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  • 'My own' and 'on my own' – what difference 

  • does the little preposition 'on' make?  

  • Quite a lot! Let's have a look together.

  • 'My own' or 'your own' after a verb means that  

  • we 'do something to or for ourselves'

  • instead of somebody else 'doing it to or for us'.

  • 'I like the idea of growing my own vegetables.'

  • 'Have you ever cut your own hair?'

  • Obviously, you can change 'my' or 'your'

  • for any other possessive adjective.

  • 'On my own' or 'on your own' means exactly the same as 'alone'.

  • 'I don't think I could live on my own.'

  • 'Have you ever been on holiday on your own?'

  • Again, you can change 'my' or 'your' for any other possessive adjective.

  • In these cases, you could also say 'by myselfor 'by yourself'

  • using the reflexive pronoun with exactly the same meaning!

  • 'Have you ever cut your own hair?'

'My own' and 'on my own' – what difference 

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