• Listening for Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns
  • » Lesson 1

Lesson 1

Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns

Possessive adjectives and pronouns are small words. It can be difficult to hear them! In this lesson, you are going to hear many possessive adjectives and pronouns. You will learn to hear them better.

When we are talking about things that people have,

You have a key.

we often use possessive adjectives

Your key opens the house.

and possessive pronouns.

The house key is yours.

Possessive adjectives come before nouns.

Possessive pronouns replace possessive adjectives and nouns.

Look at the chart below. Click on the sentences to listen to them.

Sentence with Subject Pronoun	Sentence with Possessive Adjective	Sentence with Possessive Pronoun
I own that ring.	It is my ring.	It is mine.
You have a bicycle.	Your bicycle is blue.	The blue bicycle is yours.
He is a teacher.	His job is teaching.	The job is his.
She is a sailor.	Her boat is big.	The boat is hers.
It is a good telephone.	Its ring is loud.	***
We love the house.	Our house is on the corner.	The house is ours.
You are artists.	Your paintings are beautiful.	The paintings are yours.
They have a dog.	Their dog is old.	The old dog is theirs.

When we ask questions about things that people own, we often use the word whose.

Whose sounds like who’s (who is).

Also, the possessive adjective its sounds like it’s (it is).

Because these words sound the same, they can be difficult for listeners to understand. In the exercises, you are going to hear whose, who’s, its, and it’s a lot. You will learn to understand them better.