Teaching my versus mine

[Cybil]

Hello,

Can anyone explain what the difference between my and mine? How can a student readily identify which form of posession to use? Are there certain rules of thumb that apply? All I can think of is that mine comes at the end of a sentence or clause and my does not.

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

Cybil

 

[TheParser]

Hello,

Can anyone explain what the difference between my and mine? How can a student readily identify which form of posession to use? Are there certain rules of thumb that apply? All I can think of is that mine comes at the end of a sentence or clause and my does not.

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

Cybil

***NOT A TEACHER***Cybil, I am sure a teacher will soon answer you. May I just suggest that you might tell your students that mine = my + noun: Whose book is this? It's mine. (= my book) Furthermore, it may, indeed, start a sentence: My boyfriend is tall. / Well, mine ( =my boyfriend) is rich! The same idea applies to yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs. Thank you.

 

[Cantabrigian]

Hello Cybil,

There are indeed rules for this....

my, our, your etc are used before a noun.
For example: My hands are cold or Is this your car?


mine, yours etc are used without a noun.
For example: Is this car mine or yours?

Furthermore, mine is also used in expressions such as:

a friend of mine or a colleague of mine

I hope this was of some help.