Level: beginner
| Subject | Object | Possessive adjective | Possessive pronoun |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | me | my | mine |
| you | you | your | yours |
| he | him | his | his |
| she | her | her | hers |
| it | it | its | - |
| we | us | our | ours |
| they | them | their | theirs |
| Be careful! |
|---|
|
Possessive pronouns do not have an apostrophe:
|
We can use a possessive pronoun instead of a full noun phrase to avoid repeating words:
Is that John's car?
No, it's mine. (NOT No, it's [my car].)Whose coat is this?
Is it yours? (NOT Is it [your coat]?)Her coat is grey.
Mine is brown. (NOT[My coat]is brown.)
- Possessives: pronouns 1
Level: intermediate
We can use possessive pronouns and nouns after of. We can say:
Susan is one of my friends. > Susan is a friend of mine.
(NOT Susan is a friendof me.)I am one of Susan's friends. > I am a friend of Susan's.
(NOT I am a friendof Susan.)
- Possessives: pronouns 2
Comments
Which one is correct and why? - "Government are the servant of mankind." or "Government are the servant of mankind's"
Hello CHEKYTAN,
Neither is correct. In this context, government as a general concept would be singular (Government is...). As far as the rest goes, the first is the correct option. Although the 's form is in some contexts, especially with names, it is actually grammatically illogical and it is not used in a context such as this.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Peter,
"Government is very unpredictable. They are always changing their minds."
Is this sentence correct?
Hello again CHÉKYTAN,
In this example the context is different. Here, you are presumably talking about a particular government rather than about the concept of government in general. Thus, here we would use 'the;:
The government is...
The rest of the sentence is fine.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello. I have a question. Please, help me understand this. I am confused.
Which one is correct?
a) A crocodile is a predator that lives in tropic rivers, and its bite can kill many animals.
b) A crocodile is a predator that lives in tropic rivers, and whose bite can kill many animals.
This kind of variants was in an English test. I chose the answer "a", because "its" is a possessive adjective for animals and things.
But the examiner insisted on the answer "b".
I thought "whose" used only for people to express things that belong to them.
Hello Grammarfan07,
Both options are grammatically possible, though I would say the second sentence does not need the word 'and'. Also, the correct adjective here would be 'tropical' rather than 'tropic'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you very much Peter. Now I understand that both options are grammatically correct or possible as you say.
Unfortunately, there are English teachers from Nigeria in Kyrgyzstan. They cheat on with tests answers as they think native citizens are not able to notice it.
Hi, can I use an possessive adjective followed by an apostrophe. For example: Her friends’ coats or her friends coats?
Hello Phan Hang,
Yes, you can certainly use an apostrophe like that.
Her friends' coats is perfectly fine.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
It's really great.
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