Which sentence uses the possessive pronoun that indicates ownership by the listener?

Which sentence uses the possessive pronoun that indicates ownership by the listener?

• A. The red bag is yours.
• B. The red bag is your.
• C. The red bag is you're.
• D. The red bag is your.

Answer: (D)

Ownership by the listener is shown with the possessive pronoun used after a linking verb. The word that means “belonging to you” and can stand alone as the predicate is yours. So in a sentence like “The red bag is yours,” the bag belongs to the person being spoken to. The form your is a possessive determiner that needs a noun after it (as in your bag), so “The red bag is your” isn’t correct here. And you’re is a contraction of you are, which doesn’t express possession. Therefore, the sentence that indicates ownership by the listener uses yours.

Ownership by the listener is shown with the possessive pronoun used after a linking verb. The word that means “belonging to you” and can stand alone as the predicate is yours. So in a sentence like “The red bag is yours,” the bag belongs to the person being spoken to. The form your is a possessive determiner that needs a noun after it (as in your bag), so “The red bag is your” isn’t correct here. And you’re is a contraction of you are, which doesn’t express possession. Therefore, the sentence that indicates ownership by the listener uses yours.