Possessive adjectives, known in English as possesive adjectives, tell us to whom a thing belongs or who owns it. They are usually found with a noun in front of them, so it is not difficult to identify them.
Although they are not difficult to learn, we must be clear about their use so as not to confuse them with Spanish.
Main possessive adjectives
The first thing to keep in mind is that in English there is no plural form. Let’s see it in the following list:
- Mi/mis: my
- Tu/tus: your
- Su/sus (feminine): her
- Su/sus (masculine): his
- Su/sus (when referring to objects or animals): its
- Our/our: our
- Su/sus (plural, of them): their
Phrases with possessives:
My:
My friend is 10 years old. My friend is 10 years old.
This is my new car. This is my new car.
Your:
Your mum is older than your dad. Your mother is older than your father.
I’m your best friend. I am your best friend.
His:
Cristian is doing his homework. Cristian is doing his homework.
His name is Albert. His name is Albert.
Her:
Her hair is brown. Her hair is brown.
She is brushing her teeth. She is brushing her teeth.
Its:
My dog is small. Its name is Peter. My dog is small. His name is Peter.
Its color is red. Its color is red.
Our:
This is our favorite place. This is our favorite site.
Our son is 7 years old. Our son is 7 years old.
Their:
Their house is in the city center. His home is in the center of the city.
My friends are from Australia. Their names are Clara and Pol. My friends are from Australia. Their names are Clara and Pol.
Possible confusions
Possible confusionsA common mistake is that, in English, we can indicate to whom something belongs without using possessive adjectives.
For example, if we want to say “my brother’s house”, we use what is called the Saxon genitive. It basically consists of adding an apostrophe followed by an ‘s’ after the noun:
My brother’s house.
In those cases where the noun ends in the letter ‘s’, we simply add the apostrophe at the end of the noun:
Carlos’ Friends are funny. Carlos’ friends are fun.
Another common mistake is to confuse the possessive adjective its, which corresponds to the third person singular, with the contraction produced by joining the pronoun and the verb it.
It’s my birthday.
Its my birthday.
It’s hot in this room.
Its hot in this room.
As we can see, the second sentence does not make any sense at all, so it is important to pay attention to this special case in order not to make grammatical mistakes.
