Practice
Your or yours: possessive forms explained
Your name appears before the noun name. If someone asks whose bag is on the chair, you can answer The bag is yours. Both words show possession, but they do different jobs in a sentence.
Choose your before a noun and yours when the noun is already clear from the context.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
your and yours /jʊr/ and /jʊrz/
The short answer
Use your directly before a noun. Use yours when it replaces a noun or a noun phrase that the listener already understands. Do not put a noun directly after yours.
Your coat is by the door, but mine is still in the car.
Why it works: Your comes before coat. Mine replaces my coat, so the noun is not repeated.
5 more examples
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Please bring your passport to the appointment.
Your comes before the noun passport and identifies whose passport to bring.
Not this:Please bring
yoursto the appointment. What changes: Yours works when the passport has already been mentioned or is clear from the situation. -
Is this your notebook or Sara's notebook?
Your needs the noun notebook because the question names the object being compared.
Not this:Is this notebook
yoursor Sara's? What changes: Yours replaces your notebook, so repeating notebook is unnecessary. -
Your suggestions helped the team make a decision.
Suggestions is a plural noun, and your comes directly before it.
Not this:Our suggestions were similar to
yours. What changes: Yours means your suggestions and avoids repeating the full noun phrase. -
I found your keys under the table.
Your identifies the owner of the plural noun keys.
Not this:These keys are
yours. What changes: Yours follows are and states who the keys belong to. -
Your answer is clearer after the revision.
Your comes before answer because the sentence names the thing that improved.
Not this:My answer was short, but
yourswas clearer. What changes: Yours replaces your answer in the comparison.
Read the full guide
Look at the next word. If you need to name the thing, choose your. If the thing has already been named or is obvious from the situation, yours can stand alone.
Put your before a noun
Use your when you are about to name the person, object, place, or idea that belongs to the listener. The noun comes immediately after your, though an adjective may come between them.
Your new supervisor starts on Monday.
Your identifies who the supervisor belongs to in the work relationship, and supervisor is the noun.
Choose the form: Please check ___ email before the meeting.
Use your because email is the noun that follows.
Let yours replace the noun phrase
Use yours when the listener already knows the thing you mean. Yours replaces your plus the noun. This keeps the sentence from repeating the same noun phrase.
My seat is near the window, and yours is near the aisle.
Yours means your seat. The noun seat is understood from the first part of the sentence.
Complete the question: Is this umbrella ___?
Use yours because the question already names the umbrella.
Use either form in a clear comparison
A comparison often gives you a choice. Name both possessions with your and a noun, or name the noun once and use yours for the second possession. Choose the version that is clearest in the context.
Your report is longer than mine.
Your report names the first report. Mine replaces my report in the second part.
Choose the natural version: Your plan differs from yours plan, or Your plan differs from yours?
Write Your plan differs from yours. Yours replaces your plan and cannot take plan after it.
Avoid apostrophes in possessive forms
Your and yours do not have apostrophes. The spelling you're means you are. Read the sentence with you are when you see you're. If that meaning does not fit, you probably need your or yours instead.
You're responsible for your own notes.
You're means you are. Your comes before notes and shows possession.
Choose the correct sentence: Your welcome to use this chair, or You're welcome to use this chair?
Write You're welcome to use this chair because the sentence means You are welcome.
Check what follows the word
Before choosing, look at the words after the blank. A noun usually means you need your. No following noun usually means yours can work, as long as the listener can identify the possession.
Your reservation is confirmed, and the table is yours for the evening.
Reservation follows your. Yours ends the second idea because table is already clear.
Choose the form: I can review ___ draft after lunch.
Use your because draft is a noun that follows the blank.
Before you go
Remember this
Use your before a noun: your schedule, your messages, your decision. Use yours when the noun is already known: The schedule is yours. Never put a noun after yours, and do not use an apostrophe in either possessive form.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Your or yours: possessive forms explained"
What is the difference between your and yours?
Your is a possessive determiner that comes before a noun, as in your phone or your plans. Yours is a possessive pronoun that replaces a noun phrase when the possession is already clear. Say This phone is yours, not This phone is yours phone.
Please bring your passport to the appointment.
Can I put a noun after yours?
No. Yours already includes the idea of your plus a noun, so it stands alone. Write your car when you need to name the car. Write The car is yours when the car has already been identified in the conversation or sentence.
Please bring yours to the appointment.
Do your and yours need an apostrophe?
No. Your and yours are possessive forms without apostrophes. Your's is not standard English. Do not confuse them with you're, which is a contraction of you are. A quick check is to replace you're with you are and see whether the sentence still makes sense.
Is this your notebook or Sara's notebook?
Can yours refer to more than one thing?
Yes. Yours can refer to one possession or several possessions. This folder is yours and These folders are yours both use the same form. The noun and the verb show whether the thing is singular or plural, not the possessive pronoun.
Is this notebook yours or Sara's?
How do I use your and yours in a comparison?
Use your before the first noun when you need to name it, then use yours to avoid repetition when the second noun is understood. For example, you can write Your proposal is shorter than ours. The word ours replaces our proposal in the comparison.
Your suggestions helped the team make a decision.