Possessives

Overview

Possessives show that something belongs to or is associated with someone or something. English has several ways to express possession:

• Possessive adjectives: my, your, his book
• Possessive pronouns: The book is mine, yours, his
• Apostrophe-s: John's book
• Of: the name of the street

Possessive Adjectives (Determiners)

Possessive adjectives come before a noun and show who the noun belongs to:

Key Points

• Possessive adjectives do not change for singular or plural nouns:

  • my book / my books (NOT mies books)

• They replace articles — you cannot use both:

  • Wrong: the my book or a my friend
  • Correct: my book, my friend

• They agree with the owner, not the thing owned:

  • His sister (the sister belongs to a male person)
  • Her brother (the brother belongs to a female person)

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace a possessive adjective + noun. They stand alone — no noun follows:

Note: There is no possessive pronoun for "it" — "its" is only a possessive adjective.

When to Use Possessive Pronouns

After "be":

• This bag is mine.
• Is that phone yours?

To avoid repeating a noun:

• "Whose car is this?" "It's hers." (= her car)
• My phone is old. Yours is much newer. (= your phone)

In "of + possessive pronoun" structure:

• She's a friend of mine. (NOT a friend of me)
• He's a colleague of ours.
• Is she a relative of yours?

Apostrophe-S ('s) — The Possessive Form

Basic Rule

Add 's to the owner to show possession:

• John's car (the car belonging to John)
• My mother's name (the name of my mother)
• The dog's tail (the tail of the dog)
• The teacher's desk (the desk of the teacher)

Plural Nouns Ending in -s

Add only an apostrophe (no extra s):

• The students' books (books of multiple students)
• My parents' house (the house of both parents)
• The teachers' room (the room for the teachers)
• The girls' school (the school for girls)

Irregular Plurals (Not Ending in -s)

Add 's as normal:

• The children's toys
• The men's bathroom
• The women's team
• The people's choice

Names Ending in -s

Both forms are acceptable:

• James's book or James' book
• Charles's house or Charles' house

Modern style guides tend to prefer adding 's (James's), but both are correct. Choose one style and be consistent.

Multiple Ownership

When to Use 's vs. "Of"

Use 's for:

People and animals:

• Sarah's job
• The cat's food
• My brother's friend
• The president's speech

Time expressions:

• today's newspaper
• yesterday's meeting
• this week's schedule
• a month's salary
• two weeks' holiday (plural time — apostrophe only)

Places and organizations:

• London's parks
• The company's policy
• The world's population

Use "of" for:

Things and abstract concepts:

• the name of the street (NOT usually the street's name)
• the end of the film
• the colour of the car
• the roof of the building
• the beginning of the year
• the top of the mountain
• the back of the room

Longer or more complex phrases:

• the opinion of the majority of the committee members

Both Are Possible

Some expressions work with either:

• The company's profits / The profits of the company
• The city's centre / The centre of the city
• The government's decision / The decision of the government

General guideline: Use 's for people, animals, and time. Use of for things. When in doubt, both often work.

Special Uses of 's

Places and Businesses

You can drop the noun when the place/business is understood:

• I'm going to the doctor's. (= the doctor's office/surgery)
• She's at the hairdresser's. (= the hairdresser's salon)
• We bought it at Sainsbury's. (= Sainsbury's store)
• Let's meet at John's. (= John's house)

Double Possessive

Sometimes you combine of and 's:

• She's a friend of John's. (= one of John's friends)
• That idea of Sarah's was brilliant.
• It's no business of yours.

Its vs. It's

This is one of the most common mistakes in English:

Memory trick: If you can replace it with "it is" or "it has," use it's. Otherwise, use its.

Whose

Whose asks about possession:

• Whose bag is this? (who does it belong to?)
• Whose turn is it?
• The man whose car was stolen... (relative clause)

Don't confuse whose (possession) with who's (= who is / who has):

• Whose book is this? (possession)
• Who's coming to the party? (= who is)

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Confusing its and it's

• Wrong: The dog wagged it's tail.
• Correct: The dog wagged its tail. (possessive, no apostrophe)

Mistake 2: Confusing whose and who's

• Wrong: Who's bag is this?
• Correct: Whose bag is this?

Mistake 3: Using possessive adjective + article

• Wrong: the my friend
• Correct: my friend

Mistake 4: Wrong possessive adjective

• Wrong: Everyone should bring his or her book. (awkward)
• Better (modern): Everyone should bring their book. (singular "they" is widely accepted)

Mistake 5: Apostrophe in possessive pronouns

• Wrong: This is your's. / The book is her's.
• Correct: This is yours. The book is hers. (no apostrophe in possessive pronouns!)

Mistake 6: Wrong apostrophe placement with plurals

• Wrong: The student's passed the exam. (this means "belonging to the student")
• Correct: The students passed the exam. (simple plural — no apostrophe)
• Possessive plural: The students' results were good.

Mistake 7: "A friend of me"

• Wrong: She is a friend of me.
• Correct: She is a friend of mine.

Quick Reference

Practice Tips

1. Label things around your room: "This is my desk. That is my sister's chair. Those books are ours."
2. Practise its vs. it's: Write ten sentences using each — check every one with the "it is" replacement test.
3. Describe your family: Use possessive forms — "My mother's name is... My parents' house is in..."
4. Respond with possessive pronouns: When someone asks "Whose is this?", practise answering with "It's mine / yours / hers / ours / theirs."
5. Read and spot possessives: In any English text, highlight every possessive form and identify which type it is.