Possessive Adjective
Possessive adjectives are used to show possession or ownership of something. While we use them when we refer to people, it is more in the sense of relationship than ownership.
The possessive adjectives in English are as follows:
| Subject | Possessive
Adjective |
|---|
| I | My |
| You | Your |
| He | His |
| She | Her |
| It | Its |
| We | Our |
| You (pl) | Your |
| They | Their |
- Her boyfriend is very friendly.
- Their homework is on the table.
- Our cars are expensive. (Correct)
- Ours cars are expensive. (Incorrect)
- My pen is black. (Singular)
- My pens are black. (Plural)
- Our child is intelligent. (Singular)
- Our children are intelligent. (Plural)
Possessive Pronouns
- number: singular (eg: mine) or plural (eg: ours)
- person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd person (eg: his)
- gender: male (his), female (hers)
- refer to a singular or plural antecedent
| number | person | gender (of "owner") | possessive pronouns |
| singular | 1st | male/female | mine |
| 2nd | male/female | yours |
| 3rd | male | his |
| female | hers |
| plural | 1st | male/female | ours |
| 2nd | male/female | yours |
| 3rd | male/female/neuter | theirs |
- Look at these pictures. Mine is the big one. (subject = My picture)
- I like your flowers. Do you like mine? (object = my flowers)
- I looked everywhere for your key. I found John's key but I couldn't find yours. (object = your key)
- My flowers are dying. Yours are lovely. (subject = Your flowers)
- All the essays were good but his was the best. (subject = his essay)
- John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her passport)
- John found his clothes but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her clothes)
- Here is your car. Ours is over there, where we left it. (subject = Our car)
- Your photos are good. Ours are terrible. (subject = Our photos)
- Each couple's books are colour-coded. Yours are red. (subject = Your books)
- I don't like this family's garden but I like yours. (object = your garden)
- These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair. (subject = Their children)
- John and Mary don't like your car. Do you like theirs? (object = their car)
Gerunds and Infinitives
Following a verb (gerund or infinitive)
| I expect to have the report done by Friday. | [INFINITIVE] |
| I anticipate having the report done by Friday. | [GERUND] |
Some common verbs followed by a gerund (note that phrasal verbs, marked here with *, always fall into this category):
| acknowledge | She acknowledged receiving assistance. |
| * accuse of | He was accused of smuggling contraband goods. |
| admit | They admitted falsifying the data. |
| advise | The author advises undertaking further study. |
| anticipate | He anticipates having trouble with his supervisor. |
| appreciate | I appreciated having a chance to read your draft. |
| avoid | He avoided answering my question. |
| complete | I finally completed writing my thesis. |
| consider | They will consider granting you money. |
| defer | She deferred writing her report. |
| delay | We delayed reporting the results until we were sure. |
| deny | They denied copying the information. |
| discuss | They discussed running the experiments again. |
| entail | This review procedure entails repeating the test. |
| * look after | He will look after mailing the tickets. |
| * insist on | He insisted on proofreading the article again. |
| involve | This procedure involves testing each sample twice. |
| justify | My results justify taking drastic action. |
| mention | The author mentions seeing this event. |
| * plan on | They had planned on attending the conference. |
| postpone | The committee has postponed writing the report. |
| recall | I cannot recall getting those results before. |
| resent | He resented spending so much time on the project. |
| recommend | She recommends reading Marx. |
| resist | The writer resists giving any easy answers. |
| risk | She risks losing her viewing time. |
| sanction | They will not sanction copying without permission. |
| suggest | I suggest repeating the experiment. |
| * take care of | He will take care of sending it to you. |
| tolerate | She can't tolerate waiting for results.
