Possessive adjectives

1. What Are Possessive Adjectives?

Possessive adjectives show who or what something belongs to. They always go before a noun. The form of the possessive adjective never changes — it stays the same whether the noun is singular or plural, and it does not change to match the gender of the noun.

The possessive adjectives in English are:

• my
• your
• his
• her
• its
• our
• their

2. Common Possessive Adjectives and How to Use Them

• my – something belongs to me
  • This is my book.
• your – something belongs to you (one person or more than one person)
  • • Singular: Is this your bag? (talking to one person)
    • Plural: Please open your books. (talking to a group)

    Note: English uses the same word your for one person and for a group — only the noun changes, not the possessive adjective.

• his – something belongs to a man or boy (a male owner)
  • That is his jacket.
• her – something belongs to a woman or a girl (a female owner)
  • This is her phone.
• its – something belongs to a thing or animal
  • The dog is wagging its tail.

    its (no apostrophe) is the possessive adjective. it's (with apostrophe) means it is — these are different words.

    We never use its for a person — even if we do not know their name. Use his, her, or their for people.

• our – something belongs to us
  • This is our house.
• their – something belongs to them
  • Those are their shoes.

Two of these adjectives need a little extra attention: his and her depend on the gender of the owner.

His or Her? Choose by the Owner's Gender

The owner's gender matters for his and her:

3. Recap: Possessive Adjectives

Here is a summary of all the possessive adjectives from this lesson. Use this table to check your understanding: