Possessive Adjectives: Definition, Usage and Examples

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Possessive adjectives help us show ownership and relationships in English. In this lesson, you’ll learn what possessive adjectives are, how to use them correctly, common mistakes to avoid, and practice exercises to build confidence in real sentences. This guide is ideal for ESL learners, teachers, and beginners.

What Are Possessive Adjectives?

Possessive adjectives are a type of determiner used to show ownership or belonging. They always come before the noun they modify. For example, in the phrase “her hat,” her is the possessive adjective that tells us the hat belongs to a female person.

Possessive adjectives do not change based on the noun that follows them. This means the same form is used with both singular and plural nouns.

Example:

• my book / my books

However, possessive adjectives do change according to the owner, such as gender or number.

Common possessive adjectives include:

• my (belongs to me)
• your (belongs to you)
• his (belongs to a male)
• her (belongs to a female)
• its (belongs to a thing or animal)
• our (belongs to us)
• their (belongs to them)

List of English Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives in English show ownership or belonging. They are placed before a noun and do not change based on whether the noun is singular or plural.

Possessive Adjectives by Owner

First Person

• my – belongs to me
  Example: my book

• our – belongs to us
  Example: our house

Second Person

• your – belongs to you (singular or plural)
  Example: your bag / your bags

Third Person

• his – belongs to a male
  Example: his bike

• her – belongs to a female
  Example: her hat

• its – belongs to a thing or animal
  Example: its tail

• their – belongs to them (singular or plural)
  Example: their project

How to Use Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are used to show ownership or belonging. They always appear before a noun and tell us who owns that noun. Common possessive adjectives include my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.

Example:

• Can I borrow your pen?

In this sentence, your shows that the pen belongs to the person being spoken to.

Position in a Sentence

Possessive adjectives are always placed directly before the noun they modify. They cannot stand alone and must be followed by a noun.

Structure:

possessive adjective + noun

Examples:

• My book is on the table.
• She washed her car yesterday.
• The dog hurt its leg.
• They sold their house last year.

A possessive adjective can appear anywhere in a sentence—as the subject, object, or part of a phrase—as long as it comes before the noun it modifies.

More examples:

• You can park your car in my garage.
• Did you finish your homework?
• He forgot his wallet at home.

Agreement Rule

Possessive adjectives do NOT agree with the noun they modify. Instead, they agree with the owner of the noun.

This is a very important rule for ESL learners.

✅ Correct Rule:

Choose the possessive adjective based on who owns the noun, not on the noun itself.

Examples:

• My book / my books
  (The owner is I, so we use my — singular or plural noun does not matter.)

• Her bag / her bags
  (The owner is she, so we use her.)

• Their house / their houses
  (The owner is they, even if the noun is singular.)

Common Mistake ❌

❌ The possessive adjective changes with the noun.

This is incorrect.

✔️ Correct understanding:

Special Notes

Your is used for both singular and plural owners:

• your bag (one person)
• your bags (many people)

Their can refer to:

• a group of people
• one person (singular they), which is very common in modern English

Example:

Someone left their umbrella here.

Important Reminder

Do not confuse possessive adjectives with possessive pronouns.

Possessive adjectives must be followed by a noun:

• my book
• her phone

Possessive pronouns replace the noun:

• This book is mine.
• The phone is hers.

Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns

Both possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns are used to show ownership or possession in English. However, they have different functions and positions in a sentence.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives modify a noun and must be followed by a noun. They are placed before the noun they describe.

Examples:

• my book
• your cat
• his jacket
• her house
• its tail
• our classroom
• their car

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace a noun or noun phrase. They stand alone and are not followed by a noun.

Examples:

• This book is mine.
• That cat is yours.
• The jacket is his.
• The house is hers.
• The classroom is ours.
• The car is theirs.

⚠️ Note: Its does not have a possessive pronoun form.

Quick Comparison Table

Practice Exercises: Possessive Adjectives

Exercise 1: Fill in the Blanks

(Choose the correct possessive adjective: my, your, his, her, its, our, their)

1. This is ______ backpack. I bring it to school every day.

2. Sarah lost ______ keys yesterday.

3. The dog is wagging ______ tail happily.

4. We finished ______ homework before dinner.

5. Mark said ______ phone battery was dead.

6. Can you lend me ______ pen for a moment?

7. The children are playing with ______ toys in the yard.

8. My parents sold ______ old car last week.

9. The company changed ______ policy recently.

10. Emma loves ______ new job.

Exercise 2: Choose the Correct Option

(Select the correct answer)

1. Is this ( your / yours ) jacket on the chair?

2. They forgot to bring ( their / theirs ) tickets.

3. She is proud of ( her / hers ) achievements.

4. This seat is ( my / mine ), not yours.

5. The cat cleaned ( its / it’s ) paws.

6. We like ( our / ours ) new apartment.

7. That bike is ( his / he’s ).

8. Are these notebooks ( your / yours )?

9. The students finished ( their / theirs ) assignments early.

10. I can’t find ( my / mine ) wallet.

Exercise 3: Correct the Mistake

(Each sentence has one mistake. Rewrite it correctly.)

1. This is mine book.

2. She forgot hers phone at home.

3. The dog hurt it’s leg.

4. That house is their’s.

5. We like ours teacher very much.

6. Is this your’s bag?

7. He lost him jacket yesterday.

8. The company changed it’s logo.

9. These are her’s shoes.

10. I finished myself homework early.

Answer Key:

Exercise 1:

1. my
2. her
3. its
4. our
5. his
6. your
7. their
8. their
9. its
10. her

Exercise 2:

1. your
2. their
3. her
4. mine
5. its
6. our
7. his
8. yours
9. their
10. my

Exercise 3 (Corrected):

1. This is my book.
2. She forgot her phone at home.
3. The dog hurt its leg.
4. That house is theirs.
5. We like our teacher very much.
6. Is this your bag?
7. He lost his jacket yesterday.
8. The company changed its logo.
9. These are her shoes.
10. I finished my homework early.

You might also like:

• Demonstrative Adjectives
• Descriptive Adjectives
• Order of Adjectives
• List of Adjective