3

I'm pretty clear about using subject or object version of pronouns.

While writing a line, I naturally wrote it in this way -

Your and my grandparents had grown listening to this piece of music.

But then, as I read, it looked incorrect. Then I tried this:

Yours and mine grandparents had grown . . . "

It looked even worse!

These are possessive cases, but still I'm confused what to use and why?

What confuses me is my own rule of breaking the sentence in two and decide what fits. If I break, it appears that . . . 

Your grandparents + my grandparents = *Your and my grandparents had . . . *

What if I use possessive pronoun 'yours' this way?

"The grandparents of yours and mine had grown up . . . "

'yours' is used when the speaker refers to 'your things'. But then this particular sentence is baffling me! Because I'm the speaker and the sentence includes my possession as well!


Okay, we have 'our' as 'you' and 'I', but then the question is about using proper pronouns.

What if you tried this:

Your and her grandparents...

Or...

Yours and her grandparents...

Or...

Yours and hers grandparents...

13
  • 2
    can it be Your grandparents and mine had grown listening to this piece of music. ???
    – Usernew
    Nov 6, 2015 at 7:26
  • True, but I want to emphasize your/mine @XPMai Check: 'we'll decide what happens next' over 'You and I decide what happens next'. The latter one has some weightage! :)
    – Maulik V
    Nov 6, 2015 at 7:34
  • 1
    @MaulikV, I don't understand what you're saying. "You and I" are pronouns while "your and my" are possessive adjectives. Therefore, your example doesn't prove anything.
    – XPMai
    Nov 6, 2015 at 7:39
  • 3
    Your and my grandparents is perfectly acceptable, but indeed weird. I think it's as far as you'll be able to get with explicitly using both possessive pron.s. I wonder why you don't want to use "our": Our grandparents . . .
    – M.A.R.
    Nov 6, 2015 at 8:07
  • 1
    Nice question! I think it should remain open.
    – user230
    Nov 9, 2015 at 10:06

3 Answers 3

6

I think that this is confusing because you're using your and my when we already have a word our which would normally be preferred. For this reason the sentence is a little awkward, because it's not really clear why the writer has decided to not use our here.

If you want to use your and my for emphasis, which you certainly could do, then it would be a good idea to use the marker both here to highlight this:

Both your and my grandparents grew up listening to this piece of music.

This sounds perfectly natural and correct.

With regards to yours and mine, this is ungrammatical. The reason for this is that in modern English we never use mine or yours when there is a following noun.

  • It's my elephant.
  • It's mine.
  • *It's mine elephant. (ungrammatical in modern English)

I think your last sentence is a bit awkward because there doesn't seem to be any benefit in terms of meaning or effect for using such a complex construction when our grandparents would seem to do the same job.

9
  • We have word 'our' but does it mean that 'you and I' can't be used? Gaga and I'll be disappointed then!
    – Maulik V
    Nov 7, 2015 at 9:18
  • @MaulikV No, but there needs to be a reason for doing so, that's all. For example, in you and Gaga, Gaga is needed to explain who the other person is. In "you and I get on well" the "you" and "I" have a contrastive effect where you're emphasising the identity of each other :) Nov 7, 2015 at 10:21
  • I wonder why do we discuss the 'example' and not focus on the question about using proper possessive pronouns which is confusing.
    – Maulik V
    Nov 10, 2015 at 4:45
  • 1
    Okay, I deleted the last sentence so that it remains clear and not confusing. Thank you.
    – Maulik V
    Nov 10, 2015 at 11:20
  • 1
    @MaulikV "hers other faces" would be greatly aided by adding a comma: "behind hers, other faces".
    – Catija
    Nov 10, 2015 at 14:05
1

English is not my mother language but I will tell you my opinion!

In 'Syntax and Grammar of English Language' of P. Koutsoumpos I found the following :

Possessive adjectives

That is my pencil. That is your pencil. That is his pencil. That is its pencil. That is our pencil. That is their pencil.

The words my, your, his, her, its, our and their are possessive adjectives.

Possessive pronouns

That pencil is mine. That pencil is yours. That pencil is his. That pencil is hers. That pencil is its. That pencil is ours. That pencil is theirs.

The words mine, yours, his, hers, its ours and theirs are possessive pronouns.

"Grow" is a verb! "Grow up" is a phrasal verb! "Grow" and "grow up" have different meanings!

We use "grow" to talk about something getting physically bigger or longer. We can say "My grass is growing" or "My bank account is growing" or "Does your hair grow fast or does it grow slowly?" or "What is the best way to grow a business fast?" or "What should I do if I need to grow my bank account?"

We use "grow up" only to talk about people becoming more mature. Using "grow up" implies that the thing is human. We can say "Where did you grow up?" or "What movies were popular when you were growing up?" or "What was your favorite meal as a kid growing up?" or "What is the best thing about watching your niece grow up?".

"Your and my grandparents had grown listening to this piece of music."This phrase is wrong!

"Both your and my grandparents had grown listening to this piece of music." This phrase is also wrong!

"Your grandparents and mine had grown up listening to this piece of music" or "My grandparents and yours had grown up listening to this piece of music". These phrases are correct! You cannot write "had grown" in these phrases. It would be wrong! We always say "had grown up"!

"They are mine grandparents" or "They are yours grandparents". These phrases are wrong! We cannot use mine or yours when there is a following noun!

"Yours and mine grandparents had grown listening to this piece of music." This phrase is wrong! In English we say:'' These grandparents are mine'' or "These grandparents are yours".

"The grandparents of yours and mine had grown up listening to this piece of music." This phrase is wrong!They say:"Our grandparents had grown up listening to this piece of music. "

"Your and her grandparents had grown listening to this piece of music."This phrase is wrong!They say:"Their grandparents had grown up listening to this piece of music. "

"Yours and her grandparents had grown listening to this piece of music." This phrase is wrong!

" Yours and hers grandparents had grown listening to this piece of music."This phrase is wrong!

" Your and Elizabeth's experience was entirely different."This phrase is wrong! We can say:"Your and Elizabeth's experiences was entirely different" or "Elizabeth's and your experiences was entirely different".This phrase refers to the present. In this phrase we can also use "are" to refer to the present. We can say:"Elizabeth's and your experiences are entirely different". We can also use "were" to refer to the past. We can say:"Elizabeth's and your experiences were entirely different".

0

All of the above is interesting but the example of 'our' as an alternative does not address the problem.
'Your and Elizabeth's experience was entirely different' is obviously correct using the possessive adjective 'your'.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .