Possessives: my, your, 's
The words that say who something belongs to: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, the pronouns mine and yours, and the ending 's on nouns.
When you use it
You use possessives to say who something belongs to or who someone is related to: my phone, her job, Tom's car, the children's room. English has three tools for this. Possessive adjectives (my, your) stand in front of a noun. Possessive pronouns (mine, yours) stand alone and replace the noun. The ending 's turns a name or a noun into an owner: Anna's coat.
How it is formed
Each subject pronoun has a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun. The adjective always needs a noun after it. The pronoun never does.
| Subject | Possessive adjective (+ noun) | Possessive pronoun (alone) |
|---|---|---|
| I | my phone | mine |
| you | your phone | yours |
| he | his phone | his |
| she | her phone | hers |
| it | its ball | (not used) |
| we | our phone | ours |
| they | their phone | theirs |
His and her are chosen by the owner, not by the thing owned. Tom's car is his car; Anna's car is her car. The possessive adjective does not change for the number or gender of the noun: my book, my books, my brother, my sister.
Its without an apostrophe is the possessive of it. It's with an apostrophe means it is or it has. They sound the same and are confused by native speakers too.
To make a noun into an owner, add 's. The rules depend on how the noun ends.
| Noun | Possessive | Example |
|---|---|---|
| singular noun or name | add 's | Tom's car, my friend's house, the boss's office |
| plural noun ending in -s | add only the apostrophe | the students' room, my parents' house |
| irregular plural not ending in -s | add 's | the children's room, the men's toilet |
The 's form is used mainly with people and animals, and with time expressions: Anna's bag, the dog's tail, today's news, a week's holiday. For things, English usually prefers a noun in front of another noun or of: the car door, the top of the page, rather than the car's door.
The question word for owners is whose: Whose bag is this? It's mine. Whose is not the same as who's, which means who is.
Examples
- This is my phone, and that one is yours.
- Anna loves her job.
- Tom washes his car every Sunday.
- The dog is playing with its ball.
- Our neighbours are very quiet.
- Is this Tom's jacket? No, it's Anna's.
- The children's room is upstairs.
- Whose bag is this? It's mine.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Anna loves his job. Tom drives her car. (Tom's own car)
✓ Anna loves her job. Tom drives his car.
In Ukrainian and Russian свій / свой covers any owner regardless of gender, so learners pick his or her at random. English chooses his or her by the gender of the owner: Anna is a woman, so everything of Anna's is her. - ✗ I washed the hands. He broke the leg. She put on the coat.
✓ I washed my hands. He broke his leg. She put on her coat.
With body parts and clothes, Ukrainian and Russian normally leave out the possessive: Я помив руки / Я помыл руки. The owner is obvious. English still puts my, his, her in front. The hands sounds as if they belong to somebody else. - ✗ the car of Tom, the book of my friend
✓ Tom's car, my friend's book
The Slavic genitive puts the owner after the thing: машина Тома. English 's puts the owner first. Of is possible with people but sounds heavy and is rarely used in everyday speech. - ✗ The dog wagged it's tail. Its raining.
✓ The dog wagged its tail. It's raining.
Its is the possessive. It's is it is. If you can replace the word with it is and the sentence still makes sense, write the apostrophe. - ✗ This is mine phone. Yours car is nice. It is my.
✓ This is my phone. Your car is nice. It is mine.
My and your need a noun after them; mine and yours replace the noun. In Ukrainian and Russian one word does both jobs (мій телефон and цей телефон мій), so the two English sets get swapped.
Try it
- This is not my bag. It is ___. (she)
- Tom washes ___ car every week.
- Is that ___ coat? (Anna)
- The cat licked ___ paw.
- That house is ___. (we)