LoginPossessive Determiners
In this lesson, master possessive determiners, which show ownership and provide detailed information about nouns. Clear explanations and practice exercises to help you learn.
What Are Possessive Determiners?
Possessive determiners (also called possessive adjectives in traditional grammar) are words that come before nouns and show possession and ownership.
Possessive Determiners in English
Placement
Possessive determiners come at the beginning of a noun phrase, so if the noun phrase has one or more adjectives(s), they come after the determiner. Look at these examples:
He's my brother, Ryan.
Welcome to our house!
You're wearing my blue denim jacket.
The noun that follows the possessive determiner refers to the thing that is owned while the determiner specifies the owner.
I have a car. | This is my car. |
You have a car. | This is your car. |
He has a car. | This is his car. |
She has a car. | This is her car. |
We have a car. | This is our car. |
They have a car. | This is their car. |
Homophones
Note the difference between the following three possessive determiners and the contracted forms. They are homophones, which means they sound the same but have different meanings and spelling. The contracted forms are a combination of a subject pronoun and the verb 'be.'
possessive determiner | contraction |
|---|---|
your | you're |
its | it's |
their | they're |
It's their kid who's making all the noise!
They're making all the noise! → They are making all the noise!
It's complicated!
'It's' is the contracted form of 'it is'.
My cat has broken its leg.
Here, 'its' is a possessive determiner.
Whose
Whose is an interrogative pronoun, but it can also be used as a determiner to ask questions about ownership of something.
Whose car is this?
Whose jacket needs to be washed?
Review
Possessive determiners are used before nouns to talk about possession or ownership. The interrogative determiner whose is used to ask about possession. Look at the table below to find all English possessive determiners.
1st person | my | My stuff were in Bonny's house. |
2nd person | your | Is this your dog? |
3rd person (female) | her | Her car was parked at the corner of the street. |
3rd person (male) | his | His dog's name was Betty. |
3rd person (neuter) | its | They injected in to its hand. |
1st person (p) | our | They wanted to break into our house. |
2nd person (p) | your | Your mothers are waiting for you to come. |
3rd person (p) | their | Their policy was to stay fair-minded. |
Quiz:
Which sentence correctly uses a possessive determiner?
I found yours notebook under the desk.
I found your notebook under the desk.
I found you're notebook under the desk.
I found yours under the desk.
Which question correctly asks a question about possession?
Who jacket is on the floor?
Who's jacket is on the floor?
Whose jacket is on the floor?
Whom jacket is on the floor?
Match each sentence with the correct grammatical description.
Fill the table using the correct possessive determiner to rewrite each sentence. (There are two extra options.)
I have a brother. | This is brother. |
He plays the guitar. | guitar sounds amazing. |
Do you have a passport? | Is this passport? |
They have a nice house. | house seems nice. |
She completed a research project. | research is complete. |
Fill each blank with the correct possessive determiner.
Before the performance, the dancers adjusted
colorful costumes.
lunchbox is leaking in the refrigerator?
The ancient tree shed
leaves earlier than usual this autumn.
Excuse me, is this
textbook? I found it under the library desk.
My teammates and I celebrated
victory with a parade through the city.
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