List of possessive adjectives and pronouns
What is a possessive adjective?
A possessive adjective tells us that someone owns (or possesses) something.
My, your, his and her are all possessive adjectives.
We use a possessive adjective before a noun:
- This is my brother.
- Where is your sister?
- How much did his car cost?
What is a possessive pronoun?
A possessive pronoun also tells us who owns a thing. However, a possessive pronoun is NOT followed by a noun:
- Whose book is this? Is it yours?
yours book
- The blue car is my brother’s; the red car is mine.
is my
- I bought the house – it’s mine.
mine house
| Possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns | ||
| Singular | ||
| my, mine | It's my dog. This dog is mine. |
my = possessive adjective mine = possessive pronoun |
| your, yours | It’s your book. It’s yours. |
your = possessive adjective yours = possessive pronoun |
| his, his | It's his bicycle. It’s his. |
his = possessive adjective his = possessive pronoun |
| her, hers | It's her guitar. It’s hers. |
her = possessive adjective hers = possessive pronoun |
| its, — | The bear is feeding its cubs. — |
its = possessive adjective no pronoun equivalent |
| Plural | ||
| our, ours | This is our car. This car is ours. |
our = possessive adjective ours = possessive pronoun |
| your, yours | Your baby is beautiful. Which house is yours? |
your = possessive adjective yours = possessive pronoun |
| their, theirs | We're going in their car. Is this car theirs? |
their = possessive adjective theirs = possessive pronoun |
Anonymous - September 25, 2020, 12:51 pm
this is really helpful
ak - October 6, 2020, 3:44 pm
yes, this is very helpfull
shanthini - October 27, 2020, 1:37 pm
this is very useful
Ben Williams - November 3, 2020, 9:59 pm
very helpful
Anonymous - February 8, 2021, 2:52 pm
very helpful
Jiang Chen - April 13, 2021, 9:48 am
This is very helpful, thank you
Mahima - August 13, 2021, 3:08 am
“Each of the girls was unable to submit HER assignment” is this sentence is correct…?
saisha - May 27, 2022, 7:28 am
Hi
Mahima, yes it’s correct.
Muhsin Khan - September 17, 2021, 9:01 am
Still unclear,
1. It means that your, my, her and its are not pronouns ?
2. How can we use his independently ? like it is his. If we can use his independently then why cannot my, her, its and your etc. ? please reply
Ryan - February 13, 2022, 4:19 pm
That ARE pronouns, but not POSSESSIVE pronouns.
Rishit - November 16, 2021, 6:42 pm
Was helpful