What possessive adjectives are

“He likes sleeping on his toy.”

In English grammar, “possessive adjectives” (also referred to as “possessive determiners“) are words that modify nouns to show ownership or possession.

Function

• Possessive adjectives help specify which noun we’re talking about by showing who it belongs to.
• They precede the noun they modify.

Common examples

• his
  • Belongs to “he” (e.g., “That’s his car”).
• her
  • Belongs to “she” (e.g., “Her house is big”).
•  its  
  • Belongs to “it” (e.g., “The cat licked its paws”).
• my
  • Belongs to “me” (e.g., “This is my phone”).
• our
  • Belongs to “us” (e.g., “Our team won”).
• their
  • Belongs to “them” (e.g., “Their dog is loud”)  
• your  
  • Belongs to “you” (e.g., “Is this your bag?”)

Key characteristics

• Agreement with possessor: They reflect the possessor’s number/gender, not the noun’s (e.g., “her books” works whether it’s one book or many).
• No apostrophes: Like possessive pronouns, they don’t use apostrophes (e.g., “its” vs. “it’s”).
• Not the same as pronouns: Possessive pronouns (like “mine”) replace the noun entirely, while these just describe it.
• Tied to a noun: They always describe a noun directly (e.g., “my book” vs. the standalone “mine”).

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