An explanation of Pronouns and Possessives in English

1. Pronouns, Possessive Adjectives and the Possessive ‘s
Personal Pronouns
Basic sentence structure:
SUBJECT + VERB (+ OBJECT)
The man loves the woman.
The student asked the teacher a question.
The girl and the boy are speaking to their parents.
When we already know who is speaking we can use personal pronouns.
Personal Pronouns
subject form object form
I Me
you You
he Him
she Her
it It
we Us
you You
they Them
He loves her.
She asked him.
They are speaking to them.

2. Possessive adjectives and pronouns
When we want to talk about possession we need to use either possessive
adjectives or possessive pronouns.
Possessive adjectives always go before the noun and act like any other
adjective.
The red laptop.
My laptop.
Here ‘my’ is the equivalent of ‘red’.
Do you like her new car?
We are going to his house for the party.
Possessive pronouns go at the end of the phrase and are usually preceded by
the verb ‘to be’.
The laptop is mine.
The new car is hers.
The house is his.
Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns
possessive adjective possessive pronoun
My Mine
Your Yours
His His
Her Hers
Its Its
Our Ours
Your Yours
Their Theirs

3. Possessive Apostrophe ‘s
When we want to use someone’s name instead of ‘his’ or ‘her’ we need to
use the apostrophe ‘s.
His laptop.
Jonny’s laptop.
Her sister.
Sophie’s sister.
When we have more than one subject, the apostrophe goes after the last
person.
Sarah and Jenny’s bedroom was messy.
NOT Sandra’s and Jenny’s bedroom was messy.
When we talk in the plural, the apostrophe goes AFTER the s.
Singular: the boy’s toy. Plural: the boys’ toys.
However, if the plural is irregular and does not have an ‘s’, then use the
original rule.
Singular: the child’s friend. Plural: the children’s friends.
When a singular person’s name ends in s, we follow the singular rule.
Charles’s house. Andres’s homework.
This rule generally only applies to people and pets. When we are talking
about objects we use ‘of’
The colour of the car. The size of the room.
If in doubt and you have an object, use ‘of’.
*Remember * we can also use ‘s when contracting the 3rd person singular
verb ‘to be’: ‘is’.
Mauricio’s Colombian.
The car’s ready to go.
It’s hot outside today.