Possessives in English

1. Dialogue

Anna: Hi, Tom! Is this your book?

Tom: No, it’s not mine. Maybe it’s Lisa’s.

Anna: Oh, I see her name on the cover. Yes, it’s hers.

Tom: Let’s put it back on its shelf. Anna: Good idea! By the way, where are your parents?

Tom: My mom is at work, and my dad is at home. What about yours?

Anna: My parents are visiting their friends.

Tom: Oh, that’s nice! Do you know whose car is parked outside?

Anna: I think it’s Mr. Brown’s. He always parks his car there.

This is my car parked outside the government’s road, in front of their restaurant.

2. What Are Possessives?

Possessives show ownership or belonging. They help us know who or what something belongs to. There are five main types of possessives in English:

1. Possessive Nouns

2. Possessive Adjectives

3. Possessive Pronouns

4. Possessive Questions

5. Reciprocal Possessives

Let’s look at each type with examples.

3. Possessive Nouns

We use ’s (apostrophe + s) to show possession for singular nouns and s’ for plural nouns.

• This is John’s book. (= The book belongs to John.)

• That is the cat’s food. (= The food belongs to the cat.)

• These are the students’ desks. (= The desks belong to the students.)

Rules:

• For singular nouns: Add ’s (e.g., Anna’s bag, the teacher’s desk).

• For plural nouns ending in s: Add only ’ (e.g., the girls’ toys, the boys’ school).

• For irregular plural nouns: Add ’s (e.g., the children’s books, the men’s room).

4. Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives come before a noun to show who something belongs to.

Subject	Possessive Adjective
I	my
You	your
He	his
She	her
It	its
We	our
They	their

Examples:

• My phone is on the table.

• Is that your jacket?

• She lost her keys.

• The dog is in its house.

• We love our school.

• They invited their friends to the party.

5. Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace a noun to avoid repetition.

Subject	Possessive Pronoun
I	mine
You	yours
He	his
She	hers
It	(not used)
We	ours
They	theirs

Examples:

• This bag is mine.

• That jacket is yours.

• The blue car is hers, and the red one is his.

• This house is ours.

• Those books are theirs.

6. Possessive Questions

We use whose to ask about ownership.

• Whose phone is this? (= Who does this phone belong to?)

• Whose shoes are these? (= Who owns these shoes?)

• Whose idea was that? (= Who had that idea?)

7. Reciprocal Possessives

Reciprocal possessives show shared possession between two or more people using each other’s or one another’s.

• They borrowed each other’s books. (= Tom borrowed Anna’s book, and Anna borrowed Tom’s book.)

• We respect one another’s opinions. (= Everyone respects the opinions of others.)

8. Summary Table

Type	Examples
Possessive Nouns	John’s pen, the teachers’ room
Possessive Adjectives	My bag, your car, their house
Possessive Pronouns	Mine, yours, hers, ours
Possessive Questions	Whose phone? Whose idea?
Reciprocal Possessives	Each other’s books, one another’s opinions

9. Practice Exercises

A. Fill in the blanks with the correct possessive form.

1. This is my book. That book is _______. (you)

2. The cat is licking _______ paws. (it)

3. We love _______ school. (we)

4. This house belongs to the Smith family. It is _______. (they)

5. That is not my jacket. It is _______. (he)

B. Choose the correct word.

1. (Whose / Who’s) phone is ringing?

2. This is not (your / yours); it’s (my / mine).

3. We took care of (each other’s / one another) pets during the trip.

Great job! Keep practicing, and soon possessives will be easy for you!