Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives show who something belongs to. They go before a noun and never change:
| Subject pronoun | Possessive adjective | Pronunciation (IPA) | Spanish | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | my | /maɪ/ | mi / mis | This is my bag. |
| You | your | /jɔːr/ ↔ /jɔː/ | tu / tus / su / sus | What's your name? |
| He | his | /hɪz/ | su / sus (de él) | He loves his car. |
| She | her | /hɜːr/ ↔ /hɜː/ | su / sus (de ella) | She has her keys. |
| It | its | /ɪts/ | su / sus (de algo) | The dog is in its bed. |
| We | our | /aʊr/ ↔ /aʊə/ | nuestro/a/os/as | This is our house. |
| They | their | /ðɛr/ ↔ /ðeə/ | su / sus (de ellos) | Their teacher is nice. |
Pronunciation (IPA): American ↔ British. When both sound the same, only one is shown.
How to use them
A possessive adjective always comes before a noun. It replaces "the … of [person]":
| Long form | With possessive adjective |
|---|---|
| the book of Maria | her book |
| the car of my father | his car |
| the homework of the students | their homework |
his vs her
Unlike Spanish, English possessives agree with the owner, not the thing owned:
| English | Explanation |
|---|---|
| his bag (the bag belongs to a man) | his = he owns it |
| her bag (the bag belongs to a woman) | her = she owns it |
| its tail (the tail belongs to the dog) | its = the animal/thing owns it |
its vs it's:
its (no apostrophe) = possessive adjective: "The dog wagged its tail." · it's (with apostrophe) = "it is" or "it has": "It's cold today." Both sound exactly the same, /ɪts/, so only the spelling tells them apart. This is a very common mistake!
Exercise
1. This is ______ teacher. She is very kind. (talking about we/our)
2. He loves ______ dog. (the dog belongs to him)
3. What is ______ name? (I don't know this person's name)
4. The cat is sleeping in ______ basket.
5. The students have ______ books on the table.