hers | TKG English Learner's Dictionary

herspronoun

American /hɜrz/ British /hɜːz/

very commondefining vocabulary

the thing or things belonging to or connected with a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
Hers is the independent possessive, used without a following noun: this book is hers. The possessive determiner, used directly before a noun, is the different word her (her book), a separate entry.
- This coat is hers, not mine.
- The red bike is hers.
- Is that scarf yours or hers?
- The choice was hers to make.
Compare his

Word family

she (the subject form)
her (the object form)
her (the possessive, directly before a noun)
herself

Usage

Hers never comes directly before a noun; that place belongs to her (her book, not hers book). Hers stands alone, in the place a noun phrase would fill: this book is hers, not this is hers book.

Common mistakes

This book is her. This book is hers.
Without a following noun, use the independent possessive hers, not her.

See also her (the possessive, directly before a noun: her book); she; her

For translators

Grammar trap English marks the independent possessive with its own form (mine, hers, ours), separate from the possessive determiner (my, her, our) that goes before a noun; many languages use one possessive form throughout.