Hey there, this is Teacher Ola Podcast episode 131. Her vs Hers.
My name’s Ola and I am an online English teacher, I teach through one to one classes and I want you to know I believe you can eliminate your language blockade. You can speak English with more confidence, slay that fear and enjoy new freedoms. Each episode helps you practice speaking, the practical part is always there, at the end of each episode. You’ll boost your vocabulary, brush up your grammar, and improve your pronunciation. Go to my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. <They’re free> Happy learning!
Welcome or welcome back. It’s great to have you back here. So, it’s gonna be grammar today obviously. Possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives. Great! Whoa! But for it sounds gibberish and is utterly unhelpful, right? Ok, so I’ll do my best to explain it clearly and quickly. Enjoy this episode.
Before we jump in, don’t forget to stay till the end where you are going to practice. Secondly, visit my shop and buy a worksheet set. Lastly, tell someone about my podcast. Preferably someone who needs to improve their speaking skills. Eliminate a language blockade. Finally, stay in touch with me. Follow me on Instagram, subscribe wherever you are, be it Spotify, iTunes or Youtube. Download worksheet 131, it’s waiting for you at teacherola.com/131. If possible please rate this show, uhm, you can do it either on Spotify or iTunes. Thanks!
The common mistake I come across and naturally, I used to make the same one, is looking at words like ‘ours’, ‘hers’, ‘theirs’ as if they were plural forms. So, I have a feeling this episode is gonna be extremely short but at the same time highly useful and hopefully it’ll clarify how to use ‘hers’ and ‘theirs’ et cetera.
Look at this sentence.
This is her sandwich.
Or maybe, let’s make a sentence with a plural form so that you see that it doesn’t matter.
These are her sandwiches.
They are their children.
Those are our flowers.
Her, their, our these words are possessive adjectives. Doesn’t matter. What’s in a name right? What matters here is that they tell us who a thing in question belongs to.
Our flowers, their children, her sandwiches. Let me give you some more examples. Note that all those words need a noun.
This is my cat.
It’s his bag.
This is a dog and this is its bed.
Look, what a house! Look at its roof!
It’s your fault.
Ok, I guess this should be clear by now. My cat, your dogs, his friends, her jobs, our holidays, your issues, their dreams.
Now. What’s the deal with ‘ours’ and ‘hers’? Well, these are possessive pronouns. They say the same thing. They tell us who a thing belongs to, but. They don’t need a noun. They hate nouns, if you will. They replace nouns. Mine, yours, his (his doesn’t differ from possessive adjective), hers, ours, theirs. No nouns after them. They wanna be alone let’s respect that. A, one more detail. In this case, we don’t use ‘its’. Alright. Let’s hear some sentences.
Leave it alone, it’s mine.
That ticket isn’t yours. It’s his.
Don’t take that taxi, it’s hers.
We love this flat. It’s ours.
Whose book is that? Oh, it’s theirs.
Did you notice that none of those examples needed a noun after a possessive pronoun? It’s mine. Period. It’s his. Period. It’s hers. Period. Possessive pronouns enjoy being last and they usually end a sentence or phrase. They prefer solitude.
Pronouns replace nouns. They have nuns in the pronouns, right? So for instance. This is her cake. Her cake becomes hers. Hers includes the noun, namely a cake. This is her cake. This is hers.
Don’t touch it! It’s her cake!
Don’t touch it! It’s hers.
This is my work.
This is mine.
This is all I have for you today. Now it’s your turn. Time to practice speaking out loud. Listen and repeat the sentences. If you’re wondering why and how this should help eliminate your language barrier please tune in to episode 9. Episode 9. Here we go.
This is her sandwich.
Don’t touch it! It’s her cake!
Don’t touch it! It’s hers.
This is my work.
Leave it alone, it’s mine.
That ticket isn’t yours. It’s his.
Don’t take that taxi, it’s hers.
We love this flat. It’s ours.
Whose book is that? Oh, it’s theirs.
This is my cat.
It’s his bag.
This is a dog and this is its bed.
Look, what a house! Look at its roof!
It’s your fault.
These are her sandwiches.
They are their children.
Those are our flowers.
Well done! Now go to your inbox and grab the worksheet. If you’re not a member of TOPeople download the from teacherola.com/131.
I hope you liked the episode, if you did, as always, please leave your rating in iTunes or Spotify if you can. Share, comment, like, do whatever you can to help this podcast stay afloat! Visit my shop at teacherola.com and follow me on Instagram teacherola.podcast.
Be here next Wednesday, same time, same place we’ll talk about vocabulary. Thanks for listening, take care. Happy learning. Stay fearless and say it out loud. Bye-bye!