noun phrase 'her bicycle' after the linking verb 'is.' Because there is no noun following it, the pronoun form 'hers' is required. 'Her' would be wrong here: 'The red bicycle is her' is ungrammatical.

Question 4

'Their' and 'theirs' mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably in any sentence.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

'Their' is a possessive determiner that must come before a noun ('their car'). 'Theirs' is a possessive pronoun that stands alone ('The car is theirs'). Swapping them produces ungrammatical sentences: 'The car is their' and 'Theirs car is red' are both wrong. The forms are related in meaning but different in grammatical function.

Question 5

Describe the 'noun-removal test' for deciding whether to use a possessive pronoun (like 'mine') or a possessive determiner (like 'my'). Apply the test to decide which form belongs in: 'The red umbrella is _____.'

Model answer: The noun-removal test: try removing the following noun and see if the sentence still works. If the blank stands alone after a verb (no noun follows), use the possessive pronoun form. If a noun follows the blank, use the possessive determiner form. In 'The red umbrella is _____,' no noun follows — the blank is the last word in the sentence, standing on its own as a subject complement. Therefore, the possessive pronoun 'mine' (or 'hers,' 'his,' 'ours,' or 'theirs') is correct.

The test is reliable because possessive pronouns are absolute — they replace an entire noun phrase without needing a noun to lean on. Possessive determiners are modifiers — they require a noun to modify. Applying the test consistently prevents the common error of using 'my' where 'mine' is needed.