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Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns

February 9, 2017

Learning how to express possession in English can be tricky for language learners. From confusion over nouns ending in -s to homophones such as its/it’s, your/you’re, and their/they’re/their, demonstrating ownership often leads to errors in spelling and usage. One way to clear up some of the confusion is to present possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns in a chart, side by side, and teach the different sentence positions. Your learners should make fewer mistakes with words such as your and yours with the following tips and chart!

Form & Meaning

Possessive adjectives and pronouns both show who an object belongs to.

Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns chart

Possessive Adjectives & Prounouns – Grammar & Usage Resources

Sentence Position

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are always followed by a noun.

  • Do you want to borrow my pen?
  • That’s her jacket.
  • His car is new.
  • Their children are sleeping.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are never followed by a noun. Instead, they take the place of the noun. They function as the subject or object in a sentence, so they come either before or after a verb.

  • That must be your book because this one is mine.
  • We’re happy that this house is finally ours.
  • Yours is the one on the left.
  • His presentation wasn’t that great, but hers was.

Commonly Confused Words

Your / You’re

Your is a possessive adjective that comes before a noun. You’re means you are, which functions as the subject and verb/auxiliary verb of a sentence.

  • Is that your dog?
  • You’re not listening to me.

Their / They’re / There

Their is a possessive adjective that comes before a noun. They’re means they are and is the subject and verb/auxiliary verb of a sentence. There has many functions. Two of the most common are an indefinite subject and location.

  • Their bikes are locked in the garage.
  • They’re playing in the park.
  • There is milk in the fridge. / It’s over there.

Its / It’s

Its is a possessive adjective that comes before a noun. It’s means it is and is the subject and verb/auxiliary verb of a sentence.

  • What’s wrong with its paw?
  • It’s not what it looks like.

Note that the possessive adjective its does not have a possessive pronoun counterpart.

  • The dog is eating from its bowl. (correct)
  • That bowl is its(incorrect)

Practice

For more practice with possessive adjective and pronouns, as well as subject and object pronouns, try the Pronouns 1 lesson in our Grammar Practice Worksheets section and the Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns lesson in our Fun Grammar Lessons section.

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Comments (10)

Juan B.(Teacher)

Thank you so much. I love the way you summarized this topic.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thank you, Juan! That's so nice to hear.

Kimmie V.(Teacher)

What a wonderful post! Thank you so much ^^

Reply to Comment

Tammy Wik(Ellii Staff)

So glad you liked it, Kimmie! Thanks for the sweet feedback.

Arthur M.(Teacher)

Thank you Tanya. I found your post very helpful. Keep it up the great work.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

I'm happy to hear that, Arthur! Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Kcs Esol I.(Teacher)

Does ESL Library have a worksheet or lesson for Pre-Beginner level students to teach Possessive Adjectives? The lesson for Possessive Adjectives & Possessive Pronouns is too difficult for many students. Thanks!

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks for your suggestion! We've now assigned Possessive Adjectives as the next Super Simple Grammar lesson to be written, and it should be available sometime in Jan 2022. It's always helpful to hear what our subscribers are looking for, so let us know if there's anything else you can't find on our site.

Daniela B.(Teacher)

This is great. Thank you!

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

You're welcome, Daniela! Thanks for your comment.

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