it or its, your or yours

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

it or its, your or yours

I am struggling when, when, what, why and how to place the “s” in YOUR and IT

2

Let me give it a try (I’m not a native speaker):

“it” and “yours” act as nouns:

  1. It is very important.
  2. Take off that hat of yours. or: my car is better than yours.

“its” and “your” act as adjectives and indicate possession:

  1. The house is dilapidated, its roof is full of holes.
  2. Your behavior is unacceptable.

Hope this clears some confusion up.

3

Hi,

  1. It is very important. (impersonal pronoun)

  2. Take off that hat of yours. or: my car is better than yours. (possessive pronouns)

  3. The house is dilapidated, its roof is full of holes. (possessive adjective)

  4. Your behavior is unacceptable. (possessive adjective)

Alan

4

Oh my goodness … confusing … indeed
is there any rule of thumb or trick that help me to remember it. (pronoun, no s, not its)
Your explanation is as good as ours ((pronoun with s, not our)

??? my I in the right track ???

5

Hello,

This is to help differentiating between possessive pronouns and possesive adjectives.

Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs. They are used to substitute nouns to show possession or ownership.
Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our and their. They are usually used to describe a noun and come before that noun.

E.g. Tom’s car is faster than ours. – ‘ours’ is a possessive pronoun, substitutes the noun ‘car’.
but
Tom’s car is faster than our car. – ‘our’ is a possessive adjective and it comes before the noun ‘car’.

E.g. This pen is yours. – ‘yours’ is a possessive pronoun.
but
This is your pen. – ‘your’ is a possessive adjective and it comes before the noun ‘pen’.

Any clearer or have I managed to create even more confusion? :slight_smile:

Yes, I’d say you’re on the right track.

6

Confusion diminishing… getting there slowly but surely :-((
many thanks

7

Ha-ha…remember that “Cold Turkey” concept of yours, my friend.

8

Oh baby… you are stalking me…
This is a fatal attraction … HEEEEEPPPP… LOL

Read Alan’s post above.

Your behaviour is unacceptable.
It is important.
My car is better than yours.
Take off that hat of yours. … the rest is up to your imagination … :-))