yours

English

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yours

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• your's (archaic, now mis-spelling)

Etymology

From Middle English youres, ȝoures, attested since the 1300s. Equivalent to your +‎ -s (compare -'s); formed by analogy to his. Displaced yourn in standard speech.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /jɔː(ɹ)z/, /jʊəz/, (unstressed) /jəz/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)z
• (US) enPR: yôrz, IPA^(key): /jɔɹz/, /jʊɚz/, /jɝz/, (unstressed) /jɚz/

• Audio (US)

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  Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)z
• Homophone: yaws (in some non-rhotic accents)

Pronoun

yours

1. That which belongs to you (singular); the possessive second-person singular pronoun used without a following noun.

   If this edit is mine, the other must be yours.  Their encyclopedia is good, but yours is even better.  It’s all yours.

2. That which belongs to you (plural); the possessive second-person plural pronoun used without a following noun.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     “Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better. […]”

3. Written at the end of a letter, before the signature.

   Yours sincerely,  Yours faithfully,  Yours,  Sincerely yours,

Usage notes

• In British English the adverb almost invariably follows the word yours at the end of a letter; in most dialects of American English it usually precedes it. As a general rule, sincerely is only employed if the name of the recipient is already known to the writer; a letter begun with Dear Sir or Dear Madam finishes with faithfully. Yours on its own and yours ever are less formal than the other forms.

Synonyms

• yourn (obsolete outside Britain and US dialects, especially Appalachia)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

Middle English

Pronoun

yours

1. Alternative form of youres