Understanding ‘Theirs’: A Guide to Possessive Pronouns in English
Learn about the possessive pronoun ‘theirs’ in English. This video covers its meaning, usage, common mistakes, and provides examples to help you use it correctly in your IELTS speaking and writing tasks.
Possessive pronouns are essential in English, and today we’re focusing on the word theirs. Understanding this word will help you express ownership clearly in your IELTS speaking and writing tasks.
Word type: Theirs is a possessive pronoun.
Meaning: Theirs means belonging to them. It shows that something is owned by or belongs to a group of people or things previously mentioned.
Word history: Theirs comes from Old Norse and Old English, evolving from earlier forms of the language.
Antonyms: While theirs doesn’t have direct antonyms, we can consider words like mine, yours, ours, or his and hers as related words that show different ownership.
Synonyms: There aren’t exact synonyms for theirs, but we can use phrases like belonging to them or owned by them to express a similar idea.
Examples use in sentences: The blue car is theirs. I found a wallet on the street, but I don’t know if it’s theirs.
The children claimed the toys were theirs, not their cousins’. Common errors in use: One common mistake is confusing theirs with there’s.
Remember, theirs shows possession, while there’s is a contraction of there is. Another error is adding an apostrophe to theirs.
It’s already a possessive pronoun, so it doesn’t need an apostrophe. To sum up, theirs is a possessive pronoun that shows something belongs to them.
Use it to indicate ownership by a group or multiple people. Remember to use it without an apostrophe and don’t confuse it with there’s.
Mastering theirs will help you express possession accurately in your IELTS test and everyday English use.
