Possessives
Possessives are used to indicate possessions. In this lesson, we will discuss the different types of possessives, including nouns, determiners, and pronouns.
What Are Possessives?
Possessives are comprised of different forms that we use to talk about possessions and relationships between things and people.
Possessives: Nouns
In order to show possession or relation between two nouns, you can add
Sarah played with her friend
Her friends owns the dollhouse.
We are having a party at John
For regular plural nouns, simply add ' to the first noun to show possession. But, if the plural noun is irregular (does not have -s in the end) add 's. For example:
This is my parents
These are men
Possessives: Determiners
Possessive determiners are a kind of determiners that show who possesses something. The possessive determiners are:
| Possessives Determiners | |
|---|---|
| first person, singular | my |
| second person, singular or plural | your |
| third person, singular, masculine | his |
| third person, singular, feminine | her |
| third person, singular | its |
| first person, plural | our |
| third person, plural | their |
Note that they must be followed by a noun or a noun phrase. Take a look at some examples:
Possessives: Pronouns
Possessive pronouns replace nouns in a sentence and show a noun's possession or ownership. Additionally, they are used to avoid repetition of nouns in a sentence. English possessive pronouns are:
| Possessives Pronouns | |
|---|---|
| first person, singular | mine |
| second person, singular or plural | yours |
| third person, singular, masculine | his |
| third person, singular, feminine | hers |
| first person, plural | ours |
| third person, plural | theirs |
Note that they must stand alone and are not followed by a noun or a noun phrase. Take a look at some examples:
Whose hat is this? Is it
Your house is big and
mine = my house
We can use possessive pronouns and nouns after of. For example:
Marcus is a friend
Warning!
We don’t use ’s with possessive pronouns:
Is that dog your's?
Is that dog yours?
The Possessive Form of Indefinite Pronouns
We use possessive (’s) with words such as one, anyone, someone, anybody, somebody:
It’s important to know
Is this
When we use else with these words, the ’s is added to else:
Why didn't my parents come?
The pronoun other has the same form as nouns. We add (’s) to the singular form, and we add an apostrophe after the plural -s ending in the plural form:
They took
Possessives: Questions
Tip
You can show possession and belongings with the preposition of. Like:
A friend
A house
Possessives: Functions
1. One of the basic functions of the possessive is to talk about 'belonging' or 'ownership'. For example:
You can stay at
the
2. Possessives also show where someone works, or studies. For example:
This is
3. Possessives can also talk about a relationship between people:
the
4. Sometimes we can use possessives to relate an intangible thing (like a feeling, a thought, etc.) or an abstract thing to a person. For example:
the
5. Possessives can also be used to refer to shops, restaurants, churches, and colleges, using the name or job title of the owner:
Let's go to
Meet you at
6. Possessives also show that a noun is interpreted or described by another noun. For example:
7. Possessives can be used to identify the creator, author, or originator of another noun. Take a look at these examples:
J. K.
the
8. When we talk about places that are familiar to the speaker and the listener, we sometimes don’t use the noun after possessive ’s:
the hairdresser’s salon →
the doctor’s surgery →
Tip!
There are some fixed expressions in which the possessive form is used. For example:
- For God's sake
- in my mind's eye
- a day's work
For
Comments
