POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS - RULES, SPECIAL CASES AND EXAM TRAPS

Possessive determiners are words used before nouns to show ownership, possession, relationship or association.

Examples:

My book is on the table.
Your answer is correct.
Her brother is a doctor.
Their house is beautiful.

In these sentences, my, your, her, and their are possessive determiners because they appear before nouns and tell us whose book, answer, brother or house is being discussed.

Table of Contents

TYPES OF POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS

There are seven main possessive determiners in English.

Personal Pronoun	Possessive Determiner	Example
I	My	My bag is new.
You	Your	Your work is excellent.
He	His	His father is a teacher.
She	Her	Her dress is beautiful.
It	Its	The dog wagged its tail.
We	Our	Our school is famous.
They	Their	Their children are playing.

Important: You and your can refer to one person or several people. The choice depends on who is being addressed.

POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS RULES AND USAGE

Rule	Explanation	Correct Example
Rule 1: Before a noun	A possessive determiner must be followed by a noun, sometimes with an adjective in between.	My book; my new book
Rule 2: Ownership	Shows who owns something.	This is his bicycle.
Rule 3: Relationships	Shows family or personal relationships.	Her mother is a doctor.
Rule 4: Body parts	Used to refer to a person’s or animal’s body parts.	He washed his hands.
Rule 5: Singular and plural nouns	Can be used with singular and plural nouns.	My friend; my friends
Rule 6: Uncountable nouns	Can be used before uncountable nouns.	Their advice was helpful.
Rule 7: No article before a possessive determiner	Do not normally place a, an, or the directly before a possessive determiner.	My car, not the my car
Rule 8: Agreement with the possessor	The determiner depends on the owner, not on the thing owned.	She loves her parents.
Rule 9: Gender distinction	His generally refers to a male possessor; her to a female possessor.	Rahul lost his pen. Riya lost her pen.
Rule 10: Its vs it’s	Its shows possession; it’s means it is or it has.	The cat licked its paw. It’s raining.

POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS VS POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Basis	Possessive Determiners		Possessive Pronouns
Function	Come before a noun to show possession		Replace a noun phrase to show possession
Words	my, your, his, her, its, our, their		mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
Noun after the word	Yes, normally		No
Example	This is my book.		This book is mine.
Example	Is that your bag?		Is that bag yours?
Example	It is her pen.		The pen is hers.
Example	This is their house.		This house is theirs.
Personal Pronoun	Possessive Determiner	Example
I	My	I forgot my notebook.
You	Your	You should complete your work.
He	His	He washed his car.
She	Her	She completed her homework.
It	Its	The bird spread its wings.
We	Our	We love our country.
They	Their	They brought their books.

Golden rule

My + noun → my book
Mine → The book is mine.
Incorrect: This book is my.
Correct: This book is mine.
Incorrect: This is mine book.
Correct: This is my book.

A personal pronoun replaces a person or thing as the subject or object. A possessive determiner specifies the noun that follows it.

Compare:

She is intelligent: Personal pronoun.
Her answer is correct: Possessive determiner.
I called her: Personal pronoun used as an object.

IMPORTANT EXAM TRAPS OF POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS

No.	Incorrect Sentence	Correct Sentence	Explanation
1	This is mine book.	This is my book.	Use my before a noun.
2	This pen is my.	This pen is mine.	Use mine without a following noun.
3	The my bag is missing.	My bag is missing.	Do not place the before a possessive determiner.
4	Riya forgot his book.	Riya forgot her book.	Match the possessor correctly when gender is known.
5	The dog wagged it’s tail.	The dog wagged its tail.	Its indicates possession; it’s means it is or it has.
6	They completed theirs work.	They completed their work.	Use their before a noun.
7	We love ours country.	We love our country.	Our is the determiner; ours is the pronoun.
8	He hurt him hand.	He hurt his hand.	Use a possessive determiner for the body part.
9	She is a friend of me.	She is a friend of mine.	The expression is a friend of mine.
10	Everybody should bring his or her books.	Everybody should bring their books.	Singular they/their is widely accepted for an unspecified person.