Grammar Time: Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns

If you don’t remember what’s the differences between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns, study the rule and have practice doing the exercises.

Exam in Mind Level A1/A2

possessive adjective is usually used to describe a noun, and it comes before it, like other adjectives.

  • My car is bigger than her car.
  • What’s your address?
  • My car is in front of the school.
  • This is Jack and this is his wife, Sue.
  • Put your coats on the back of your seats.
  • Our new Maths teacher is very nice.
  • What a beautiful bird! Its feathers are bright blue!
  • My sister is always tired. Her job is difficult.

The possessive adjectives in English (also called ‘possessive determiners’) are: my, your, his, her, its, our and their. They say who something belongs to.

As with possessive adjectives, we use possessive pronouns to indicate who owns something. Possessive pronoun are used instead of  nouns. So we use them alone. In this case, we don’t use ‘its’. In English, the possessive pronouns are: mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs.

  • I have a bag – this is mine.
  • That’s Anna’s homework and this is yours.
  • Your hotel is near the city center while ours is near the airport.
  • I love your sofa. Mine isn’t as comfortable is yours.
  • We don’t need help with our project but the boys need help with theirs.
  • Is this Carol’s bicycle? – No, that red one over there is hers.
  • Whose game is this? – Sam was playing earlier so it must be his.
  • Julie’s car is red. Mine is blue.

We also use possessive pronouns after a noun + ‘of’:

  • I’m a friend of his.
  • You’re a student of mine.
  • She’s a colleague of ours.
  • He is a friend of hers.
  • This is a house of theirs.

Here is a chart of possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns

Have Practice Using Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns

Task 1. Choose whether each sentence requires a possessive adjective or a possessive pronoun.

  1. Is that your notebook or (my / mine)?
  2. I don’t like (their / theirs) apartment.
  3. That’s not my problem. It’s (yours / your).
  4. Your car is green, while (my / mine) is black.
  5. Isn’t (their / theirs) son older than you?
  6. A friend of (our / ours) called.
  7. A friend of (her / hers) brother’s called.
  8. He’s (our / ours) doctor.
  9. That’s (our / ours) house, not theirs.
  10. Is this cup (your / yours)?
  11. The coffee is (my / mine).
  12. That coat is (my / mine).
  13. He lives in (her / hers) house.
  14. You might want (your / yours) phone.
  15. The new car is (their / theirs).
  16. Is this cup (your / yours)?
  17. The coffee is (my / mine).
  18. That coat is (my / mine).
  19. He lives in (her / hers) house.
  20. You might want (your / yours) phone.
  21. The new car is (their / theirs).
  22. She cooked (our / ours) food.
  23. Don’t stand on (my / mine) foot!
  24. She gave him (her / hers) suitcase.
  25. I met (their / theirs) mother.
  26. Is this (their / theirs) coffee?
  27. Is the flat (her / hers)?
  28. The grey scarf is (my / mine).
  29. That red bike is (our / ours).
  30. We should take (our / ours) coats.
  31. That is (my / mine) car.
  32. He dropped (my / mine) bag.
  33. Are these phones (their / theirs)?
  34. These cakes are (our / ours).
  35. Are those children (your / yours)?
  36. Is he a friend of (your / yours)?

Task 2. Chooses the correct possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns.

  1. It’s their/theirs problem, not our/ours.
  2. This is a nice camera. Is it your/yours?
  3. That’s not my/mine umbrella. My/mine is black.
  4. Whose books are these? Your/yours or my/mine?
  5. Catherine is going out with her/hers friends this evening.
  6. My/mine room is bigger than her/hers.
  7. They have got two children but I don’t know their/theirs names.
  8. Can we use your washing machine? Our/ours is broken.

Task 3. Replace the personal pronouns by possessive pronouns.

  1. These pencils are (you) ________________.
  2. The blue ball is (I) ________________.
  3. The blue car is (we) __________________.
  4. That diamond ring is (she) _________________.
  5. We met the famous singers Paul and Jane last night. This house is (they) _____________.
  6. The luggage on the counter is (he) _________________.
  7. The pictures on the wall near the pillar are (she) _______________.
  8. In our garden in the summerhouse is a bird. The nest is (it) __________________.
  9. This smelly good for nothing cat is (we) _______________.
  10. Honestly, this was not my fault. It was (you) _________________

Task 4. Complete the sentences with possessive pronouns.

  1. I have a dog. That dog is _________.
  2. She has a cat. That cat is _________.
  3. We have a car. That car is _________.
  4. They have a bike. That bike is _________.
  5. He has a key. That key is _________.
  6. You have a hat. That hat is _________.