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.