better than yours/better than your's ?

[ph2004]

What is correct : "my house is bigger than yours" or "my house is bigger than your's" ?

 

[birdeen's call]

"My house is bigger than yours" is the correct sentence.

 

[TheParser]

What is correct : "my house is bigger than yours" or "my house is bigger than your's" ?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Ph2004,


You have asked a really interesting question.

As birdeen's call told you, yours is the correct form.

According to Professor George O. Curme in his scholarly

A Grammar of the English Language, the English people

many, many, many years ago did not use the apostrophe for

the genitive (possessive). So many years ago, the English people

wrote:

Joseps son. (written in the year 1400!!!)

The Emperours counsail (1540)

in Gods care (1592)

Today, of course, the English people use an apostrophe:

Joseph's son/ the emperor's council/ in God's care.

BUT -- as Professor Curme reminds us -- the old system WITHOUT

an apostrophe is still used in:

its

his

hers

ours

yours

theirs


Thank you & have a nice day

 

[Nightmare85]

***Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.***

I agree with birdeen's call and TheParser, but I would like to add something:
Remember this:
My house is bigger than yours.
Your house is smaller than mine.

Both sentences mean the same and both are grammatically correct.
(I wanted to highlight the mine since no one mentioned that word here.)

Cheers!