Chapter XLI: Uses of Possessive Personal Pronouns

=148.= When we studied the declension of personal pronouns, we learned that all of them except _it_ and _he_ have two forms in the possessive case. These forms are _my_, _mine_; _our_, _ours_; _thy_, _thine_; _your_, _yours_; _her_, _hers_; and _their_, _theirs_. There is a difference in the use of these two forms.

The pronouns of the first form,—_my_, _our_, _thy_, _your_, _her_, and _their_, as well as _his_ and _its_, are used with nouns as possessive modifiers. We say, _my father_, _our school_, _her hat_, _its population_, etc.

=149.= The pronouns of the second form,—_mine_, _ours_, _thine_, _yours_, _hers_, _theirs_, and also _his_, are used alone, that is, they are not followed by a noun, the name of the thing possessed. We say, “_Mine_ is too heavy,” when the object spoken of—a waterproof, for instance—is well known by both speaker and listener. Or we say, “Her writing is clear, but I like _his_ better,” where it is unnecessary to repeat the noun _writing_ after _his_.

In the first sentence _mine_ is the subject of the verb is, and in the second _his_ is the object of the verb _like_. We even find the possessive form used as the object of a preposition; as, “If the book isn’t in my desk, it must be in _yours_.”

This use of the possessive forms _mine_, _his_, _yours_ as subject or object is =idiomatic=; that is, it is peculiar to itself in grammatical construction. The one word _mine_ really means _my waterproof_, _his_ means _his writing_, and _yours_ means _your desk_. But we cannot say that the noun is understood after these pronouns, for we cannot supply it except after _his_. It is not English to say _mine waterproof_ or _yours desk_. Instead of being understood, the nouns are included in the pronouns. In speaking of such pronouns we may say that they are possessive in form, but are used idiomatically as subject, object, etc.

NOTE.—The two pronouns _mine_ and _thine_ are sometimes used
to modify a noun expressed, especially in poetry; as, “Mine
eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” It is
worth noting that they are not used before words beginning with
a consonant sound. We do not say _mine country_, nor _thine
liberty_.

=150.= In the expression “a friend of mine,” we have in the phrase _of mine_ a “double possessive” (see § 119); for the preposition _of_ denotes possession, and so does the object, the possessive pronoun _mine_. In this use there is no noun included in the pronoun. _Mine_ does not mean _my friends_. It means _me_.

=Summary.=—The possessive pronouns _mine_, _ours_, _thine_, _yours_, _hers_, _his_, and _theirs_ may be used idiomatically without a noun to modify. These pronouns have then the same use that the noun would have if it were expressed.

These pronouns may be used as the object of the preposition _of_ to form “double possessives.”

_Mine_ and _thine_ are sometimes used to modify nouns expressed, the same as _my_ and _thy_.

=Exercise.=—Select all the possessive pronouns in these sentences, and tell their use:—

1. You have no uncle by your father’s side or mine.

2. To thine own self be true.

3. The people of Europe did not know that America, this great
country of ours, was in the world at all.

4. This young girl came to Wisconsin to live with an uncle of
hers who had seven sons and no daughters.

5. Early in the spring I had begun Bingo’s education. Very
shortly afterward he began mine.

6. Stand! The ground’s your own, my braves!

7. A boy who lived in a street behind ours had an awkward
three-wheeled machine that he called a “verlosophy.”

8.

He will say, “O Love, thine eyes
Build the shrine my soul abides in;
And I kneel here for thy grace.”

9. The boy saw big, clutching talons outstretched from
thick-feathered legs, while round eyes, fiercely gleaming,
flamed upon his in passing, as they searched the bush.

10. Time hath his work to do, and we have ours.

11. The sultan ordered that the princess’s attendants should
come and carry the trays into their mistress’s apartment.

12. Susie could sew like a woman, and her patchwork quilts were
masterpieces of their kind. Neither mine nor Marty’s were well
made.

13. Your worthy father was my own brother.

14. There was more joy in this little brown, battened house of
ours than in their mansion with its onyx mantels and mahogany
doors.

Are the verbs in sentences 1, 7, 10, transitive or intransitive? How do you know?

Account for the punctuation of sentences 3, 6, 10, 12, and 14.