Presentation / Objective

Content

Possessive pronouns

What are possessive pronouns?

Definition

Possessive pronouns are words, which give ownership to someone or something. They substitute the noun and avoid repetition. They make sentences less confusing.

The possessive pronouns in English are as follows:

mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs.

You should not confuse possessive adjectives with possessive pronouns. Look at the following chart.

Personal pronoun	Possessive adjective	Possessive pronoun
I	My	Mine
you (singular and plural)	Your	Yours
He	His	His
She	Her	Hers
It	Its	its
We	Our	ours
They	Their	theirs

Difference between a pronoun and an adjective

There are different forms of expressing possession; two of the most common are possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns.
First at all, we have to know the difference between and adjective and a pronoun.

An adjective is a word that describes nouns.
A pronoun is a word which takes the place of a noun.

Read the following examples
The blue words are the adjectives that describe the nouns which are in red:

A blue car
adjective noun

Tall girls
adjective noun

An intelligent person
adjective noun

Good students
adjective noun

An adjective always goes before a noun, because if we use the adjective only, we will do not know who it refers to.

If we say blue, tall, intelligent or good, we won't know who or what these adjectives refer to. That is why an adjective always goes before a noun.

The red words are the nouns and the blue words are the pronouns.
Examples of pronouns:

Tom is a good boy noun	He is a good boy pronoun
The girls are in France noun	They are in France pronoun
Susan is intelligent noun	She is intelligent pronoun
The dog is happy noun	It is happy pronoun

Notice that a pronoun substitutes the noun to avoid repetition. If we don’t want to say “Tom”, we say “he” if we don´t want to say “the girls” we say “they”. That is why when we use possessive pronouns we don´t mention the item that is possessed because a pronoun substitutes the noun.

Possessive pronouns avoid repetition
Read the following sentence, pay attention to the read words.

This cell phone is my cell phone, it is not your cell phone.

You can see in this sentence we say three times cell phone, the sentence is correct, but it does not sound good because we are repeating cell phone which is the noun.

When we use the possessive pronouns we avoid repeating the noun, in this case cell phone.

Look at the sentence again, now with possessive pronouns.

This cell phone is mine, it is not yours

The possessive pronouns mine and yours substitute the possessive adjectives and the nouns.

This cell phone is my cell phone, it is not your cell phone
Mine yours
- mine substitutes my cell phone
- yours substitutes your cell phone
Now read the sentence again

This cell phone is mine, it is not yours
You can see in the example, possessive pronouns have the function of describing who is the owner of something or someone and replace the possessive adjective and the noun.

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Position in the sentence.
1. At the beginning.
  Possessive pronouns can be the subject of a sentence, so its position is at the beginning.
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- I don´t like your costume, mine is better.
- My costume is fantastic, yours is too.
- My costume has 3 colors, hers has two.
1. At the end. Possessive pronouns can be the object of a sentence, so its position is at the end.
- I don´t like your costume, I like yours.
- I lend Susan my costume and she lends me hers.
- They are our costumes. They are ours.

Possessive pronouns with plural or singular nouns

The possessive pronouns are always the same for singular or plural nouns, look at the following example (you will notice that the possessive pronoun is the same for singular or plural nouns):

Singular

Plural

Jack: is it your pencil?
Jacob: Yes, it is mine

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Jack: are these your color pencils?
Jacob: Yes, they are mine

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Forms of the possessive pronouns

There are 7 possessive pronouns. Read carefully:

Swipe left or right

Conclusion

In the following chart there is a summary of the possessive pronouns with the first, second and third person in plural and singular. Click on each box to display all the elements.

	PERSONAL PRONOUNS They are used instead the nouns	POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES They need to mention the thing that is possessed.	POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS They don´t need to mention the thing that is possessed.
First person singular	I	My	Mine
First person plural	We	Our	Ours
Second person singular	You	Your	Yours
Second person plural	You	Your	Yours
Third person singular	He	His	His
Third person singular	She	Her	Hers
Third person singular	It	Its	Its
Third person plural	They	Their	Theirs

Training activity

Exercise 1

Read the sentences and write on the blanks the correct possessive pronoun..

Keep in mind that when you answer this exercise you use contractions.

Example:

They are their books. Normal form

They are theirs. INCORRECT ( not using contractions)

They´re theirs. INCORRECT ( not apostrophe )

They’re theirs. CORRECT (using a contraction)

Reading

Activity 1

Back home

Think about the answers to these questions:

Why do people study in other countries?
Do you have friends from other countries?
Is it common in Mexico to invite friends to stay at your home?
Do you like going to other countries?

In this activity, you will read a text about a girl who goes back to her country and writes a message to her friends.

Read the text carefully “Far from family”.

