Learn English – Two possessive pronouns (hers, yours) in a sentence

ellipsisparallelismpossessivesreflexive-pronouns

You both have good cars. But hers is better than yours.

Can I say that? I know that I can say "But her car is better than yours." Would it be too much to use two possessive pronouns in a sentence?

Best Answer

Yes, it's fine. You can use multiple pronouns as long as they don't create ambiguity. In this case, there should be no ambiguity as yours must refer to the listener, while hers must refer to a third (female) party.

Even a sentence like the following is grammatical:

They both have good cars, but his is better than his.

To make this sentence unambiguous, though, you would have to point or gesture toward the people you're referring to as you say the pronouns aloud.

Really, it's just a matter of making sure you're communicating clearly.