hers

hers
hers c.1300, hires, from HER (Cf. her); a double possessive. Possessive pronouns in Modern English consist of the predicative (mine, thine, his, ours, yours, theirs) that come after the subject, and the attributive (my, thy, his, her, our, your, their) that come before it. In O.E. and early M.E., they were identical. To keep speech fluid, speakers began to affix an -n to the end of my and thy before words that began with vowels. This began late 13c. in the north of England, and by 1500 was standard. Then the predicative and attributive pronouns split, and the pronouns in that class usually took up -s, the regular affix of possession. But the non-standard speech of the Midlands and south of England extended -n throughout (hisn, hern, yourn), a habit attested from 14c. and more regular than the standard speech, which mixes -s and -n.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • hers — [ hɜrz ] pronoun ** Hers is a possessive pronoun, being a possessive form of she. It can refer to a singular or plural noun, and it can be the subject, object, or complement of a verb or the object of a preposition: Hers is the car on the left.… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Hers — bezeichnet: Zwei Flüsse in Frankreich Hers Vif oder Grand Hers, ein Nebenfluss der Ariège Hers Mort oder Hers, ein Nebenfluss der Garonne Hers ist der Name von: Henri Géry Hers, belgischer Biochemiker …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hers — can refer to:* the possessive pronoun version of she * two rivers in southern France: **Hers Vif (also: Grand Hers or Hers ) **Hers Mort *Henri G. Hers, a Belgian scientist * Home Energy Ratings Systems, used by: ** Energy Star in measuring the… …   Wikipedia

  • hers — S3 [hə:z US hə:rz] pron [possessive form of she ] used to refer to something that belongs to or is connected with a woman, girl, or female animal that has already been mentioned ▪ He bent and touched his mouth to hers. ▪ These are my gloves. Hers …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • hers — [hʉrz] pron. [LME hires, hers < hire, her(e), poss. adj. (see HER1) + s after his] that or those belonging to her: the possessive form of SHE, used without a following noun, often after of [that book is hers; hers are better; he is a friend of …   English World dictionary

  • hers — This possessive pronoun, as used in The blame is not hers but mine, is written without an apostrophe. Hers is wrongly used in the following example and should be replaced by her: ☒ I was checking both hers and my email. (The error is obvious if… …   Modern English usage

  • Hers — (h[ e]rz), pron. See the Note under {Her}, pron. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Hers — (spr. ǟr), zwei Flüsse im südlichen Frankreich, von denen der eine im Depart. Ariège, nördlich von Ax, entspringt, in gewundenem Laufe die vorgelagerten tertiären Kämme durchbricht und, 120 km lang, bei Cintegabelle rechts in den Ariège mündet,… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • hers- (1) — *hers (1) germ., Verb: nhd. steif sein ( Verb); ne. be (Verb) stiff; Rekontruktionsbasis: an., mhd.; Etymologie: s. ing. *k̑ers (1), *k̑er , Subs …   Germanisches Wörterbuch

  • hers- (2) — *hers (2) germ., Verb: nhd. kratzen; ne. scratch (Verb); Rekontruktionsbasis: an., mnd.; Etymologie: s. ing. *k̑ers (1), *k̑er , Substantiv …   Germanisches Wörterbuch

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