English — Grammar: Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns — 2nd Year Middle School — Algeria

Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns

Introduction

Possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) show who owns something and are placed before a noun. Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs) replace a noun phrase to avoid repetition. Both indicate possession but are used differently.

Possessive Adjectives

• Before a noun: my book, your pen, his car, her bag, its tail, our school, their house
• “This is my book” (my + noun)
• “She loves her cat” (her + noun)

Possessive Pronouns

• Replace noun + possessive adjective: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
• “This book is mine” (instead of “my book”)
• “That pen is yours” (instead of “your pen”)
• “The car is his” / “The bag is hers” / “The house is theirs”

Exercises

1. Complete: “This is ___ (I) book”, “The bag is ___ (she)”. 2. Choose: “This is my/mine book”, “This book is my/mine”. 3. Replace: “This is my pen” → “This pen is ___”. 4. Write 4 sentences using possessive adjectives and 4 using possessive pronouns. 5. What’s the difference between “your” and “yours”?

Summary

Possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her) go before nouns. Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers) replace the noun + adjective. “This is my book” → “This book is mine”. Possessive pronouns stand alone.

Useful links: Prefixes and Suffixes | Argumentative Essay