Question

Fill in the blank with a possessive pronoun from the alternatives given below:
A doctor does _____ best to save a patient’s life.
(a)mine
(b)his
(c)yours
(d)ours

Answer 1

Hint: The blank is before an adjective ‘best’. This means that the blank should be filled with something that qualifies the adjective. It needs to be filled by a possessive pronoun that matches with the given subject.

Complete answer: They are the pronouns that help us show possession or ownership in a sentence. There are two types of possessive pronouns:
The strong (or absolute) possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, and theirs. They refer back to a noun or noun phrase already used, replacing it to avoid repetition: "I said that phone was mine."
The weak possessive pronouns (also called possessive adjectives) are my, your, his, her, its, our, your, and their. They function as determiners in front of a noun to describe who something belongs to: "I said that's my phone."

For the given sentence, we need a possessive that is actually common between both kinds. However, it is used in a different way.
Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options:
(a)mine - The word ‘mine’ is a strong possessive. However, it does not match the given subject. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)his - The word ‘his’ is a weak possessive in the context of this sentence. It fits perfectly into the given sentence, and it matches the subject. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
(c)yours - The word ‘yours’ is a strong possessive. However, it does not match the given subject. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(d)ours - The word ‘ours’ is a strong possessive. However, it does not match the given subject. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note: Break the given sentence down. Study each part carefully. Then, go through the given options and choose the option which best fits the given requirements of the question.