Introduction to Possessives
What are the various important days you celebrate at different times of the year?
Look at the greeting cards below and make a list of the days we observe throughout the year.
What have you noticed about the naming of these important days?
The days are named after a certain subject such as father, mother, teacher, etc. There is an apostrophe or an apostrophe and an 's' in naming these days. These possessives are formed by adding an apostrophe and an 's'. The words father, mother, teacher are nouns. We can transform these nouns into their possessive forms.
Here are some more examples of possessive nouns:
— brother's property
— Rahim's car
— uncle's diary
— a hard day's work
Write the correct form of the possessives for the nouns given in the brackets. Example:
I met sister yesterday. (Moin)
Answer: I met Moin's sister yesterday.
1. This is --------------- book. (Pavel)
2. The ------------ room is upstairs. (children)
3. -------------------- sister is twelve years old. (Zafar)
4. -------------- shoes are on the second floor. (men)
5. My -------------- car was not expensive. (father)
6. This is the --------- bike. (boy)
In pairs discuss these questions:
1. What rules do you follow while writing the possessive forms of the nouns?
2. Where do you put the apostrophe, before or after the 's'?
3. Do you always need an 's' after the apostrophe for forming possessives?
4. How do you make possessives of plural nouns?
Now read the following section to know more about how to make possessives of plural nouns.
Possessives of Plurals
Most plural nouns already end in 's'. To create their possessive, simply add an apostrophe after the 's'. Examples:
The lions' usual source of water has dried up.
Man's ambition increases with income.
Babies' clothes are sold at the other corner.
We need to add an apostrophe followed by an 's' to create the possessive form of the nouns that have irregular plural forms. Examples:
She plans on opening a women's clothing shop.
Children's parks are best places for a family picnic.
The geese's food is eaten by some other birds.
Possessives & Compound Constructions
In pairs discuss the following questions:
How do you form the possessives of compound constructions such as daughter-in-law and friend of mine?
Usually, the apostrophe -s is simply added to the end of the compound structure, e.g. my daughter-in-law's car, a friend of mine's car, etc.
If this sounds clumsy, one may use 'of' to avoid the apostrophe: the car of a friend of mine, etc.
Exercise 1
Make the possessive form of the nouns given in brackets.
Example: My brother's house is in Chittagong. (brother)
1. My ---------- shirt is purple. (friend)
2. The
books are on the desk. (girls)
3. It's 
birthday on Monday. (Jahid)
4. Do you have ---------- newspaper? (today)
5. The ---------- bags are in the bedroom. (children)
6. My ---------------- office is next to mine. (boss)
7. Your uncle is your -------- brother. (father)
8. Your aunt is your ---------------- sister. (mother)
Some more possessives
You have reviewed the possessive nouns in the previous lesson. There are some other kinds of possessives too. What other possessives do you know about?
In pairs talk about what you know about the following types of possessives:
A. possessive adjectives
B. possessive pronouns
Possessive Adjectives
Look at the possessives below. Write them in the correct cell in the table according to their subjects and objects.
its your my their our her his
Subject | Object |
Read the following sentences and discuss the functions of possessive adjectives.
That's our house. My car is very old.
Her mother is a doctor. How old is your sister?
He's broken his arm.
She's washing her hair.
I need to clean my teeth.
As you have seen in sentences above, possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the nouns following them in order to show possession.
We use possessive adjectives to show something belongs to somebody, for relations and friends and for parts of the body.
Possessive adjectives are often confused with possessive pronouns. (However, possessive adjectives are different from possessive pronouns.)
Look at the examples below and discuss in pairs how possessive adjectives are different from possessive pronouns.
This is your (possessive adjective) book and this is mine (possessive pronoun).
Its color is beautiful (possessive adjectives).
Their car is in their garage (possessive adjectives).
Caution: Many students use its and it's confusingly. it's, they're and there are not possessive adjectives — its is a contraction of it is or it has; they're is a contraction of they are; but there is an adverb of place.
Examples:
It's not my book = It is not my book.
My house is big. It's got five bedrooms = It has got five bedrooms.
Nancy and Alam are from Jhalkathi. They're my friends = They are my friends.
Please, put the chair there. (adverb)
Possessive Pronouns
yours | mine | theirs | ours | hers | his | its |
Look at the possessives below. Write them in the correct cell in the table.
subject | object | possessive adjectives | possessive pronouns |
me | my | ||
You | you | your | |
him | his | ||
She | her | her | |
It | it | its | |
We | us | our | |
them | their |
When do we use a possessive pronoun? We use a possessive pronoun instead of a noun phrase. Look at the examples below:
Question | Answer |
Is that Jalal's car? | No, it's mine. (not |
Whose coat is this? | It is his. (not |
We also use possessive pronouns after of. We can say:
Khoka is one of my friends = Khoka is a friend of mine.
But we cannot say Khoka is a friend of me.
The words mine, yours, his, hers, its , ours, theirs are possessive pronouns. They show who or what something belongs to.
We use possessive pronouns depending on:
number: singular (eg: mine) or plural (eg: ours)
person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd person (eg:
gender: male (his), female (hers)
Possessive pronouns generally do not use an apostrophe to indicate possession. This rule also applies to the possessive form of it, which is its.
Examples:
Do you see that woman over there? Her daughter is very clever.
He was late for work because his car did not start this morning.
Is that your house? No, ours is the one next to the shop. Virtue is its own reward.
Exercise 1
Replace the personal pronouns by possessive adjectives.
1. Where are (you)
friends now?
2. Here is a letter from (l) 
friend.
3. She lives in the village now with (she)
family.
4. (He)wife works in Tongi.
company develops websites.
Exercise 2
Use the correct possessive adjectives.
1. Is this
(you) house?
2. 
Mohs in is showing
(he) cat to (he) friends.
3. My sister lost
(she) way in the city.
4. The lion is chasing(it) prey.
5. The dentist asked(he) patient to open(she) mouth.
6. I gave(l) sandwich to Zohir.
Exercise 3
Complete the text with possessives.
I've got a sister.name is Hazera. She is fifteen and likes music. I like music too.favourite band is Renaissance. I've also got two brothers. 
names are Billal and Tomal. Billal likes football. 
favourite team is Abahani. Tomal doesn't like sports.prefers computer games. 've a grandma. She's sixty five andname is Jahanara.
