Pre-A1 Starter Plurals, demonstratives and possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives
Lesson goal. After this lesson you can say whose something is — my, your, his, her, its, our, their — and you will stop mixing up his and her.
When to use it
- Saying whose something is: my book, your pen.
- Talking about family and friends: her brother, our teacher.
- It always comes right before a noun, never alone.
Form
| Pronoun | Possessive | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | my | my school |
| you | your | your name |
| he | his | his bike |
| she | her | her mother |
| it | its | its tail |
| we | our | our class |
| they | their | their house |
Step by step
- Find who the owner is — not what the thing is.
- Turn the owner into a pronoun: he, she, they…
- Look up the matching possessive in the table.
- Put it right before the noun.
his or her — where to look
| Sentence | Owner | Choice |
|---|---|---|
| Nam loves ___ mother. | Nam — male | his mother |
| Lan loves ___ father. | Lan — female | her father |
| The dog eats ___ food. | the dog — an animal | its food |
Examples
This is my classroom.
What is your phone number?
Nam is tall. His brother is tall too.
Lan is kind. Her friends love her.
We clean our classroom every Friday.
My parents sell fruit. Their shop is small.
Common mistakes
She is my sister. His name is Mai. → She is my sister. Her name is Mai.
The owner of the name is the sister — female. Vietnamese has one word for both, so learners are not used to choosing.
This is me book. → This is my book.
me is an object pronoun. Before a noun you need my.
Their is my friends. → They are my friends.
their always needs a noun after it and cannot be the subject. Use they for that.
Memory tip
Before choosing his or her, point at the owner, not the thing. Nam and the bag → his bag. Lan and the bag → her bag. Same bag, different owner, different word.
Summary
- my · your · his · her · its · our · their — always before a noun.
- Choose his or her by the owner, not the thing.
- Things and animals take its.
Practise this lesson
Do exercises with an explanation for every question, take mini tests and track your progress on GrammUp.