Possessives
المؤلف:
EVELYNP.ALTENBERG & ROBERTM.VAGO
المصدر:
English Grammar Understanding the basics
الجزء والصفحة:
P50-C3
2025-11-04
79
Possessives
Possessives are words that indicate ownership or belonging. The possessives are under lined in the sentences below.
1. I sold my car.
2. Betty’s neighbor is an architect.
The possessive in sentence 1 is called a possessive pronoun; the possessive in sentence 2 is called a possessive proper noun. Notice that, just like articles and demonstratives, possessive pronouns and possessive proper nouns can appear directly before a noun. We’ll discuss each of these separately.
Possessive pronouns
There are just a few possessive pronouns that function as determiners. These are commonly referred to as possessive pronouns with determiner function or possessive adjectives. We will call them simply determiner possessive pronouns. (For another function of possessive pronouns, see Possessive pronouns.)
Quick tip
The determiner possessive pronouns are: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.
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Possessive proper nouns
The possessive proper nouns are underlined in this next sentence:
3. I saw Mary’s cat chase Mrs. Smith’s dog, which ran across Jim’s yard.
Remember, names do not have to be names of just people. For example, London’s, America’s, and IBM’s are each possessive proper nouns: London’s bridges, America’s highways, IBM’s products. (See Proper and common nouns to remind yourself about proper nouns.)
To enhance your understanding
While possessive proper nouns can function as determiners, possessive common nouns (see Proper and common nouns), for example the girl’s hat, are considered to be adjectives. (See Identifying adjectives for more about adjectives.) This is because possessive common nouns, but not possessive proper nouns, can have a determiner in front of them– keeping in mind that a noun will generally have just one determiner introducing it. See the following examples:
4. The girl’s hat is new. (girl’s = possessive common noun)
5. *The Mary’s hat is new. (Mary’s = possessive proper noun)
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