Possessives: adjectives

Level: beginner

Subject	Object	Possessive adjective
I	me	my
you	you	your
he	him	his
she	her	her
it	it	its
we	us	our
they	them	their

We use possessive adjectives:

to show something belongs to somebody:

That's our house.
My car is very old.

for relations and friends:

My mother is a doctor.
How old is your sister?

for parts of the body:

He's broken his arm.
She's washing her hair.
I need to clean my teeth.

Possessives: adjectives: GapFillDragAndDrop_MTYxNTU

Be careful!
The possessive adjective *its* does not have an apostrophe ('): That bird has broken its* (NOT ~~it's~~) wing.* (it's always means it is or it has.)

Be careful!

The possessive adjective its does not have an apostrophe ('):

That bird has broken its (NOT ~~it's~~) wing.

(it's always means it is or it has.)

its or it's?: GapFillTyping_MTYxNTY

Average

Hi sir,

Please help me

If I want to say: a bike that is owned by John and a bike that is owned by Mary, what sentence I should use:
1. John's and Mary's bike are parked outside, or
2. John's and Mary's bike is parked outside, or
3. John's and Mary's bikes are parked outside

Thank you so much.
Watson

Hello Watsonyds,

You are talking about two bikes so you need to use a plural form. The third sentence is correct. Note that if you were talking about some things jointly owned by John and Mary you would only add 's to the last person's name. For example:

John's and Mary's bikes are outside. [one bike is John's and one bike is Mary's]
John and Mary's bikes are outside. [all the bikes are jointly owned - for example in a bike rental business]

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

"Mary looked after her parents quite well. She is a kind-hearted woman." In the given sentences, are both the words, 'her' and 'she,' pronouns or only 'she'? When can the word, 'her,' be considered a pronoun, if at all it can be considered as one?

Hi Rocky267,

Only "she" is a pronoun in those sentences. "Her" is an adjective, because it describes another noun ("her parents").

"Her" can be a pronoun if it functions as a noun, e.g. Mary's best friend was Susan. When Susan was ill, Mary looked after her quite well. ("her" replaces the noun "Susan" in this sentence.)

I hope that helps.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Hello, dear teachers and team!

Could you please tell me if it's correct to say the following:

1. I usually relax after MY work.

2. MY lunch takes me one hour.

Or have these sentences to be used without "my"?

I'm very very grateful for your constant help with puzzling issues and thank you very much indeed for your answer to this post in advance!!!

Hi howtosay_,

No worries! We are glad to help.

These sentences are fine both with and without "my". "After work" is a common phrase and I think it is more commonly used than "after my work".

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Hello, dear teachers and team!

Could you please help me with the following:

'A woman of her ability will easily find a job.'

There are two woman in this sentence or not?

Hi a.kopuz,

It is unclear. "Her" could refer to a second woman, or it could refer to the first woman's own ability.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Thanks Jonathan

Hello, dear teachers and team!

Could you please help me (again) with the following:

Which one (if any) is correct:

1. They have their two own houses.

2. They have their own two houses.

3. They have two their own houses.

Thank you so much for your immense help and I'm very grateful for answering to this comment beforehand!!!

Hello howtosay_,

The second sentence is correct; the others are not.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

In the sentence "6. This cake is really sweet. I think __got too much sugar in it." "It's" doesn't refer to "It is" but to "It has", right! So In my opinion it shouldn't be there as the aim is not "has got". Please tell us why is this there. Thanks from Brazil!
Rodinei and Paloma

Hello Rodinei and Paloma,

You are right in thinking that 'it's' is a contraction of 'it has' in that case.

That particular sentence was included to practise the last point made in the Be careful! box at the end of the explanation:

(it's always means it is or it has.)

This is quite a common error that we thought was worth including. I'm sorry if it was confusing, though.

All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team

Please help to know “its” refers to which subject?
“
"The Agreement and these Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of the (a country name) without reference to its rules and principles on the conflict of law"
Thank you!

Hi mohandes2k,

It seems to refer to the Agreement mentioned earlier, but it could possibly refer to the law of the named country as well. It's not very clear.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Thanks so much Jonathan!

Hi Jonathan, it is stated as “on the conflict of law” not “on the conflict of laws”. Does that help in specifying which subject is meant?

Hi mohandes2k,

That doesn't make a difference for me. Both of the possible references (the Agreement and the law) could reasonably be thought to include that information about rules and principles on the conflict of law or laws.

However, I do not know the context in which this sentence occurs, and I have no specialist legal knowledge. Perhaps people with more knowledge of this particular area will be able to interpret it better, but all I can say from reading this sentence in isolation is that the reference isn't clear for me.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Hi,
Can I have a question, please?

"factories and its laborers"
or
"factories and their laborers"
Which one is correct?

Thank you!

Hi Hien_NGUYEN,

It should be "their", since "factories" is plural.

If it is about just one factory, it would be "a factory and its labourers".

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

What is correct to say:

Boost your system performance
or
Boost your system's performance

why?

Hi Gabi-OJ,

Both are grammatically correct and sound natural. As for why, it's a question of what forms have become commonly used and accepted by the speakers of English, rather than a about what is correct according to grammatical rules. English grammar allows both of these constructions, and people use both of them.

