Possessive adjectives show who owns a noun or who is closely connected to it. In my book, your sister, and their house, the noun belongs to someone or is linked to someone. If you remove the possessive adjective, the noun is still there, but the connection is missing. Book, sister, and house do not tell you whose book, whose sister, or whose house. Possessive adjectives work with Adjectives, because they come before a noun and describe it. They are useful when you want to identify a person’s things, family, job, or group. In her phone, the phone is hers. In our teacher, the teacher is connected to us.

English has seven main possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. My shows one speaker, your shows the person spoken to, and his shows a male person. Her shows a female person. Its shows a thing or an animal. Our shows the speaker plus other people. Their shows more than one person or a group. These forms do not change for singular or plural nouns. You say my car and my cars, their child and their children. The noun changes, but the possessive adjective stays the same. These forms are also closely related to Possessive Pronouns, but possessive adjectives do not replace the noun.

Main possessive adjective forms

Word	Definition	Example
my	Used to show that something belongs to the speaker.	My keys are on the table.
your	Used to show that something belongs to the person spoken to.	Is your bag under the chair?
his	Used to show that something belongs to a male person.	His jacket is very warm.
her	Used to show that something belongs to a female person.	Her phone is ringing.
its	Used to show that something belongs to an animal or a thing.	The cat licked its paw.
our	Used to show that something belongs to people including the speaker.	Our class starts at nine.
their	Used to show that something belongs to more than one person.	Their car is parked outside.

Scramble

A possessive adjective comes directly before a noun: my sister, your answer, their tickets. The pattern is possessive adjective + noun. It cannot stand alone. You can say This is my bag, but not just This is my. The noun may be preceded by another adjective too: my new phone, their small apartment, our favorite restaurant. In that structure, the possessive adjective still stays first. It behaves like other adjectives in Adjective Placement, where words before the noun follow a fixed order. When a possessive adjective is present, it marks the noun as already known, so you usually do not add the before it.

Before noun placement pattern

Usage	Explanation	Example
Direct noun modifier	Use a possessive adjective before a noun to show ownership or connection.	My umbrella is in the hallway.
Not used alone	Do not use a possessive adjective by itself because it needs a noun after it.	This is her notebook.
With singular nouns	A possessive adjective can come before a singular noun when one person or thing is involved.	His idea is interesting.
With plural nouns	A possessive adjective can also come before a plural noun when the possessor is plural.	Our friends are waiting.

Choose the form according to the owner, not according to the thing owned. A man has his car and his keys. One woman has her book and her books. A family has their house and their rooms. The noun can be singular or plural, but the possessive adjective depends on who possesses it. Use its for a thing or an animal when you are talking about possession or connection: The cat licked its paw, The company changed its name, The tree lost its leaves. Do not use its for a person. For a person, use his or her depending on the person, or their when the person is not specified or when a group is involved: Someone left their phone.

Choosing forms by possessor

Example	Pattern
Their house is near the park.	Choose the possessive adjective from the owner, not from the noun that follows.
The dog found its toy.	Use its for animals and things when you want to show possession.
Her coat is on the chair.	Do not use its for people because people use his, her, our, your, or their.
My friend is here, and our teacher is late.	Match the form to one possessor or more than one possessor.