Possessives
Possessives take many forms in English.
Pronouns in the possessive case can be used as adjectives to modify nouns or stand alone as subjects, objects or complements.
For example,
| My book is on the table. | (used to modify a noun) |
| Mine is on the table. | (used as a subject) |
| I put mine in the refrigerator. | (used as an object) |
| The red one is mine. | (used as a complement) |
See the table below:
| Pronouns as adjectives | Pronouns as subjects, objects and complements |
| my | mine |
| his | his |
| her | hers |
| its | its (not common) |
| your | yours |
| our | ours |
| their | theirs |
The possessive is formed by adding ?s to singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in s. Such possessives can be used as modifiers, or they can stand alone.
- It is John’s bicycle.
- Those are the children’s toys.
- Jack’s is the white one.
- I’m going to Joe’s.
With plural nouns ending in ?s, only an apostrophe (?) is used to form the possessive.
- The girls’ bicycles are in the repair shop.
- All the students’ books were stolen.
For Practice: See
Possessive Pronouns (from The Internet TESL Journal)
See also:Grammar: Pronouns
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