Possessive Adjectives

We use possessive adjectives to show who owns or "possesses" something

Personal Pronouns	Possessive adjectives	Examples
I	My	My cousin is from Czech Republic
You	Your	Your brother and I are good friends.
He	His	His grandpa is very old. I think he is 89 years old
She	Her	Her husband is an important businessman.
It	Its	Its design is very modern
We	Our	Our family meet every Christmas eve.
You	Your	Your parents are stricter than mine.
They	Their	Their names are Phillip and Mary.

 

 

Possessive 's

When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we usually add 's to a noun:

My brother’s house is wonderful.
My boyfriend’s mother is my mother in law.
They are my parent’s friends.

Rules:

1. Use ‘s with a person to talk about relatives and possessions. Ex: Patrick’s mother NOT:The mother of Patrick.
2. Use just the apostrophe when the word ends in s. (regular plural people) Ex: They are my parents’ friends. NOT: They’re my parent’s friends.
3. Don’t use ‘s with things. Ex: The end of the film NOT: the film’s end.
4. Be careful with the possessive ‘s and the verb to be ‘s. Ex: Mary’s mother. (possessive) – Maria’s Spanish. (verb to be)