Sunday, June 10, 2012

Those Darn Articles, Part 4: Possessive Pronoun Substitutes

[NOTE: For earlier parts in this series, see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.]


The definite articles (the) and the indefinite article (a, an) can be  replaced by possessive pronouns (i.e., my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose). In the examples below, notice how the articles in the first sentences are correctly replaced by possessive pronouns in the second sentences:

  • The book is on the desk. / My book is on your desk.
  • A house is in the city. / His house is in her city.
  • The agency's job requires an engineer. / Its job requires our engineer.
  • Does a project call for an expert. / Whose project calls for their expert?