A friend of mine / a friend of yours etc.
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)
- Mike 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.
My own ... / your own ... etc.
We use
my/
your/
his/
her/
its/
our/
their before own:
- 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've got 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.
We also use own to say that we do something ourselves instead of somebody else doing it for us.
For example:
- Brian usually cuts his own hair. (= he cuts it himself; he doesn't go to a barber)
- I'd like to have a garden so that I could grow my own vegetables. (= grow them myself instead of buying them from shops)
On my own / by myself
On my own and
by myself both mean 'alone'. We say:
- on {my / your} own = by {myself / yourself (singular)}
- on {his / her / it} own = by {himself / herself / itself}
- on {our / their} own = by {ourselves / yourselves (plural) / themselves}
- I like living on my own / by myself.
- 'Did you go on holiday on your own / by yourself?' 'No, with a friend.'
- Jack was sitting on his own / by himself in a corner of the cafe.
- Learner drivers are not allowed to drive on their own / by themselves.
