Which sentence uses a possessive pronoun that refers to something owned by you?

Which sentence uses a possessive pronoun that refers to something owned by you?

• A. Those socks on the ground are your.
• B. Those socks on the ground are yous.
• C. Those socks on the ground are yours.
• D. Those socks on the ground are yours'

Answer: (C)

Focus on how possessive pronouns replace a noun phrase that shows ownership. In this sentence, the thing owned is the socks, and you want a form that stands in for that noun phrase, indicating it belongs to you. Using the pronoun “yours” does exactly that: it means “the socks that belong to you” without repeating the noun. The other forms don’t fit the same way. “Your” is a possessive adjective; it describes a noun but doesn’t stand alone as the subject or predicate after a linking verb like “are.” So you’d need to say something like “Those socks… are your socks,” which repeats the noun. “Yous” isn’t a standard pronoun in English. “Yours’” with an apostrophe is incorrect punctuation for a possessive pronoun. The natural, correct way to express ownership here is to use “yours.”

Focus on how possessive pronouns replace a noun phrase that shows ownership. In this sentence, the thing owned is the socks, and you want a form that stands in for that noun phrase, indicating it belongs to you. Using the pronoun “yours” does exactly that: it means “the socks that belong to you” without repeating the noun.

The other forms don’t fit the same way. “Your” is a possessive adjective; it describes a noun but doesn’t stand alone as the subject or predicate after a linking verb like “are.” So you’d need to say something like “Those socks… are your socks,” which repeats the noun. “Yous” isn’t a standard pronoun in English. “Yours’” with an apostrophe is incorrect punctuation for a possessive pronoun. The natural, correct way to express ownership here is to use “yours.”