Possessive Adjectives

What Is a Possessive Adjective?

In English, there are two methods to express ownership: pronouns and adjectives. 

Possessive adjectives show ownership. It is simple to understand. Possessive adjectives are categorised as pronouns.

Possessive adjective is an important type of adjective that alters a word or phrase by indicating who owns or controls it. Possessive adjectives are frequently employed to signify ownership or proprietorship, like adjectives’ names imply. Possessive adjectives can also be used to refer to metaphorical possessions. 

Possessive adjectives examples: 

1. Your books are looking a bit new. 
2. My place is quite decent this time. 

They describe a noun’s possession and do not require an apostrophe. They act as a modifier. 

Implications Of Types of Possessive Adjectives 

1. “My”

For the pronoun I, it is always used. It’s appropriate for both solitary and plural nouns. It can be applied to either a female or a male.

1. “Your”

It is usually used for the adjectival pronoun “you”. It is suitable for both male and female proprietors.

1. “His” 

When an addressee is a man, this phrase is used. It’s for nouns that are plural and singular. 

1. “Her”

When the subject is a woman, it is used. It’s for nouns that are plural and singular.

1. “Our”

When the subject is about us, it is used. It can be used to solo and plural nouns as well.

1. “Its”

It’s used when there’s only one object and animal to talk about.

It’s for nouns that are plural and singular.

1. “Their”

When the subject is there, it is used. It can be used for people, animals, or even objects. It can be used for multiple and single nouns at a time.

1. “You”

It is usually used during addressing the third person singular noun. It is suitable for both male and female proprietors.

What Significance do Possessive Adjectives hold?

While using Possessive adjectives, grammatical errors are uncommon. 

However, they are prone to spelling errors. When it comes to possessive adjectives, there are four frequent errors to avoid.

1. When you imply “your,” do not however write “you’re.”
2. When you imply “its,” do not however write “it’s.” 
3. Don’t get confused between “whose” with “who’se”.
4. There’s a difference between  “they’re,” “there,” and “their.”

Points To Consider At A Time Of Using Possessive Adjectives 

Apostrophes are not used in possessive adjectives. The concept of possession is ingrained in the term. Possessive pronouns, according to their definition, present possession and don’t require any additional punctuation to do so.

Contractions, on the other hand, are another scenario. Even though they may appear to be possessive adjectives, contractions are two different worlds connected by an apostrophe.

Here are some of the tips that you should keep in mind: 

• Possessive adjectives must coincide with both the owner and the item that is being possessed.
• Whenever a noun is multiple and plural, the letter ‘S’ is not appended to the end of the superlative.
• Whenever a noun is single, the verb must be unitary as well; if indeed the noun is multiple and plural, the verb should be plural as well.

Determinants and Possessive Adjectives 

Adjectives, with exception of verbs and nouns, have a more ambiguous classification system. Some style guides and grammar resources, for instance, regard possessive adjectives to become a subcategory of determiners, in whose instance these might well be referenced to that as determiners or simply possessives. Possessive adjectives, as with other descriptive words, can substitute possessive nouns in the same way as pronouns might.

Conclusion: 

Possessive adjectives are used daily to show ownership of an object. It is very important to know about possessive adjectives and how to apply them in English because it will help in reducing the grammatical errors that generally take place.