What’s the difference between ours and our’s?

10 May

Ours

Ours is the first person plural possessive pronoun – it replaces “our” + noun.

For example, the sentence: Is this our room? Can be changed to: Is this ours? 

When using “ours” there is no need to repeat the object you are talking about (or refer to it if the context allows).

Here are some examples:

Is this taxi ours or yours? / This taxi here, is it ours or yours?

He found a book – but is it ours?

He couldn’t find his keys, but ours were on the table.

Their idea was good, but ours was better.

The pleasure is all ours / The pleasure was all ours.

Our’s

Though you may see our’s written even by native speakers, it is incorrect. Ours should never have an apostrophe.
Why the confusion?

The idea that ours needs an apostrophe is rooted in the fact that a word ending in ‘s indicates possession, so English speakers sometimes think ours should be spelled our’s. However, this is always incorrect – ours is the only correct spelling.

One Response to “What’s the difference between ours and our’s?”

  1. gracey October 29, 2014 at 2:43 pm #

    this was a lot of help. because my little cousin is home schooled by my aunt. because her mom is in college.

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