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1GRAMMAR : POSSESSIVES
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
1.- We use pronouns in place of nouns. They may be subject (she) or object (her).
2.- We call I, you, etc. personal pronouns because they refer to
`grammatical personal´:
1st person: I, we 2nd person: you
3rd person: he, she, it, one, they
3.- In English, we must always express the subject of a sentence, so we use a pronoun or a noun: Peter (or He) is here. Bob and Kate (or They) have arrived. (Not *is here*, *have arrived*, etc). When we are talking about objects or animals we use It: It is a big house. It’s a whale, not a dolphin. When there is not a person or object as a subject (i.e. when the subject is impersonal), we also use It: It is raining. It is seven o’clock. (Not *Is raining. *Is seven o’clock.) Sentences that take no subjects are imperatives: Come here! Sit down! Cheer up!
4.- We use it to say who someone is: Who’s that? – It’s our uncle, Tom.
We use he/she/they to give information about someone:
Who’s Tom? – He’s our uncle.
5.- We also use it when we don’t know the sex of a baby or child: Is it a boy or a girl?
6.- You remains the same in the singular and plural forms: You are tall.
(to one person or to more than one)
7.- You also remains the same for formal and informal interaction. We can say You´re right to someone we don’t know at all or to someone we know very well, to a child or to an adult.
Personal Pronouns
Subjects before verbs After verbs or prepositions I like ice-cream. Mary likes me.
You have beautiful eyes. Henry saw you at the party.
He has a big family.
She is a good mother.
It is small dog.
Do you know him?
Invite her to come in.
Look at it!
We are Jane’s friends Mother always tells us a story at night.
You are all fantastic people. Mary will give you the books.
They are Tom’s parents. Listen to them!
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2POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
1.- My, your, his, her, its, one’s, our and their are possessive adjectives.
This means they must go in front of nouns: He’s my neighbour. It’s your car. Do you know his sisters? etc. The form of the possessive adjective is the same before a singular or plural noun.
2.- We use possessive adjectives to indicate that something belongs to a person, or that a person or thing is associated with another.
That’s their house. Lillian is my grandmother 3.- They refer to the possessor, not to the thing possessed:
Bob amused his sister. (= his own) Bob amused her sister. (=
someone else’s).
Kate amused her son. (= her own). Kate amused his son (=
someone else’s).
4.- Its refers to possession by an animal or thing: The dog ate its food.
Don’t confuse its with it’s (= it is)
Examples of possessive adjectives This is my book.
I have your letters.
She gave me her pencil.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
1.- Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, and theirs are possessive
pronouns. This means they stand on their own (without a noun after them): That pencil is mine. (Not*That is mine pencil* )
We cannot use possessives with the. (Not*That´s the my car./ That car´s the mine*)
Examples of possessive pronouns My car is new but yours is old.
This apple is mine.
John is a friend of his.
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3PERSONAL
PRONOUNS POSSESSIVES
ADJETIVES POSSESSIVES
PRONOUNS
I yo my mí/s mine mío/a/s
you tu your tu/s yours tuyo/a/s
he el his su/s (de él) his suyo/s (de él) she ella her su/s (de ella) hers suya/s (de ella)
it el (cosa) its su/s (de ello) - No existe forma para it we nosotros our nuestro/a/s ours nuestro/a/s you vosotros your vuestro/a/s yours vuestro/a/s they ellos their sus theirs suyos/as
Los adjetivos posesivos van delante del nombre, e indican pertenencia o relación.
Los pronombres posesivos sustituyen al adjetivo posesivo y al nombre, e
indican posesión.
To ask about possession we use WHOSE.
Examples: Whose is this car? It’s his.
Whose books are these? They’re mine.
EXPRESSING POSSESSION
‘s: We use ‘s to show that something belongs to someone, or that something is associated with someone. The possessive ‘s structure is used especially when the first noun is the name of a person, group of people, organization, country or animal. It is also used with expressions of time. In other cases we generally prefer a structure with of.
For example:
• John owns a car. ('John' is the possessor) = It is John's car.
• Mary is married to Peter = Mary is Peter's wife.
• The house which belongs to Simon = Simon's house.
• Jobs for men = Men's jobs.
• The room where the girls sleep = The girls' room.
• Charles and his sister Mary = Mary is Charles' sister.
• Spain’s influence
• the firm’s structure
• today’s newspaper
of means “de” and it’s used to express possession of inanimate things.
The leg of the chair.
The importance of the language.
The months of the year.
The wheels of the car.
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4FROM is translated as “de”, but only to express the origin of person o thing.
Don’t confuse with “de” expressing possession.
Compare:
my father’s name the firm’s structure Spain’s influence the dog’s leg
the name of the book the structure of plastic the influence of alcohol the leg of the table
Notice how we use ‘s:
- Add ´s after a singular noun:
My sister Æ my sister´s car
Eva Æ Eva´s daughter
Jessica´s book
The dog´s leg
The men´s toilet
Mr Varley’s long hair
The children’s grandmother.
- After plural nouns ending in –s, or names ending in –s, just add ´:
My parents Æ My parents´car
The doctors´ uniforms are white.
The dogs´ vet is John.
The boys´ room
James´ teacher is Italian.
- After plural nouns that don´t end in –s, add ´s:
The children Æ The children´s clothes
The women Æ The women's dresses
- After plural nouns ending in –s, or names ending in –s, just add ´:
My parents Æ My parents´car
The doctors´ uniforms are white.
The dogs´ vet is John.
The boys´ room
James´ teacher is Italian.
- If two or more people or animals possess the same thing, add ´s only to the last owner.
Peter and Simon´s teacher.
Kathy and Andrew´s house.
