Mine-Mines | Commonly Confused Words
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Mines vs. Mine

Mines

Deep holes or tunnels in the ground from which valuable minerals or substances are taken.

Examples:

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Mine

/maɪn/
A place where minerals or other materials are extracted from the earth; one's possession or belonging.

Examples:

'At the bottom of mines?The Erzgebirge began to be mined for iron in medieval days."Not in mine," he announced.

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

This word has no antonyms

Ways to tell them apart:

etymology
  • Mine can refer to possession or a place where minerals are extracted.
  • Mines is the plural form of mine when referring to multiple locations where minerals are extracted or to refer to multiple explosive devices.
  • Think of mine as something personal – it’s mine if I am talking about owning something.
  • Use mines in a context where you talk about locations of mineral extraction or multiple explosive devices, you wouldnt say it is mines' to mean possession.
  • The singular mine can also be a pronoun, whereas mines is strictly a plural noun.
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