my

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

US /maɪ/ UK /maɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #18

Meanings

1

det
Belonging to or connected with me.

I can't find my book anywhere.
2

intj
Used to express surprise, shock, or amazement.

My, what big teeth you have!

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms meeplemiladymilordmyselvesmystoricalmystorymytacismohmygosh

Related forms he herherselfhersenhershernhimhimselfhisselfhissenhishishisnimeithititselfhitselfitshis

Appears in

Idioms (3)

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Tongue twisters (1)

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Betty Botter
Betty Botter bought some butter. “But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter; If I put it in my batter, It will make my batter bitter; But a bit of better butter Will but make my batter better.” So she bought a bit of butter Better than the bitter butter, And made her bitter batter better. So it was better Betty Botter Bought a bit of better butter.

Compare the vowels in bit, better, batter and butter while keeping /b/ steady. Use your normal accent for the middle consonant of Betty, ...

Etymology

From Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.) (possessive of *ek (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *méynos (“my; mine”). Cognate with West Frisian myn (“my”), Afrikaans my (“my”), Dutch mijn (“my”), German mein (“my”), Swedish min (“my”). More at me.

mi Middle English mīn Old English *mīn Proto-West Germanic *mīnaz Proto-Germanic *méynos Proto-Indo-European

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Topics

Grammar & Function Words

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# my

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** det, intj
**IPA (US):** /maɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /maɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 18

## Meanings
1. Belonging to or connected with me.
2. Used to express surprise, shock, or amazement.

## Examples
- I can't find my book anywhere.
- My, what big teeth you have!

## Derived Forms
- meeple
- milady
- milord
- myselves
- mystorical
- mystory
- mytacism
- ohmygosh

## Related Forms
- he
- her
- herselfhersen
- hershern
- him
- himselfhisselfhissen
- his
- hishisn
- ime
- ithit
- itselfhitself
- itshis

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: mi
- Root: mīn
- Root: *mīn
- Root: *mīnaz
- Root: *méynos

## Etymology
From Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.) (possessive of *ek (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *méynos (“my; mine”). Cognate with West Frisian myn (“my”), Afrikaans my (“my”), Dutch mijn (“my”), German mein (“my”), Swedish min (“my”). More at me.

## AI Etymology
My comes from Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.) (possessive of *ek (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *méynos (“my; mine”). Cognate with West Frisian myn (“my”), Afrikaans my (“my”), Dutch mijn (“my”), German mein (“my”), Swedish min (“my”). More at me. In present-day English its meanings include belonging to or connected with me and used to express surprise, shock, or amazement. The historical chain runs through mi (Middle English), mīn (Old English), *mīn (Proto-West Germanic), *mīnaz (Proto-Germanic), and *méynos (Proto-Indo-European). Related and derived forms include he, her, herselfhersen, and meeple.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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my