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Unit 83 · Pronouns and determiners

a friend of mine / my own house / on my own / by myself

Study

A

We say ‘(a friend) of mine/yours/his/hers/ours/theirs’.

A friend of mine = one of my friends:

›

I’m going to a wedding on Saturday. A friend of mine is getting married. (not a friend of me)

›

We went on holiday with some friends of ours. (not some friends of us)

›

Harry had an argument with a neighbour of his.

›

It was a good idea of yours to go to the cinema.

In the same way we say ‘(a friend) of my sister’s / (a friend) of Tom’s’ etc. :

›

That woman over there is a friend of my sister’s. (= one of my sister’s friends)

›

It was a good idea of Tom’s to go to the cinema.

B

We say my own / your own / her own … etc. :

›

my own house your own car her own room

(not an own house, an own car etc.)

my own … / your own … etc. = something that is only mine/yours, not shared or borrowed:

›

I don’t want to share a room with anybody. I want my own room.

›

Vicky and Gary would like to have their own house.

›

It’s a shame that the apartment hasn’t got its own parking space.

›

It’s my own fault that I have no money. I buy too many things I don’t need.

›

Why do you want to borrow my car? Why don’t you use your own? (= your own car)

You can also say ‘a room of my own’, ‘a house of your own’, ‘problems of his own’ etc. :

›

I’d like to have a room of my own.

›

He won’t be able to help you with your problems. He has too many problems of his own.

C
›

He cuts his own hair.

We also use own to say that we do something ourselves instead of somebody else doing it for us. For example:

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Paul usually cuts his own hair. (= he cuts it himself)

›

I’d like to have a garden so that I could grow my own vegetables. (= grow them myself instead of buying them from shops)

D

On my own and by myself both mean ‘alone’. So you can say:

on my / your his / her / its our / their own
or by myself / yourself (singular) himself / herself / itself ourselves / yourselves (plural) / themselves
›

I like living on my own. or I like living by myself.

›

Some people prefer to live on their own. or … live by themselves.

›

Jack was sitting on his own in a corner of the cafe. or Jack was sitting by himself …

›

Did you go on holiday on your own? or Did you go on holiday by yourself?

Exercises (6)

0/6 exercises checked
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83.1

Change the underlined words and use the structure … of mine/yours etc.

  1. 1
    I’m meeting one of my friends tonight.
    I’m meeting a friend of mine tonight.example
  2. 2
    We met one of your relatives.
  3. 3
    Jason borrowed one of my books.
  4. 4
    I met Lisa and some of her friends.
  5. 5
    We had dinner with one of our neighbours.
  6. 6
    I went on holiday with two of my friends.
  7. 7
    I met one of Amy’s friends at the party.
  8. 8
    It’s always been one of my ambitions to travel round the world.
83.2

Complete the sentences using my own / our own etc. + the following:

bathroombusinessopinionsprivate beachwords
  1. 1
    I share a kitchen, but I have my own .example
  2. 2
    Gary doesn’t think like me. He has his own .
  3. 3
    Julia doesn’t want to work for other people. She wants to start her own .
  4. 4
    In the test we had to read a story, and then write it in our own .
  5. 5
    We stayed at a luxury hotel by the sea. The hotel had its own .
83.3

Complete the sentences using my own / your own etc.

  1. 1
    Why do you need to borrow my car? Why don’t you use your own car? example
  2. 2
    How can you blame me? It’s not my own .
  3. 3
    She’s always using my ideas. Why can’t she use her own ?
  4. 4
    Please don’t worry about my problems. I’m sure you have your own .
  5. 5
    I can’t make his decisions for him. He has to make his own .
83.4

Complete the sentences using my own / your own etc. Use the verbs in brackets.

  1. 1
    Paul never goes to a barber. He cuts his own hair. (cut) example
  2. 2
    Helen doesn’t often buy clothes. She likes to make her own . (make)
  3. 3
    I’m not going to clean your shoes. You can clean your own . (clean)
  4. 4
    We don’t often buy bread. We usually bake our own . (bake)
  5. 5
    Jack and Joe are singers. They sing songs written by other people, but they also write their own . (write)
83.5

Complete the sentences using my own / your own etc. or myself/yourself etc.

  1. 1
    Did you go on holiday on your own? example
  2. 2
    The box was too heavy for me to lift by .
  3. 3
    We had no help decorating the apartment. We did it completely on our .
  4. 4
    Very young children should not go swimming by .
  5. 5
    ‘Who was Tom with when you saw him?’ ‘Nobody. He was by .’
  6. 6
    I don’t like strawberries with cream. I like them on their .
  7. 7
    Do you like working with other people or do you prefer working by ?
  8. 8
    I went out with Sally because she didn’t want to go out on her .
83.6

Are these sentences OK? Correct them where necessary.

  1. 1
    Katherine would like to have the own house.
    Katherine would like to have her own house.example
  2. 2
    Sam and Chris are colleagues of me.
  3. 3
    I was scared. I didn’t want to go out by my own.
  4. 4
    In my last job I had own office.
  5. 5
    He must be lonely. He’s always with himself.
  6. 6
    My parents have gone away with some friends of them.
  7. 7
    Are there any countries that produce all own food?