Listening

Activity 2

A worried boy

Listen to the podcast “A worried boy”.

Then decide if the following statements are true or false by choosing the appropriate option. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.

Writing

Activity 3

Proud friendly friends

Harry and Thomas are friends, they are very boastful and they exaggerate about their family.

Read the beginning of the following situation. What happened after the two boys met? How did they talk about their relatives?

Write your composition using 120-150 words using as many possessive pronouns as you can.

My family...

Thomas: Last year we spent our vacations in Cancun.

Harry: ours were in Canada.

Thomas: My brother has a new bicycle

Harry: Mine has a motorcycle

Thomas: My sister…

When writing your composition make sure it has the characteristics contained in the rubric.

Speaking

Activity 4

Your belongings

Think about your family members and things you have at home and talk about them from 1.5 to 2 minutes.

Use possessive pronouns. For example: let’s talk about my father, the new blue car of his; the old smartphone of hers; I want to talk about my mother ….The SUV car is hers, …

Before recording yourself, take a look at the following rubrics, so you know the aspects considered.
Once you are ready, you can record yourself.

You have come to the end of the “possessive pronouns” section.
We hope you have learned how to use them.
Remember that you must avoid confusing them with the possessive adjectives or the object pronouns.

We invite to try to use them from now on with your friends and relatives.

Self-assessment

Adjective or pronoun?

Fill in the blanks with the correct possessive adjective or possessive pronoun.

Example: Alice says the sweater is hers.

Self-assessment

Finding the possessive pronoun

Look at the nouns in parentheses and according to the context write the correct possessive pronoun.

Example: (Billy) Is that your car? No, it is his

Self-assessment

Which is the correct one?

Pay attention to the context of the sentence and write the letter of the best answer to complete each sentence. The answers can be possessive adjectives or possessive pronouns.

Example: ___b_______ father used to take me to the school when I was a child.

Mine
My
his
yours

References

Basic references

• Fuscoe K., (2010). Attitude Student’s Book 1. Mexico:MacMillan.
• McCarthy M., (2005). Touchstone 1. New York USA: Cambridge University Press.
• Raskin J., (2010). Future English for results 2. New York USA: Pearson Longman.
• Richards J., (2006). Interchange 1. New York USA: Cambridge University Press.
• Saslow J., (2011). Top Notch 1. New York USA: Pearson Longman.
• Soars L., (2003). American Headway 3. New York USA: Oxford University Press.
• Soars L., (2009). American Headway 1. New York USA: Oxford University Press.

Complementary

• Shawn English Online. (2014). English Grammar: Possessive Pronouns [video]. Retrieved 23/04/17 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzInQMQ7hWE
• TeacherPhilEnglish. (2013). Possessive pronouns [video]. Retrieved 23/04/17 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEqGO6ZDQC0

Criteria	Excellent 5 points	Very good 4 points	Acceptable 3 points	bad 2 points	Very bad 1 point	Not aceptable 0 points
Use of English	The student shows a good command of several structures and the use of vocabulary allows him to express his ideas clearly throughout the writing.	The student shows a good command of some structures and the use of vocabulary allows him to express his ideas.	The student uses some basic structures. However, he can make himself understood. Vocabulary is limited.	The student uses only basic structures. However, he can make himself understood. Vocabulary is limited but enough to communicate.	The student has a poor command even of basic structures. Vocabulary is very limited to communicate.	The student has a poor command even of basic structures. Vocabulary is limited to a degree that impedes communication.
Task accomplishment	Task was fully accomplished. The text has 10 sentences using possessive pronouns.	Task was accomplished. The text has from 8-9 sentences using possessive pronouns.	Task was accomplished. The text has 7 sentences using possessive pronouns.	Task was accomplished. The text has 6 sentences using possessive pronouns.	Task was accomplished. The text has 5 sentences using possessive pronouns.	Task wasn’t accomplished; there were less than 5 sentences using possessive pronouns.
Organization	The organization of the text is excellent, the writer uses punctuation to express clearly his ideas. The text is coherent. There are only complete sentences, and there aren’t fragments or run on sentences.	The organization of the text is good, the writer uses punctuation in a way it helps to express his ideas. The text is coherent. The writer uses mostly complete sentences, and there aren’t fragments or run on sentences.	The organization of the text is average, but the general ideas can be easily understood. Only some of the punctuation is used in a correct way. There is at least one run on sentence.	The text isn’t properly organized. But the general ideas can be hardly understood. Only some of the punctuation is used in a correct way. There are some run on sentences.	The text isn’t properly organized. It is rather messy and ideas are not clearly expressed. It’s difficult to understand the writer’s point of view. There are several run on sentences.	The text isn´t organized. It is messy and ideas are not clearly expressed. It’s impossible to understand the writer’s point of view. There are only run on sentences.
Spelling	There are not spelling errors	There are very few spelling errors	There are few spelling errors	There are some spelling errors	There are several spelling errors	There are many spelling errors
Grammar	There are no grammar mistakes.	There are no grammar mistakes or at least they do not prevent communication.	There are very few grammar mistakes but most of the time communication is accomplished.	There are some grammar mistakes but communication is accomplished.	There are many grammar mistakes, communication is hardly achieved.	There are too many grammar mistakes. So communication is not achieved.

