Possessive Determiners
Words that show ownership before nouns: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
When to Use Possessive Determiners
- •Before nouns to show ownership: my book, your car, their house.
- •With body parts: I hurt my hand. She washed her face.
- •With family/relationships: his mother, our friends, their children.
- •Must match the owner, not the thing owned.
- •Different from possessive pronouns (mine, yours) which replace nouns.
How to Form Possessive Determiners
Affirmative (+)
Possessive determiner + noun
Negative (-)
Same structure in negative sentences
Question (?)
Is this your book? Where is my phone?
💡 I → my, you → your, he → his, she → her, it → its, we → our, they → their.
Examples of Possessive Determiners
✓She loves her job.
✗She loves she job.
Use possessive determiner 'her'.
✓The dog wagged its tail.
✗The dog wagged it's tail.
Its (possessive) has no apostrophe.
✓They sold their house.
✗They sold there house.
Their = possessive; there = place.
Common Mistakes with Possessive Determiners
💡 Practice Tips for Possessive Determiners
- • Match to owner: he → his, she → her, they → their.
- • Its vs it's: its = possessive; it's = it is.
- • Your vs you're: your = possessive; you're = you are.
- • Their vs there vs they're: their = possessive.
Quick Quiz
Grammar sorted. Now grow your vocabulary.