own/his own

R.Quirk等人把own称作强调限定词。在物主代词（his，my）+own+名词结构（my own eyes）中，own用于加强物主代词的意义，强调所有关系。

1. I'd love to have my own room. (LEG) 我喜欢有一个自己的房间。

2. I always write for my own people. (Yeats) 我永远为我自己的人民写作。

有时, own 还用于强调物主代词与句子主语的互指关系:

1. Sam cooks his own dinner every evening. [“cooks dinner for himself”] 每天晚上萨姆给自己做饭。

2. Sam cooks his dinner every evening. 每天晚上萨姆给他做饭。

正像 R. Quirk 等人所指出的, 在句(2)中 his 可能与 Sam 形成互指关系, 但也可能指完全不同的另一个人。他们还指出下列句子也是有歧义的:

The Housing Associations are encouraging people to buy their houses. (CGEL) 房屋联合处鼓励人们购买自己的房子。

their到底是指theHousing Associations,还是指people呢？（参见CGEL，§6.30）

own 还可以用在 of my own(自己的), on my own (独立地, 单独地) 这样的结构中。位于这种结构中的 own 究竟属于什么词类呢？语言学家对此所作的解释是不相同的。M. Swan 把 own 称作“不与名词连用的形容词”（如同 the poor, the blind 一样），ALD 和 LDCE 的编者们把 own 称作“代词”，而 R. Quirk 等人则把 my own 称作“名词短语”。

应当记住, my own room 可以写成 a room of my own, 其意义不变:

1. I'd love to have a room of my own. (LEG) 我想拥有属于我自己的房间。

2. The five children... grew up and had families of their own. (LDCE) 五个孩子……长大了并且都建立了各自的家庭。

3. These college professors had opinions of their own. (Sinclair) 这些大学教授有他们自己的看法。

下面举几个 on one's own 的例句：

1. I can't carry it on my own; it's too heavy. (LDCE) 我无法自己拿动它，它太重了。

2. I have usually gone on holiday with a friend, but this year I have decided to go on my own. (Wood) 我通常和朋友一起去度假，但今年我决定自己去。

3. Everything that happened on the plane or in the hotels was strictly off-the-record, as was everything that Chelsea said or did on her own. (Hillary, Living History) 发生在飞机上 或饭店里的一切都不应见报，切尔西自个儿的言行举止也应是这样。（希拉里，《亲历历史》）

还应指出,在 own 之前还可以加上 very 来进一步加强语气:

I finally have my very own room: I do not have to share it. (IME) 我终于有了我自己的房间:我不必与别人分住。