The Grammar Guide Spelling What is the difference between 'yours' and 'your'?

What is the difference between 'yours' and 'your'?

What is the difference between 'yours' and 'your'?

The words yours and your are often confused because they are easy to mistype. Do you know the difference?

Your means a form of the possessive case of you when used as a pronoun.

Yours means that which belongs to you (singular); the possessive second-person singular pronoun used without a following noun when used as a pronoun.

A good way to remember the difference is Your has an object; yours is the object.

Out of the two words, 'your' is the most common. It appears about 44 times more frequently than 'yours'.

Unlike possessive nouns, possessive pronouns like 'yours' don't use apostrophes to indicate ownership.

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It's easy to confuse the different forms of pronouns. Your and yours are both possessive forms of "you." Here is the difference.

Your is the possessive pronoun and has a noun following it. (Your dog is cute.)

Yours is the object pronoun and does not have a noun following it. (Is that dog yours?)

Is the expression 'of yours . "' or 'of your . "'?

You should use 'of yours . "'. These phrases are often confused because of their similar spelling.

What's the correct phrase 'neither yours nor mine' or 'neither your nor mine'?

You should use 'neither yours nor mine'. These phrases are often confused because they appear similar.

Which is correct 'of yours , "' or 'of your , "'?

The correct expression is 'of yours , "'. These phrases are often confused because they look similar.

Should I use 'friend of yours ,' or 'friend of your ,'?

The right expression is 'friend of yours ,'. These phrases are often confused because of their similar spelling.

Is the phrase 'I beg your pardon' or 'I beg yours pardon'?

The correct expression is 'I beg your pardon'. These phrases are often confused because of their similar spelling.

Which is correct 'make up your mind' or 'make up yours mind'?

The right phrase is 'make up your mind'. These phrases are often confused because they appear similar.

What's the right phrase 'keep your mouth shut' or 'keep yours mouth shut'?

The right expression is 'keep your mouth shut'. These phrases are often confused because they are easy to mistype.

What's the right phrase '" I beg your' or '" I beg yours'?

The right expression is '" I beg your'. These phrases are often confused because they appear similar.

Which is correct 'the rest of your' or 'the rest of yours'?

You should use 'the rest of your'. These phrases are often confused because they have a similar spelling.

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The definitions in this article were adapted from Wiktionary.

Examples of yours in a sentence

Now, we took care of our end, you take care of yours.
- The Haunted Air by F. Paul Wilson
I'm not going to put any ideas into that fertile mind of yours.
- Breakfast in Bed by Robin Kaye
I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
- Touch of Darkness by C. T. Adams; Cathy Clamp
Stuff from my head, at least the kind of stuff I think is important, gets into yours.
- In the night room: a novel by Peter Straub
You got yours, an' you don't care if anybody else has nothin' or not!"
- Cropper's cabin by Jim Thompson

Examples of your in a sentence

Just listen to your scanner.”
- The Replacement Child by Christine Barber
Why didn’t you buy it in your size?”
- The wandering fire by Guy Gavriel Kay
Yuri was very clear: This time, your powers probably won’t be of any use.
- Grand Junction by Maurice G. Dantec
It was hell when your fathers sex life was better than your own.
- Nothing gold can stay by Dana Stabenow
After orientation, you’ve got your date—”
- The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Test yourself

Choose the missing word in each question.