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Rachid84b
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urgent
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Hi all, Does the possessive pronoun "its" exist in English or not??
Thx in advance |
12 Jan 2014
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MoodyMoody
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This is one of my pet peeves, and a common mistake even among native speakers.
It �s is ALWAYS a contraction for it is. 100%, no exceptions. Example: It �s a new computer.
Its is the possessive third person singular adjective. Example: Its hard drive is 1.5 terabytes. |
12 Jan 2014
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almaz
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Its is the 3rd person neuter possessive pronoun. It �s is the contraction of it is and - this may come as a shock to some people - it has. Mind you, it �s nice to see it �s making its comeback as a possessive... |
13 Jan 2014
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spied-d-aignel
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A a possessive pronoun I was taught to say �it �s own � but haven �t seen it much used. But i don �t think we �d say �it �s alone for a possessive pronoun!
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13 Jan 2014
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Peter Hardy
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Yes, it does, Rachid. �My dog is chewing its bone � is better aka more natural than �My dog is chewing its own bone. � To use Moody �s example: �My PC is defragmenting its own hard-drive, � sounds a bit ridiculous. That apart from the fact that we write �its � as �it �s � is a contraction of �it is �, spied-d-aignel! |
13 Jan 2014
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viccxx
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But there is a difference isn �t there, Peter?
I mean...
The dog was chewing its bone.
The dog was chewing its own bone.
In the second sentence the dog could be a self-mutilating cannibal, or is it just me? Because the first sentence just says that the dog has a bone, and it �s chewing it. In the second sentence, with �own � being added, it defines that tha bone that the dog has is his, as in his very own bone.
...or it could be me...
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13 Jan 2014
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spied-d-aignel
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Yes that �s right but I thought the question was about "its " as a possessive pronoun not adjective. I know that �"it �s "is a cotraction of it is but what about ITS as a possessive pronoun without any bone to chew after!!!!!?
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13 Jan 2014
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almaz
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Sylvie, I think I see what you �re getting at: its can be both a possessive determiner (or adjective, if you prefer) and a possessive pronoun in its own right. But both can still be classified as personal possessive pronouns, the first �dependent � and the second �independent �. Having said that, independent its is not as common as, say, independent his.
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13 Jan 2014
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Rachid84b
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Thank u all, I agree with spied-d-aignel, my question is "can we use "its" as a possessive pronoun? |
13 Jan 2014
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