Criteria	Excellent 5 points	Very good 4 points	Acceptable 3 points	bad 2 points	Very bad 1 point	Not aceptable 0 points
Use of English	There are no grammar mistakes. The speaker shows a good command of several structures and the use of vocabulary allows him to express his ideas clearly throughout the audio.	There are very few grammar mistakes but they do not prevent communication; most of the time communication is accomplished. The speaker uses some different structures. Vocabulary is enough to communicate.	There are some grammar mistakes but most of the time communication is accomplished. The speaker only uses basic structures. However, he can make himself understood. Vocabulary is limited but enough to communicate.	There are several grammar mistakes but only some of the time communication is accomplished. The speaker most of the time uses basic structures. However, he can hardly make himself understood. Vocabulary is limited to communicate.	There are many grammar mistakes. Communication is hardy achieved. The speaker uses only basic structures. Vocabulary is very limited to a degree that sometimes impedes communication.	There are too many grammar mistakes and so communication is not achieved. The speaker has a poor command even of basic structures. Vocabulary is limited to a degree that impedes communication.
Task accomplishment	Task was fully accomplished, all the questions were answered, the audio lasted from 1-2 minutes.	Task was almost completely accomplished; the audio was either shorter or longer than 1-2 minutes.	Task was partially accomplished, the audio was either shorter or longer than 1-2 minutes.	Task was hardly accomplished, the audio was either shorter or longer than 1-2 minutes.	Task was hardly accomplished, audio lasted less than a minute.	Task wasn’t accomplished, audio lasted less than a minute.
Fluency	There are no hesitations; pauses are made only when convenient. It is evident that the speaker is not reading.	There are few hesitations and unnatural pauses. The seems to be reading at few points	There are some hesitations and unnatural pauses. The seems to be reading at some points	There are many hesitations and unnatural pauses. The seems to be reading most of the time	There are frequently pauses. The speaker seems to be reading.	There are more pauses than actual speech. The speaker seems to be only reading.
Pronunciation	There are no pronunciation mistakes.	There are few pronunciation mistakes, communication is achieved.	There are some pronunciation mistakes but most of the times communication can be achieved.	There are many pronunciation mistakes but communication can be achieved.	Pronunciation is poor, with lots of mistakes and communication is hardly achieved.	Pronunciation is poor, with lots of mistakes and communication is not achieved.
use of “possessive pronouns”	The speaker makes, sentences using different possessive pronouns in a correct way.	The speaker makes, sentences using different possessive pronouns most of them are in a correct way.	The speaker makes, sentences using few different possessive pronouns some of them are in a correct way.	The speaker makes, sentences using few different possessive pronouns few of them are in a correct way.	The speaker makes, sentences using few different possessive pronouns, most of them are in an incorrect way.	The speaker makes, sentences using very few different possessive pronouns and they are in an incorrect way.

Possessive pronouns

Presentation / Objective

Content

Possessive pronouns

What are possessive pronouns?

Forms of the possessive pronouns

1. First person singular: mine

2. First person plural: ours

3. Second person singular and plural is yours for both.

4. Third person singular (male): His

5. Third person singular (female): Hers

6. Third person neuter (an animal or a thing): Its

7. Third person plural: Theirs

Conclusion

Training activity

Exercise 1

Reading

Back home

Listening

A worried boy

Writing

Proud friendly friends

Speaking

Your belongings

Self-assessment

Adjective or pronoun?

Self-assessment

Finding the possessive pronoun

Self-assessment

Which is the correct one?

References

Basic references

Complementary

Ficha de créditos
Coordinación general	Jorge León Martínez
Coordinación de desarrollo	Edith Tapia Rangel
Coordinación académica	Ana Lilia Villegas Pacheco
Elaboración del contenido	José Isabel González González
Administración del proyecto	Maricarmen Hernández Cervantes
Coordinación de asesoría pedagógica	Elisa Campero Malo Susana Claudio Vargas
Asesoría pedagógica	Lucía Mendoza Castillo
Coordinación de diseño gráfico e integración	Juan de Dios Fuentes Reyes Fabiola Moncada Cortés Isaura Ovando Vázquez
Diseño gráfico e integración	Javier Reyes Gamiño