possessive adjectives & pronouns

Possessive Adjectives Possessive Pronouns

Possessive Adjectives

Definition

Possessive adjectives are words used to show possession - always followed by a singular or plural noun. They show property, a sense of belonging or ownership to a specific person, animal or thing. They do not have male and female versions– gender.

info

Here is the list of the possessive adjectives used in the English language: my, your, our, its, her, his, and their. Each one corresponds to a subject pronoun.

info

Examples

5. Its

3. His

2. Your

4. Her

1. My

• We always use your instead of the pronoun you in singular or plural.
• We use your for male or female owners.

• We use her when the subject is a female.
• We use her for plural or singular nouns.

• We use his when the subject is a male.
• We use his for plural or singular nouns.

• We use its when the subject is only one thing or one animal.
• We use its for plural or singular nouns.

• We always use my instead of the pronoun I.
• We use my for singular or plural nouns.
• We use my for a man or a woman.

Examples

6. Our

7. Your

8. Their

• We use your instead of the pronoun you in singular or plural.
• We use your for male or female owners.

• We use their when the subject is they.
• We use their for people, animals or things.
• We use their for plural or singular nouns.

• It is used when the subject is we.
• It is used with singular or plural nouns.

Position of the possessive adjectives

The position of possessive adjectives Like all adjectives in English, they are always located before the noun they refer to. Possessive adjective + noun Example: My house Your book Their car

Possessive adjective agreement

The possessive adjective needs to agree with the possessor and not with the thing, animal or person that is possessed. Examples: My house is big (“I” is the subject that possesses a home). Her husband works in a bank (“She” is the subject that possesses a husband). His mother is a teacher (“He” is the subject that possesses a mother).

Possessive adjectives with plural or singular nouns

The form of possessive adjectives is the same with plural or singular nouns

• Our car is expensive (a singular thing).
• Our cars are expensive (plural things).
• My book is interesting (singular).
• My books are interesting (plural).
• Our son is handsome (singular).
• Our sons are handsome (plural).

Exercises

Exercise 1

Look at the subjects on the left and write on the blanks the correct possessive adjective.For example: My father / his car

Exercise 2

Look at the personal pronouns in parentheses and write the correct possessive adjective.Example: (Susan) She is selling her car.

Possessive Pronouns

These pronouns can be confused to English students. There are two types: possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives. We use possessive adjectives before a noun. We use possessive pronoun in place of a noun.

What are possessive pronouns?

Possessive pronouns avoid repetitions

Difference between a pronoun and an adjective

Definition

Possessive pronouns are words, which give ownership to someone or something. They substitute the noun and avoid repetition. They make sentences less confusing. The possessive pronouns in English are as follows: mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs. You should not confuse possessive adjectives with possessive pronouns. Look at the following chart.

• An adjective is a word that describes nouns.
• A pronoun is a word which takes the place of a noun.

This cell phone is my cell phone, it is not your cell phone. You can see in this sentence we say three times cell phone, the sentence is correct, but it does not sound good because we are repeating cell phone which is the noun. When we use the possessive pronouns we avoid repeating the noun, in this case cell phone.

What are possessive pronouns?

Possessive pronouns with plural or singular nouns

Position in the sentence.

1. At the beginning. 2. At the end.

The possessive pronouns are always the same for singular or plural nouns, look at the following example (you will notice that the possessive pronoun is the same for singular or plural nouns):

There are 7 possessive pronouns. Read carefully:

Forms of the possessive pronouns

5. Third person singular (female): Hers

1. First person singular: mine

6. Third person neuter (an animal or a thing): Its

2. First person plural: ours

VS

7. Third person plural: Theirs

3. Second person singular and plural is yours for both.

4. Third person singular (male): His

Excercise 3

Read the sentences and write on the blanks the correct possessive pronoun.. Keep in mind that when you answer this exercise you use contractions. Example: They are their books. Normal form They are theirs. INCORRECT ( not using contractions) They´re theirs. INCORRECT ( not apostrophe ) They’re theirs. CORRECT (using a contraction)

Thanks!