We are currently working on a new grammar page called "Possession and noun modifiers" about this very issue. It will explain some patterns in usage and give some practice exercises. Please check back soon to see it!

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Thank you a lot!
I guessed exactly that :)
I will take a look at the topic.

I appreciate your time and support.

Gabi

Is there any difference in function or intention of the two sentences below:

I should learn about animal bodies.
I should learn about animals' bodies.

Hello brianvariant,

I think the sentences are interchangeable in terms of meaning; I can't think of a context in which there would be a difference in meaning or use. I would say that the first sentence is the more common option, but both are grammatically correct.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, can somebody help me with this:

What would be correct: Women Forum or Women's Forum?

Thank you!

Hello Mike,

I think 'Women's Forum' is the correct choice here.

Peter
The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you!

Hello teachers, I read on e newspaper "...that both children parents and children were more prone to burnout." Would you please explain, why it read "children parents" instead of "children's parents". Are they actually the same? If different, what is the difference? Thank you, sir

Hello Risa warysha,

The sentence is incorrect. As you say, the correct form would be children's parents.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi team, I want to learn one more thing. I realised something about the verb phrase 'shake hand' during reading a text and I was confused about one thing. For example in this sentence , 'I shaked hand when we met.' I think the sentence should be like 'I shaked his hand....' Could you please explain me which one is true? Thank you

Hi Nevı,

You're right, it should be I shaked his hand.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Teacher, I saw some sentences like: 'I shaked hands with him.' Is it the same like 'I shaked his hand' ?

Hi Nevı,

Yes, the meaning is similar, and in many situations both would be fine to use! But there's a slight difference:

If I say I shaked his hand, it seems like I started the action, or I was shaking more forcefully than him.
If I say I shaked hands with him, it seems like the handshake was more equal. I could also say We shook hands to show this 'equality' more strongly.

Also, I should also mention that nowadays, it's very common to use shook as the past simple of the verb shake (instead of shaked).

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi guys, I want to learn one more thing about 'whose'.I haven't seen using of non-defining relative pronoun 'whose' in sentence like that: "I talked Ellen, whose party it was, and then I.." It looks strange to me, 'it' is used after party and there is no word after"was"!? Could you explain why it was different? I always see 'whose' in sentences like 'She doesn't like him whose car is Ferrari"

Hello teacher. I have an example : The bird is standing on the branch, the big nest nearby is its. Is above sentence correct ? "Its" is possessive adjective or possessive pronoun or both of them ? Thanks !

Hi Jack,

It's a good question! Its is an adjective, but not a pronoun (see the full list on our Possessive pronouns page). So, in this sentence, I'd add a noun, for example:

The big nest nearby is its nest.
Its nest is the big one nearby.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, in a sentence : The dog eat its bone. The possessive adjetive "its" include two meanings : The dog's bone and the bone people give. Is it correst, teacher ?

Hello Jack,

'its' just indicates some kind of relationship between the bone and the dog. In most cases, it's safe to assume that the bone belongs to the dog.

The form 'its' indicates a kind of possession. The form 'it's' is a short form of 'it is'. In the sentence you ask about, 'it's' wouldn't be correct.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi! In the first set of exercises, number 7, ¿shouldn't be "anymore" and not "any more"? Thanks

Hi Claudia,

Good question. In British English, any more is written as two words, in both of its uses – as a quantifier/determiner, and as an adverb. American English often uses anymore (one word) for the adverb.

Have a look at this page for more examples: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/any-more-or-anymore

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, many gracks to complement my information, I was a little confused regarding the use of the apostrophe in possessive pronouns, complement my doubts by watching a video, thank you. regards!

I find the notion 'possessive adjective' to be quite a confusing misnomer. These truly do not operate like adjectives at all which is why they 'also' are called 'possessive determiner' which to some degree goes far better with the German term 'Possessivartikel'. For example, one aspect that sure doesn't have me classify these as 'adjectives' is the lack of any superlatives. I mean, please tell me there can never be a 'much yourer or yourest house'.

Hello tbeer,

My apologies if this has caused you any confusion. In fact, I agree with you and I expect that most people who concern themselves with such things for their own sake would as well.

Please note that this is a learner grammar, which means that is intended to help people gain a certain level of proficiency with using the language rather than describe it in a completely coherent way.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

In English, determiners classed as possessive adjectives are given this term because (like adjectives) they modify their head noun to show possession, together they form a noun phrase. This classification is not unique to English (in French, it's termed 'les adjectifs possessifs')

Is the possessive s an adjective?

Hello Jenny,

Apostrophe + 's' in this case is a possessive determiner. It can show possession or other relationships. You can read more about it in the Wikipedia and on this page.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

So what you mean to say is, 'sports' here is an adjective and leisure activity is an adjective too! I am still confused why is there an 's' in sports? Why it was not written 'sport'? Why the writer had to separate it with 'and' then added the word 'leisure activity'?

Cycling is mainly a sports and leisure activity. Please explain why is there an 'S' in 'sports.' Is it as a plural or related to leisure and activity?

Hello Sad,

Speakers of American English tend to say 'sports' where speakers of British English would say 'sport', which I think might be way 'sports' is used in the sentence you refer to. Does that make sense?

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Possessives: adjectives

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