Possessive pronouns and adjectives

• English
• Secundair onderwijs

How can you say that something is your possession?

I have a bag -                               this is my bag.

You have a cat -                           that is your cat.

He has a car -                               it is his car.

She has a book -                         it is her book.

The dog has a bed -                   it is its bed.

We have a flat -                           it is our flat.

They have a daughter -             she is their daughter.

We are talking about possessive adjectives.  They belong next to a noun in a sentence. 

I have a bag -                                           this is mine.

You have a cat -                                       that cat is yours.

He has a car -                                           it is his.

She has a book -                                      it is hers.

We have a flat -                                        it is ours.

They have a daughter -                          she is theirs.

Possessive pronouns also say who something belongs to, but they replace the noun. So we use them alone. 

Possessive 's

When it is one person who owns something, we usually use 's.

 

Our friend's car is red. She loves it.

Simon's phone is new. He bought it yesterday.

Can you see Amira's keys? She can't find them.

Possessive 's

Mohammed is my brother's son.

My grandpa's beard is white.

This is my grandparents' house.

We can use possessive 's to talk about the relationship between people or to say who owns something. Possessive 's always comes after a noun or a name.

We often use possessive 's or s' when we talk about family and friends.

Possessive 's

If the thing belongs to more than one person, we usually add '  after the s of the plural noun.

Our friends' house is in the mountains. They moved there last year.

My grandparents' dog is called Bertie.

The twins' school is closed today.

Possessive 's

If the plural noun is irregular and doesn't end in s, we add 's.

This is our children's school.

The women's clothes are on the second floor.

A lot of people's eyes are brown.

general rule

word = singular ==> 's

word = plural ends in s ==> '

plural doesn't end in s==>

We can use possessive pronouns and nouns after of. We can say:

Susan is one of my friends. > Susan is a friend of mine.

                                                             (NOT Susan is a friend of me.)

I am one of Susan's friends. > I am a friend of Susan's.

                                                              (NOT I am a friend of Susan.)

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Exercises

Book page 39 exercise 35

Book page 41 exercise 38

Book page 42 exercise 39