ENGLISH
REFERENCE

on your own

prep. phr..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

prep. phr.. to be alone or to do something without any help from other people.

prep. phr.. functioning as an adverbial or adjectival phrase indicating solitude or self-sufficiency; the possessive determiner must agree with the subject.


SIMPLE

I like living on my own.

CONTEXTUAL

She managed to finish the entire project on her own while her teammates were away.

COMPLEX

The young researcher conducted the experiments on her own, eventually proving that the initial hypothesis was flawed without any guidance from her supervisor.

Usage

the word 'own' is always preceded by a possessive adjective like 'my', 'your', 'his', or 'her'.

Teaching tip

contrast with 'by yourself' which is a near-synonym; 'on your own' often emphasizes independence or the lack of assistance more than just physical solitude.

Pitfall

He did it on his own self.He did it on his own.do not add 'self' to this phrase; 'on his own' already expresses that he acted alone.

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