ours
- 1Used in place of a noun to refer to the thing or things that belong to us.
The final decision is ours, not the landlord's.
A neighbor of ours found the dog wandering down the street.
Note
This is the plain possessive that the word's narrower uses build on. Middle English made it by adding -s to our on the model of his, and it has been in use since the 1300s. The ending echoes the possessive 's, yet the word is written without an apostrophe: ours, never our's. A rival form, ourn, from Middle English ouren, lost out to it in standard speech.
- 2Belonging to the speaker's group but not to the person or people being addressed.
The committee reminded the guests that the final vote was ours alone.
That stretch of farmland has been ours for generations, never theirs.
Note
The possessive that stands alone, with no noun after it. Middle English oures was formed from our plus -s on the pattern of his, and it pushed out ourn in standard speech. English uses this one word whether or not the listener shares in it. Here context shuts them out, as in "These seats are ours" said to strangers. Unlike the inclusive meaning, this sense draws a line. It also fits the construction a favorite of ours.
- 3Belonging to the speaker's group, with the person or people being addressed included.
Standing before the crowd, she declared that the achievement was ours, hers and theirs alike.
The garden is ours now, planted by you and me side by side.
Note
The listener is let in by what surrounds the word, most often a preceding we that plainly includes them: "We should ask for it back. After all, it is ours." Ours is often set against theirs, as in "ours looks much nicer than theirs". The contrast helps here because it moves the dividing line outward: speaker and listener stand together on one side, and a third party stands on the other.
- 4Belonging to any group the speaker belongs to or identifies with, such as a nation, region, employer, school, or language.
Visitors praise the coastline, but to everyone raised here, that shore is ours.
Other firms may be bigger, but the patent is ours, filed by our own engineers.
- 5Belonging to people in general, as a shared human possession.
The responsibility to protect the planet is ours, shared by all of humankind.
Curiosity is ours from birth; every child is born wanting to understand the world.
- 6Used of the speaker's own experiences or activities in a way that implies a group of listeners shares a connection with them.
Okay, everyone, most sourdough loaves come out flat on the first try, but ours is rising beautifully this week.
Lots of runs end right at this boss, chat, but ours is going pretty well so far.
- 7Belonging to all of the people being addressed, framed as something the speaker shares too.
Gathering the volunteers, the organizer announced that the award was ours to celebrate.
Welcome aboard, passengers. For the next week, this ship is ours.
- 8Belonging to the single person being addressed, used especially by someone caring for them or giving them advice, and which can sound patronizing.
The aide pointed to the slippers by the bed and asked the patient whether they were ours.
Settling the new resident in, the nurse asked sweetly if the photographs on the shelf were ours.
Note
The caregiver's plural folds one listener into a group, so that a patient's own bottle of tablets becomes "ours." It usually travels with the matching we in a question such as "How are we feeling this morning?" That pairing is what can sound patronizing, because it treats an adult as someone to be managed. Between equals, yours is the safe choice. The same warmth, aimed at a crowd, gives the word for a whole audience.
- 9The speaker's house or home.
We're hosting the holidays at ours again this year.
After the wedding, a few friends stopped by ours for one last drink.
Note
Here the noun has simply been dropped: at ours means at our house, and it works the way at mine does. It usually follows a preposition of place, as in "stay the night at ours." It belongs to relaxed speech between friends. In writing to someone you do not know, our house or our place is clearer.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English oures, attested since the 1300s, equivalent to "our" plus the "-s" ending (compare the possessive "-'s"), formed by analogy to "his." It displaced the earlier "ourn" (from Middle English ouren) in standard speech.