Level: beginner
| Subject | Object | Possessive adjective |
|---|---|---|
| I | me | my |
| you | you | your |
| he | him | his |
| she | her | her |
| it | it | its |
| we | us | our |
| they | them | their |
We use possessive adjectives:
- to show something belongs to somebody:
That's our house.
My car is very old.
- for relations and friends:
My mother is a doctor.
How old is your sister?
- for parts of the body:
He's broken his arm.
She's washing her hair.
I need to clean my teeth.
- Possessives: adjectives
| Be careful! |
|---|
|
The possessive adjective its does not have an apostrophe ('):
(it's always means it is or it has.) |
- its or it's?
Comments
Hi Claudia,
Good question. In British English, any more is written as two words, in both of its uses – as a quantifier/determiner, and as an adverb. American English often uses anymore (one word) for the adverb.
Have a look at this page for more examples: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/any-more-or-anymore
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, many gracks to complement my information, I was a little confused regarding the use of the apostrophe in possessive pronouns, complement my doubts by watching a video, thank you. regards!
I find the notion 'possessive adjective' to be quite a confusing misnomer. These truly do not operate like adjectives at all which is why they 'also' are called 'possessive determiner' which to some degree goes far better with the German term 'Possessivartikel'. For example, one aspect that sure doesn't have me classify these as 'adjectives' is the lack of any superlatives. I mean, please tell me there can never be a 'much yourer or yourest house'.
In English, determiners classed as possessive adjectives are given this term because (like adjectives) they modify their head noun to show possession, together they form a noun phrase.
This classification is not unique to English (in French, it's termed 'les adjectifs possessifs')
Hello tbeer,
My apologies if this has caused you any confusion. In fact, I agree with you and I expect that most people who concern themselves with such things for their own sake would as well.
Please note that this is a learner grammar, which means that is intended to help people gain a certain level of proficiency with using the language rather than describe it in a completely coherent way.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Is the possessive s an adjective?
Hello Jenny,
Apostrophe + 's' in this case is a possessive determiner. It can show possession or other relationships. You can read more about it in the Wikipedia and on this page.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
So what you mean to say is, 'sports' here is an adjective and leisure activity is an adjective too!
I am still confused why is there an 's' in sports? Why it was not written 'sport'?
Why the writer had to separate it with 'and' then added the word 'leisure activity'?
Cycling is mainly a sports and leisure activity.
Please explain why is there an 'S' in 'sports.'
Is it as a plural or related to leisure and activity?
Hello Sad,
Speakers of American English tend to say 'sports' where speakers of British English would say 'sport', which I think might be way 'sports' is used in the sentence you refer to. Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
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