In the most simple terms, a possessive adjective is an adjective that shows possession. This type of adjective is always used before a noun as a way of showing what or who owns it.

The most common examples of possessive adjectives are as follows:

• my
• your
• his
• her
• their
• its
• our
• whose

Lets take a look at some of these being used in a sentence.

• This is my ball.
• Her house is larger than your house.
• Will you be going to his birthday party?
• Have you seen our new website?

You can see in the above examples, that the possessive adjectives show who each noun belongs to.

List of Subject Pronouns and their Possessive Adjectives

Each of the possessive adjectives corresponds to to its own personal pronoun, as follows:

• I-my
• You-you
• He-his
• She-her
• They-their
• It-its
• We-our
• Who-whose

It may come as a surprise to learn that the possessive adjectives can also function as a pronoun, this is because they are able to replace a pronoun in a sentence and still carry the same meaning, lets take a look at an example of this.

• Is this Sallys jacket?
• No, its her coat.

You can see that the pronoun Sally has been replaced with the possessive adjective her which can also serve as a pronoun.

Possessive Adjective Examples

• It is my pen.
• Your house is really beautiful.
• Her temper hasnt improved with age!
• Never judge something by its looks.
• This is our website.
• Their living room is equipped with all kinds of modern appliances.

Rules Of Possessive Adjectives

As with any area of grammar within the English language, there are certain rules which must be followed when using the possessive adjective. However, these are easy to understand and we are now going to look at these in a little more detail.

Use Of Apostrophes

It is a common mistake to use an apostrophe with the possessive adjective its when it is not required. We use an apostrophe with the word its when it is being shortened from it has or it is, since a possessive adjective does not fall into the category, it NEVER needs an apostrophe.

Your vs You’re

Similarly to the above , many people confuse the use of your and youre. When using a possessive adjective, you should always use your. The word youre is a shortened form of you are and is not appropriate for use as a possessive adjective.

Their, they’re and there

One of the most common gripes of English grammar and spelling enthusiasts is the confusion between the three forms of the sound their, theyre and there When using this as a possessive adjective, you should always use the spelling their as the two others mean completely different thing. (There refers to location and theyre is a shortened version of they are.)

Whose vs Who’s

Finally, people might often mistake the possessive adjective whose for the word whos, however this is not the correct spelling and is a shortened form of who is.

Use of his, her and its

When talking about people in general in English, there is not a gender specific word, however there is the possessive adjective its which is commonly used when their should be used. Lets take a look at an example.

• Each parent is in charge of his or her own child.

Whilst this sentence is correct, it is somewhat wordy and so many people might use its instead. But this is not correct.

• Each parent is responsible for its own child.

The following sentence is what should be used.

• Each parent is in charge of their own child.

Difference between Subject Pronoun and Possessive Adjective

• Subject pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they. Subject pronouns usually occur before a verb.

For example:

He is an English teacher.

They want to learn Chinese.

• Possessive adjectives are my, your, his, her, its, our, their. Possessive adjectives occur before a noun (her hair) or a an adjective + noun (her new hair).
• Possessive adjectives have no singular or plural. They are used with both singular and plural nouns (his ball, his balls).

• Subject pronouns + verb
• Possessive adjectives + (adjectives) + noun

The possessive adjective is used to show who is the owner of the noun. There are quite a few rules and common mistakes which are made when using possessive adjectives, but these can be avoided by taking the time to learn the rules and create grammatically correct sentences.