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Lesson 3

Possessive Pronouns

mine - ours, yours - yours, his/hers - theirs


A possessive pronoun expresses who owns what, or who is related with whom. The possessive pronouns are used instead of the personal pronouns we learned in Lesson 1. The form, however, changes with the gender of the noun possessed or person (related to).

3.1 Possessive Pronouns for Masculine Singular Nouns

The following are used for masculine singular nouns or neutral nouns expressed as masculine (it).

Person     	Singular       	     Plural

1 yuKw = (he is) mine ynaKw = (he is) ours 2 (m) kuKw = yours entaKw = yours 2 (f) kuKw = yours entaKw = yours 3 (m) niKw = his naKw = theirs 3 (f) nruKw = hers naKw = theirs


Example 3.1

When the possessive pronoun mine, yours, etc. stands for a father, a brother, and a friend:

yuKw gn    	=  He (It) is mine  ( father, brother, friend or thing)
kuKw gn    	=  He is yours
niKw gn     	=  He is his
entaKw gn 	=  It is yours

3.2 Possessive Pronouns for Feminine Singular Nouns

The following are used when the possessive pronoun stands for a feminine, singular noun (you, she, they as in gena = mother, shani = sister) or stands for a neutral noun expressed as a feminine (it) (Ili = an eye, erqui = a tooth, arba = the moon, kwara = the sun).
Person        Singular             	  Plural

1 yri = (she is) mine yneri = ours 2 (m) kuri = yours enteri = yours 2 (f) kuri = yours enteri = yours 3 (m) niri = his nari = theirs 3 (f) nrdi = hers nari = theirs

Example 3.2

The possessive pronoun mine, yours, his etc. stands for a feminine person such as a mother, a sister, or a friend enti yri gn = you (feminine) are mine. The same can be said of the third person feminine she (nri). nri yri gn = she is mine. In both 3.1 and 3.2 the noun referred to is singular (3.1 it is of masculine gander while tin 3.2 it is of a feminine gender). We have different possessive pronouns for plural nouns ( 3.3 below).


3.3 Possessive Pronouns for Plural Nouns

The possessive pronoun is the same for feminine and masculine plural nouns.
Person         Singular             			Plural

1 yu = mine (they, you) ynew = ours (they, you) 2 (m) ku = yours entew = yours 2 (f) ku = yours entew = yours 3 (m) niw = his (they are) naw = theirs 3 (f) nru = hers naw = theirs

Examples. 3.3
naw nru gn 	 = they are hers.
yn ku gn 	 = we are yours
mal ynew gn 	= The cattle are ours
kew yu gn 	 = the (people) are mine

New Vocabulary

arba = the moon kwara = the sun Ili = eye mal = cattle, property, money kew = people erqui = tooth

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