|
Some common verbs followed by an infinitive:
| |
| afford | We cannot afford to hesitate. |
| agree | The professors agreed to disagree. |
| appear | The results appear to support your theory. |
| arrange | They had arranged to meet at noon. |
| beg | I beg to differ with you. |
| care | Would you care to respond? |
| claim | She claims to have new data. |
| consent | Will you consent to run for office? |
| decide | When did he decide to withdraw? |
| demand | I demand to see the results of the survey. |
| deserve | She deserves to have a fair hearing. |
| expect | The committee expects to decide by tomorrow. |
| fail | The trial failed to confirm his hypothesis. |
| hesitate | I hesitate to try the experiment again. |
| hope | What do you hope to accomplish? |
| learn | We have learned to proceed with caution. |
| manage | How did she manage to find the solution? |
| neglect | The author neglected to provide an index. |
| need | Do we need to find new subjects? |
| offer | We could offer to change the time of the meeting. |
| plan | They had planned to attend the conference. |
| prepare | He was not prepared to give a lecture. |
| pretend | I do not pretend to know the answer. |
| promise | They promise to demonstrate the new equipment. |
| refuse | She refused to cooperate any longer. |
| seem | Something seems to be wrong with your design. |
| struggle | We struggled to understand her point of view. |
| swear | He swears to tell the truth. |
| threaten | The team threatened to stop their research. |
| volunteer | Will you volunteer to lead the group? |
| wait | We could not wait to hear the outcome. |
| want | She did not want to go first. |
| wish | Do you wish to participate?
|
Following a preposition (gerund only)
| He went back to writing his paper. | [PREPOSITION + GERUND] |
| I used to live in Mexico. | [AUXILIARY + VERB] |
| I want to go home. | [VERB + INFINITIVE] |
Following an indirect object (infinitive only)
Some common verbs followed by an indirect object plus an infinitive:
| ask | I must ask you to reconsider your statement. |
| beg | They begged her to stay for another term. |
| cause | His findings caused him to investigate further. |
| challenge | Wilkins challenged Watson to continue the research. |
| convince | Can we convince them to fund our study? |
| encourage | She encouraged him to look beyond the obvious. |
| expect | They did not expect us to win an award. |
| forbid | The author forbade me to change his wording. |
| force | They cannot force her to reveal her sources. |
| hire | Did the department hire him to teach the new course? |
| instruct | I will instruct her to prepare a handout. |
| invite | We invite you to attend the ceremony. |
| need | They need her to show the slides. |
| order | He ordered the group to leave the building. |
| persuade | Can we persuade you to contribute again? |
| remind | Please remind him to check the references. |
| require | They will require you to submit an outline. |
| teach | We should teach them to follow standard procedures. |
| tell | Did she tell him to make three copies? |
| urge | I urge you to read the instructions before you begin. |
| want | I do not want you to have an accident. |
| warn | Why didn't they warn me to turn down the heat? |
Possessive adjectives are used to show possession or ownership of something. While we use them when we refer to people, it is more in the sense of relationship than ownership.
The possessive adjectives in English are as follows:
The possessive adjective needs to agree with the possessor and not with the thing that is possessed.
Examples
Like all adjectives in English, they are always located directly in front of the noun they refer to. (Possessive Adjective + Noun)
We do not include an S to the adjective when the noun is plural like in many other languages.
Examples:
However, the verb that is used needs to be in agreement with the noun - if the noun is singular then the verb is singular; if the noun is plural then the verb is plural.
Examples:
We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or thing/things (the "antecedent") belonging to a person/people (and sometimes belonging to an animal/animals or thing/things).
We use possessive pronouns depending on:
Below are the possessive pronouns, followed by some example sentences. Notice that each possessive pronoun can:
Gerunds and infinitives are verb forms that can take the place of a noun in a sentence. The following guidelines and lists will help you figure out whether a gerund or infinitive is needed.
Both gerunds and infinitives can replace a noun as the object of a verb. Whether you use a gerund or an infinitive depends on the main verb in the sentence. Consult the lists below to find out which form to use following which verbs.
Gerunds can follow a preposition; infinitives cannot.
Can you touch your toes without bending your knees?
He was fined for driving over the speed limit.
She got the money by selling the car.
A corkscrew is a tool for taking corks out of bottles.
Note: Take care not to confuse the preposition "to" with an infinitive form, or with an auxiliary form such as have to, used to, going to
Some verbs are followed by a pronoun or noun referring to a person, and then an infinitive. Gerunds cannot be used in this position.
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http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/english-as-a-second-language/gerunds
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/pronouns-possessive.htm
http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Possessive_Adjectives.htm
