Possessives: nouns

Level: beginner me
women children people
n
We add 's to singular nouns to show
possession: These are men's shoes.
Children's clothes are very expensive.
We are having a party at John's house.
Michael drove his friend's car. We can use a possessive instead of a full noun
phrase to avoid repeating words:
We add ' to plural nouns ending in -s:
Is that John's car?
This is my parents' house. No, it's Mary's. (NOT No, it's Mary's [car].)
Those are ladies' shoes.
Whose coat is this?
But we use 's with irregular plural nouns: It's my wife's. (NOT It's my wife's [coat].)

1. That car belongs to my friend. = It's my ___ car.

a. friend'sfriends'

2. That dog belongs to the family next door. = It's my ___ dog.
neighbour's neighbours'

3. I asked my brother to help me. = I asked for my ___ help.

brother's brothers

4. Our daughter goes to a school just for girls. = She goes to a ___ school.

girl's girls'

5. What does your teacher think about your progress? = What's your ___ opinion?
teacher's teachers'

6. Our cat always sleeps on that chair. = It's the ___ chair.
cat's cats'

7. The party was organised by the Smith family. = It was the ___ party.
Smith's Smiths'

8. That's the house where my friends live. = It's my ___ house.

friend's friends'

1. That car belongs to my friend. = It's my __________________.

2. That's the house where my friends live. = It's my _________________.

3. That dog belongs to the family next door. = It's my _________________.

4. I asked my brother to help me. = I asked for my _________________.

5. Our daughter goes to a school just for girls. = She goes to a ________________.

6. What does your teacher think about your progress? = What's your ___________________.

7. Our cat always sleeps on that chair. = It's the ____________________.

8. The party was organised by the Smith family. = It was the ____________________.
Possessives: adjectives We use possessive adjectives:

Level: beginner  to show something belongs to

somebody:
Possessive
Subject Object That's our house.
adjective
My car is very old.
I me my
you you your  for relations and friends:

he him his My mother is a doctor.

How old is your sister?
she her her
it it its  for parts of the body:
we us our He's broken his arm.
they them their She's washing her hair.
I need to clean my teeth.

1. My dad likes to brush ______________ teeth after every meal.

2. We're flying very early tomorrow so we should pack ______________ bags tonight.

3. When you go swimming, do you open ______________ eyes underwater?

4. Lucy's always talking about _______________ new boyfriend. It's really boring.

5. Good morning, children. Please open _______________ books on page 87.

6. Ruth and Steven have a very close relationship with _______________ grandparents.

7. I can't touch _______________ toes any more. It's time to start going to the gym!

8. The dog wagged ________________ tail when it saw the postman

Be careful!
The possessive adjective its does not have an apostrophe ('):
That bird has broken its (NOT it's) wing.
(it's always means it is or it has.)

1. Oxford is famous for _________ university.

2. Every year, the company hosts a big party for all _________ employees.

3. People say _________ easier to learn new things when you're young.

4. I read a fantastic book recently but I can't remember the name of ________ author.

5. Don't worry, the train will be here soon; ________ always a little bit late!

6. This cake is really sweet. I think _________ got too much sugar in it.
Possessives: pronouns Be careful!
Level: beginner Possessive pronouns do not have an
apostrophe:
Objec Possessive Possessive
Subject Is that car yours/hers/ours/theirs?
t adjective pronoun
(NOT Is that car your's/her's/our's/their's?)
I me my mine
We can use a possessive pronoun instead of a
you you your yours full noun phrase to avoid repeating words:
he him his his Is that John's car?
she her her hers No, it's mine. (NOT No, it's [my car].)

it it its - Whose coat is this?

Is it yours? (NOT Is it [your coat]?)
we us our ours
Her coat is grey.
they them their theirs Mine is brown. (NOT [My coat] is brown.)

1. A: Whose book is this?

B: I don't know. It isn't _______________.
2. This is your toothbrush and this is her toothbrush.
= This is your toothbrush and this is __________________.
3. The blue car is George's and the silver car is their car.
= The blue car is George's and the silver car is ______________________.
4. I found this pen on the floor. Is it your pen?
= I found this pen on the floor. Is it______________________.
5. We can't invite people to Lee's flat! It's not our flat.
= We can't invite people to Lee's flat! It's not ___________________.
6. My dessert was the ice cream and your dessert was the cake.
= My dessert was the ice cream and ____________________ was the cake.
7. Her university was in Leicester and his university was in Coventry.
= Her university was in Leicester and ____________________ was in Coventry.
8. Shall we watch the match here or do you want to come to our house?
= Shall we watch the match here or do you want to come to ______________________?

Level: intermediate
We can use possessive pronouns and nouns after of. We can say:
Susan is one of my friends. > Susan is a I am one of Susan's friends. > I am a friend of
friend of mine. Susan's.
(NOT Susan is a friend of me.) (NOT I am a friend of Susan.)
1. This is Rachel. She's one of my colleagues.
= This is Rachel. She's a colleague __________________.
2. That's Mauro. He's one of our friends.
= That's Mauro. He's a friend _____________________.
3. I'm Alex. I'm one of your students.
= I'm Alex. I'm a ________________________.
4. Who's that lady next to Howard ? Is she one of his aunts?
= Who's that lady next to Howard? Is she ____________________?
5. How do you know Karolina? Are you one of her classmates?
= How do you know Karolina? Are you ____________________?
6. You look like Ben and Matthew. Are you one of their relatives?
= You look like Ben and Matthew. Are you ____________________?
Possessives: questions

Level: beginner

We use whose to ask questions about possession:

Pattern A Pattern B
o
Whose coat is this? Whose is this coat?
r
o
Whose book is that? Whose is that book?
r
o
Whose pens are those? Whose are those pens?
r
o
Whose bags are those? Whose are those bags?
r

Be careful!
Be careful not to confuse whose and who's (= who is). They are pronounced in the same way but
spelled differently:
Whose coat is this?
Who's (= Who is) Stefan?
1. Whose house is that? = Whose ____________________.

2. Whose are those bags? = Whose ____________________.

3. Whose is this shopping? = Whose ____________________.

4. Whose books are these? = Whose ___________________.

Reciprocal pronouns

Level: intermediate
We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another when two or more people do the same
thing.
Peter and Mary helped each other.
= Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter.
We sent one another Christmas cards.
= We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas card.
They didn't look at each other.
= X didn't look at Y and Y didn't look at X.

Possessives: reciprocal pronouns

We also use the possessive forms each other's and one another's:
They helped to look after each other's children.
The group of students often stayed in one another's houses.

Note that we do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.

1. The dog looked at the cat and the cat looked at the dog.
The animals _____________________.
2. Romeo loved Juliet and Juliet loved Romeo.
Romeo _______________________.
3. You didn't talk to Jack and he didn't talk to you.
You ______________________.
4. I gave him a present and he gave me a present.
We _____________________.
5. Last night I met my girlfriend's parents and she met mine.
My girlfriend and I _____________________ last night.
6. My brother used to borrow my clothes and I used to borrow his.
My brother and I used to ______________________.