different between yours vs yourn

English

Alternative forms

• your's (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English youres, ?oures, 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): /j??(?)z/
• Rhymes: -??(?)z
• (US) enPR: yôrz, IPA^(key): /j???z/, /j?z/, /j??z/
• Rhymes: -??(?)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.

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

   • “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.

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

English

Alternative forms

• your'n

Etymology

From Middle English youren, from Old English eowerne. Displaced in standard speech by the -s form, yours. See also ourn, hern. Cognate with West Flemish joen (“yourn”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??(?)n

Pronoun

yourn

1. (obsolete outside Britain and US dialects, especially Appalachia) Yours.

References

• “yourn” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.