Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are words like my, our, your, his, her and their. They express possession and goes before nouns.

• She is my daughter.
• That was your mistake.
• It is our car.
• Where is his father?
• Who is her mother?
• Trees often shed their leaves in autumn.

A possessive adjective cannot stand alone. It must always be followed by a noun. By contrast, possessive pronouns can stand alone. They are forms like mine, ours, yours, theirs, his, hers.

• That umbrella is mine. Where is yours?
• I always invite them to my parties, but they have never invited me to theirs.

Possessive adjectives and pronouns

Fill in the blanks with an appropriate possessive adjective or pronoun.

1. I can’t find ……………………. cat. (my / mine)
2. She doesn’t have a house of ………………….. own. (her / hers)
3. ………………. condition is critical. (Her / Hers)
4. I have spoken to …………………… mother. (his / him)
5. I don’t want anything that is not …………………….. (my / mine)
6. I enjoy spending time in …………………. garden. (my / mine)
7. I know how to solve ………………… problems. (my / mine). I don’t want ………………….. advice. (your / yours)
8. You should never take anything that is not …………………………. (your / yours)
9. Is this cat ………………………. (your / yours)?
10. How you spend ………………… (your / yours) money is your business.
11. She is not on talking terms with ……………………. neighbours. (her / hers)
12. I don’t have a pen. Can you lend me …………………………..? (your / yours)

Answers

1. my, 2. her, 3. her, 4. his, 5. mine, 6. my, 7. my, your, 8. yours, 9. yours, 10. your, 11. her, 12. yours