Pronouns and Possessives: I, Me, My and Mine
Choose I, me, my and mine correctly in English. Compare subject, object and possessive forms with everyday examples and short correction exercises.
Use I for the subject, me for the object, my before a noun and mine when the possession is understood without repeating the noun. Compare “I brought a book”, “Give it to me”, “This is my book” and “This book is mine”. The person is the same, but the job of the word changes.
Compare the four jobs
Subject | Object | Before a noun | Without the noun |
|---|---|---|---|
I | me | my | mine |
you | you | your | yours |
he | him | his | his |
she | her | her | hers |
we | us | our | ours |
they | them | their | theirs |
Scroll sideways to see all columns.
The third column is often called possessive adjectives or possessive determiners. The final column contains possessive pronouns. You do not need to memorise the labels before using the examples, but the labels can help you find a reference explanation.
It has the subject and object form it, with its before a noun: “The café has changed its menu.” Its is not normally used as a standalone possessive pronoun in the same way as mine.
Use the subject form for the person doing the action
Say “I work here”, “She studies English” and “They live nearby”. These pronouns fill the subject position in the statements. In a question, the subject may follow an auxiliary: “Do you work here?”
For a familiar practice topic, write three sentences about yourself and a friend. Introducing yourself in English gives you useful models. Question word order explains how the pattern changes in questions.
Use the object form after a verb or preposition
Say “Maya called me”, “I helped him” and “We invited them”. After a preposition such as to, for or with, use the object form too: “Give it to her”, “This is for us” and “Come with me”.
In standard writing, use “Maya and I” as the subject and “Maya and me” as the object. Try temporarily removing the other name: “I arrived early” and “The teacher spoke to me”. That can help you check “Maya and I arrived early” and “The teacher spoke to Maya and me”.
Choose my or mine
My needs a noun or noun phrase after it: “my bag”, “my new bag” or “my English notebook”. Mine replaces the understood possession: “That bag is mine.” Do not write “mine bag”.
The same contrast works with your/yours, her/hers, our/ours and their/theirs. His has the same spelling in both jobs: “his pen” and “The pen is his”. Notice that hers, ours, yours and theirs do not need an apostrophe.
Before the noun: “Is this your notebook?”
Without repeating it: “Yes, it's mine.”
Before the noun: “Those are their seats.”
Without repeating it: “The seats near the window are theirs.”
Your turn · self-review
Choose the form
Write the corrected sentence before opening the explanation.
Practice only. Your writing stays on this page; it is not submitted or saved.
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Model answer and explanation
“I work with Sara. This is my desk.” I is the subject; my goes before desk.
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Model answer and explanation
“Please give the notes to her. The blue folder is hers.” Her follows to; hers replaces the understood possession.
Keep the reference clear
A pronoun is useful when the listener knows who or what it refers to. “Nina met Sara after her class” may be unclear about whose class had finished. If the distinction matters, repeat the name: “Nina met Sara after Nina's class”.
Do not choose he or she just from someone's job or appearance. Use the pronouns appropriate to the person. They also has singular uses; here, focus on keeping the reference and verb form clear.
Describing people and places gives you another context for short sentences with pronouns.
Practise a lost-property exchange
Try: “Is this your pen?” “No, mine is blue. I think that one is Maya's.” “I'll give it to her.” Change the object and the owner, then check each form.
For reference, see the British Council guide to possessive pronouns. You can also use talking about your job or studies to write examples with I, me, my and mine in a familiar setting.
