Possessive 's and possessive pronouns
Apprentissage rapide
English marks possession with 's on the owner or with possessive pronouns, with apostrophe placement signaling singular or plural.
À retenir
- Singular owners add 's: my brother's car, David's house, the cat's toy.
- Plural owners ending in -s add only the apostrophe: my parents' house, the students' classroom.
- Possessive pronouns stand alone without apostrophes: this book is mine, the jacket is hers.
Exemples
- 1We gathered at my grandparents' countryside home for Sunday dinner.
- 2My sister's new apartment has a wonderful view of the central park.
Piège courant à éviter
Ordinary plural nouns never take an apostrophe: say I bought three new books, never I bought three new book's.
Approfondir
La règle
Showing who owns what
English expresses possession, ownership, and association primarily through the Saxon Genitive ('s / s') and possessive pronouns:
Singular and plural nouns
(1) Singular Nouns: Add 's to the owner: "my brother's car", "David's apartment", "the dog's tail", "the doctor's advice".
(2) Regular Plural Nouns Ending in -s: Add only the apostrophe after the existing -s: "my parents' house", "the teachers' lounge", "the boys' soccer team", "the students' lockers".
(3) Irregular Plural Nouns NOT Ending in -s: Add 's just like a singular noun: "the children's playground", "women's clothing", "people's opinions", "the men's department".
Possessive pronouns
(4) Possessive Pronouns (Stand Alone, replacing the noun phrase): mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe and never take a noun after them:
- This coat is mine
- The choice is yours
- That house is theirs
Things and ideas: of
(5) Inanimate Objects and Concepts: For machines, objects, and abstract ideas, English generally prefers of rather than the apostrophe: "the roof of the house" (preferable to "the house's roof"), "the capital of Spain", "the title of the book".
Anatomie de la phrase
Des phrases de cette leçon, découpées dans l'ordre qu'exige l'anglais.
SujetMy sister's new apartmentVerbehasObjeta wonderful view of the central park.
SujetDavidVerbeborrowedObjethis father's carPropositionto drive to the coastal airportTempsyesterday.
SujetJames and Sarah's new houseVerbeis situatedLieuclose to the railway station.
Guide visuel
How to read this A2 topic
At A2, the challenge is choosing between similar time frames, pronouns, and quantity patterns.
1. Look for the time clue
Yesterday, now, every day, already, and since often decide the tense.
I watched it yesterday.
2. Choose the pattern first
Pick the whole grammar structure before choosing the final word.
I am going to study.
3. Check word position
Adverbs, objects, and pronouns must sit in natural English order.
I know him well.
Pronoun forms
English pronouns change by grammatical job: subject, object, possession, or reflexive meaning.
| Person | Subject | Object | Possessive adjective | Reflexive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | I | me | my | myself |
| 2nd singular/plural | you | you | your | yourself / yourselves |
| 3rd singular | he / she / it | him / her / it | his / her / its | himself / herself / itself |
| 1st plural | we | us | our | ourselves |
| 3rd plural | they | them | their | themselves |
Decision path before answering
Use these checks before choosing between close options.
- 1Mark the subject, main verb, object, and any connector.
- 2Underline the time expression or discourse clue.
- 3Reject any option with the wrong agreement, tense, article, pronoun case, or word order.
- 4Read the whole sentence once more for naturalness and register.
Exemples
- 1We gathered at my grandparents' countryside home for Sunday dinner.
- 2My sister's new apartment has a wonderful view of the central park.
- 3The children's primary school is located two blocks down this street.
- 4Is this black leather jacket yours, or does it belong to someone else?
- 5The students' test results were posted on the department notice board.
- 6David borrowed his father's car to drive to the coastal airport yesterday.
- 7Our garden is quite small, but our neighbours' garden is very spacious.
- 8She left her umbrella in the hallway, but I brought mine inside.
- 9The company published yesterday's financial report in the morning paper.
- 10James and Sarah's new house is situated close to the railway station.
Exceptions
Temporal Genitives: Expressions of time and duration take 's or s': "yesterday's meeting", "today's newspaper", "two weeks' holiday", "an hour's walk". Joint vs. Separate Ownership: When two people jointly own a single item, add 's only to the second name: "Tom and Mary's house" (one shared home). When they each own separate items, add 's to both: "Tom's and Mary's cars" (two separate cars).
Erreurs fréquentes
Apostrophes in ordinary plural nouns
Erreur
I bought two coffee's.
Correct
I bought two coffees.
Plural nouns take no apostrophe.
Apostrophes in possessive pronouns
Erreur
The umbrella is her's.
Correct
The umbrella is hers.
Possessive pronouns never take apostrophes.
Confusing singular and plural possessives
Erreur
My brothers room
Correct
My brothers' room
Two brothers. Apostrophe follows the plural -s.
Récap
L'essentiel de la leçon sur une carte, avant de te tester.
À retenir
- Singular owners add 's: my brother's car, David's house, the cat's toy.
- Plural owners ending in -s add only the apostrophe: my parents' house, the students' classroom.
- Possessive pronouns stand alone without apostrophes: this book is mine, the jacket is hers.
Erreurs fréquentes
Erreur: I bought two coffee's.
Correct: I bought two coffees.Erreur: The umbrella is her's.
Correct: The umbrella is hers.Erreur: My brothers room
Correct: My brothers' room
Teste-toi
Write three sentences showing possession by one person, two people, and an irregular plural group, then practise.
Points de grammaire associés
Poursuivez votre apprentissage avec d'autres notions de ce niveau.