My goes before a noun, while mine stands on its own, in place of the noun: my phone, but This phone is mine. Both show that something belongs to you; mine simply replaces the whole phrase so you don't have to repeat the noun. Other pronouns have the same pairs: your and yours, her and hers, our and ours, their and theirs.
my or mine — can you pick the right one?
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my + noun; mine (= my + noun) with no noun after it; It's mine; a friend of mine; your/yours, her/hers, our/ours, their/theirs
- Is this your umbrella or mine? They look exactly the same.
- My flight was delayed, but yours landed on time, didn't it?
- A colleague of mine recommended this course to me last year.
What changed
First versionExcuse me, I think this seat is my.
RevisionExcuse me, I think this seat is mine.
When no noun follows, English needs mine: this seat is mine. My can't be used without a noun after it, so it's the only word that has changed.
A friend of mine means “one of my friends”. It's how you introduce someone the listener hasn't heard of: A friend of mine works at the airport. After of you need mine here too, not my or me.
Your turn
We have the same black suitcase, but ___ has a red ribbon on the handle.
Show the answer
mine — The gap is followed straight away by the verb has, with no noun. So you need a word that stands for “my suitcase” on its own, and that's mine. My needs a noun after it: my suitcase has a red ribbon.
Imagine you and a friend have mixed up similar things, such as phones or keys. Explain which thing belongs to whom, using my and mine.
That black phone is mine, and yours is on the table next to my keys.
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