What are Possessives?
Possessives show ownership or a relationship between things. They are used to indicate that something belongs to someone or something.
Types of Possessives
- Possessive Nouns: Add 's or just an apostrophe (') to a noun. Example: John's book, the girls' room.
- Possessive Pronouns: Words like mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs that indicate possession.
Examples of Possessives
Possessive Nouns: This is Sarah's car. The dogs' bowls are empty.
Possessive Pronouns: This book is mine. The choice is yours.
What are Pronouns?
Pronouns are words that replace nouns in a sentence, helping to avoid repetition.
Types of Pronouns
- Subject Pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
- Object Pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, them
- Possessive Pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
- Reflexive Pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Examples of Pronouns
Subject: She is reading a book.
Object: He gave the book to me.
Possessive: This pen is hers.
Reflexive: He made it himself.
Rules for Using Possessives & Pronouns
- Use possessive pronouns to avoid repetition. Example: This is my book, not yours.
- Do not confuse possessive pronouns with contractions (e.g., it's vs. its).
- Match the pronoun with its antecedent in number and gender. Example: The boy lost his toy.
Practice Exercises
- Rewrite the sentence with a possessive: The car of John → John's car
- Fill in the blank: This bag is ___. (mine)
- Choose the correct pronoun: The teacher asked (I/me) a question. (me)
- Correct the error: Its a beautiful day. → It's a beautiful day.