Possessive pronouns are those that indicate idea of ownership. They vary in gender and number depending on the objects they refer to and the people in the speech to whom they are related. Are they:
1st person(singular) — my, my, my, my
2nd person(singular) — yours, yours, yours, yours
3rd person (singular) — yours, yours
1st person(plural form) — our, our, our, our
2nd person (plural)— yours, yours, yours, yours
3rd person(plural form) — yours, yours
Examples of possessive pronouns:
| Singular | Example sentence | Plural | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| my / my | "My dog is very playful." | mine | "My friends are going to the party." |
| your | "Your wallet is on the table." | yours | "Your colleagues are nice." |
| yours | "Your car is new." | yours | "Your daughters are smart." |
| our our | "Our team won the game." | ours | "Our friends are excited." |
| yours | "Your project is challenging." | yours | "Your opinions are valid." |
| yours | "Your computer is efficient." | yours | "Your books are organized." |
Use of possessive pronouns
Agreement
The pronoun must have the same gender, number and person as the closest noun.
Examples:
"My friend I still love you."
"My Good friends, where are?"
Ambiguity
To avoid ambiguity in some sentences, possessive pronouns your, your, your It is your can be replaced by from him, her, from them It is from them.
Examples:
"Accompanied by Marina, Jorge commented on your exams.” (Marina or Jorge exams?)
"Accompanied by Marina, Jorge commented on the exams from him."
Pronouns treatment
The words your It is yours are used in the phrases that make up the treatment pronouns. Your is used when we talk to another person about the person referred to by the treatment pronoun. Yours, when we speak directly to the person referred to by the address pronoun.
Examples:
"Did you hear the speech of Your Your Majesty this morning?" (talking about the king)
"Yours magnificence has my respect." (talking to the dean)
Different meanings
Depending on the context, possessive pronouns can have different meanings. In some cases, for example, they may indicate emotional, numerical or offensive approximation.
Examples:
"Looking at your beautiful hair, I kiss your hands and tell you: my Dear, my old, my friend."
"From the top of your forty years, I still played with dolls."
"Oh, you rascal!"
The word “your” can also have different grammatical functions. When it precedes someone's name, it is not a pronoun, but a reduced form of “sir”.
Examples:
"Your Beijoca was the owner of the grocery store on my street."
"When we lacked something, we ran to the Your John."
Difference between possessive and demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative and possessive pronouns, as the names already indicate, are different types of pronouns, with different grammatical functions.
The pronouns possessives, as we saw above, are used to indicate the possession of a term. They agree in gender, number and person with the term possessed.
Examples:
"My Favorite book is 'Memórias posthumas de Brás Cubas'."
"Your son is handsome."
"Our clothes are in the closet."
The pronouns demonstratives are used to indicate the position Or the relationship of a term in relation to the people of the discourse.
Examples:
"My favorite book is This one."
"Your son is that one."
"Our clothes are there."
Bibliography:
- BECHARA, Evanildo. School Grammar of the Portuguese Language. Rio de Janeiro: Lucerna, 2009.
- CUNHA, Celso; CINTRA, Lindley. New grammar of contemporary Portuguese. Lisbon: Edições João Sá da Costa, 2015.
See too:
- Pronoun
- Oblique pronouns
- Relative pronouns
- Adjective
- Verb
- Adverb
- Preposition
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