WHAT IS A POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE?

 

What's wrong with this sentence?

Problem:   Her's parents usually watch TV.

What's wrong with this sentence?

Problem:   Ours parents usually watch TV.

In English, we use possessives to indicate ownership or a relationship with qualities of ownership.

Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives may all show possession.

In this unit, we discuss possessive adjectives.

The bolded words in the chart below are the possessive adjectives, and we are using the noun friend(s) for the noun position in these examples:

SINGULAR PLURAL

my friends(s) our friends(s)
your friends(s) your friends(s)
her, his, its friends(s) their friends(s)
 


Problem:   Her's parents usually watch TV.
Solution:   Her parents usually watch TV.
 
Problem:   Ours parents usually watch TV.
Solution:   Our parents usually watch TV.


Here are some additional examples of possessive adjectives in complete sentences:

  1. But our rolls and our life together changed when we arrived in the United States.

  2. A country has to make its citizens feel secure.

  3. Furthermore, no matter how good parents are, their children can create trouble.

  4. People who get married have to remember how to support their family, how to raise their children, and how to keep their love alive.

  5. He and his wife always have something going on in their home on Friday nights.


Next Lesson...

 

In our next lesson, we look at Commonly Confused:  Plurals and Possessives.

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