ENGLISH
REFERENCE

ours

pron.
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //ˈaʊɝz// UK //ˈaʊəz// ours General-service Informal

pron. the thing or things that belong to us. You use it to replace a noun phrase like 'our house' or 'our ideas'.

pron. the possessive pronoun corresponding to the first-person plural 'we'. Used to indicate ownership or association without repeating the noun it refers to.


SIMPLE

The blue car is ours.

CONTEXTUAL

Your garden is beautiful, but ours needs a lot of work before the summer starts.

COMPLEX

While their proposal focused on short-term gains, ours emphasized sustainable growth over the next decade, which eventually won the board's approval.

Origin

From Middle English oures, attested since the 1300s. Equivalent to our + -s (compare -'s); formed by analogy to his. Displaced ourn (from Middle English ouren) in standard speech.

Usage

Functions as a nominal; it does not precede a noun like the possessive determiner 'our'.

Pitfall

That house is our's.That house is ours.Possessive pronouns like 'ours', 'yours', and 'theirs' never take an apostrophe.

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