one's

one's — determiner

1. the possessive form of the generic pronoun one, used in dictionary headwords and

1.限定詞B2
釋義

the possessive form of the generic pronoun one, used in dictionary headwords and formal writing to mean of or belonging to any person being talked about in general.

例句

A teacher must always remember to be patient with one's students, even on difficult days.

one's + plural noun for generic possession

Élise told her writing class that keeping one's promises matters more than making big speeches.

fixed phrase 'keep one's promises'

同義詞
  • your

    informal modern equivalent for generic possession; 'keep your promises' is now far more common than 'keep one's promises'.

  • his or her

    explicit gender-neutral alternative used in older formal writing before singular 'they' became standard.

  • their

    modern gender-neutral generic possessive; 'a student should bring their notebook' replaces older 'a student should bring one's notebook'.

文法句型

one's + noun

用法筆記

Subject is usually an unstated generic person — the same person referred to by an earlier generic 'one', 'a teacher', 'a person', etc. In casual modern speech, speakers prefer 'your' (e.g. 'keep your promises') and use 'one's' mainly in writing, proverbs, or dictionary entries.

常見錯誤

❌I always keep one's promises.
✅I always keep my promises.
💡use 'one's' only when the possessor is a generic person, not a specific 'I' or 'you'.
❌A doctor must wash one's hands and then they leave.
✅A doctor must wash one's hands before leaving.
💡once you start with generic 'one', the rest of the sentence must also stay generic.

2. used right before the word own to emphasise that the thing in question belongs p

2.限定詞B2
釋義

used right before the word own to emphasise that the thing in question belongs personally to the generic person being discussed, not to anyone else.

例句

Cooking one's own meals usually costs far less than eating at restaurants every night.

fixed phrase 'one's own + noun'

Naoko explained that running one's own business sounds exciting but takes years of hard work.

emphatic personal ownership

同義詞
  • your own

    modern informal equivalent: 'cook your own meals' is now standard in everyday speech.

  • their own

    gender-neutral singular for a generic person: 'everyone should follow their own path'.

反義詞
  • someone else's

    contrasts personal ownership with another person's possession.

文法句型

one's own + noun

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 1: sense 2 is always followed by 'own' and emphasises personal, not shared, possession. Without 'own', use sense 1.

常見錯誤

❌She wanted to start one's own café.
✅She wanted to start her own café.
💡when the possessor is a specific named person, use the matching possessive (her, his, their), not 'one's'.