A Friend of Mine / My Own House / On My Own
Using possessive pronouns with 'of', 'own' for exclusive possession, and 'on my own / by myself' for doing things alone
A Friend of Mine / A Colleague of Yours
When you want to talk about one person or thing from a group that belongs to someone, use the structure a/an/some + noun + of mine/yours/his/hers/ours/theirs.
| Instead of | Say |
|---|---|
| a friend of mine | |
| some friends of ours | |
| a colleague of hers |
- I’m attending a conference next week. A colleague of mine is giving the keynote.
- We signed the deal with a client of ours based in Singapore.
- It was a suggestion of hers to restructure the department.
When you refer to a specific person by name or by a noun, add ’s after the name or noun:
- That’s a client of our manager’s. (= one of our manager’s clients)
- It was an idea of Karen’s to move the deadline forward.
My Own / Your Own (Exclusive Possession)
Use my own / your own / his own / her own / our own / their own + noun to say something belongs exclusively to one person and is not shared or borrowed. Never put a/an before own.
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| my own office | |
| her own car |
- I don’t want to share a desk. I want my own workspace. (= a workspace that is only mine)
- The startup finally has its own office instead of renting coworking space.
- Why are you using the company laptop? Don’t you have your own? (= your own laptop)
You can flip the structure and say a noun + of my own / of your own etc. The meaning stays the same.
- After years of freelancing, she’d like to have a business of her own.
- He can’t help you with your backlog. He has too many tasks of his own.
Doing Things Yourself: My Own + Verb
Own also expresses the idea of doing something yourself instead of having someone else do it for you.
- Our team writes its own documentation rather than outsourcing it. (= they write it themselves)
- She manages her own schedule instead of relying on an assistant.
- We roast our own coffee at the office. (= we roast it ourselves, not buying it pre-roasted)
On My Own / By Myself (= Alone)
Both on my own and by myself mean “alone” or “without anyone else.” They are interchangeable.
| on + possessive + own | by + reflexive pronoun |
|---|---|
| on my own | by myself |
| on your own | by yourself |
| on his/her/its own | by himself/herself/itself |
| on our own | by ourselves |
| on their own | by themselves |
- Did you handle the entire project on your own? (or by yourself)
- She prefers working on her own rather than in an open-plan office. (or by herself)
- I set up the server by myself. Nobody helped me. (or on my own)
Watch out for a common mistake: do not mix up the two structures.
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| on my own or by myself | |
| on my own or by myself |
Quick Self-Check
We signed a contract with a supplier _____. They've been very reliable.
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I don't want to share an office. I'd like to have _____ office.
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She built the website completely _____. No one helped her.
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It was _____ to hold the meeting online instead of flying everyone in.
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We don't outsource translations. Our team _____ translations.
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