What are the possessive adjectives in English?

There are seven: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their, one for each personal pronoun. They go in front of a noun to say who it belongs to: my phone, your seat, his brother, her car, its lid, our house, their children. They are also called possessive determiners, because they occupy the same slot as the and a.

What is the difference between his and her?

His is for a male owner and her for a female owner, and the choice depends only on the owner, never on the noun. So Tom's sister is his sister and Anna's brother is her brother. Learners whose languages make the possessive agree with the noun often reverse this, and a sentence like Anna loves his brother tells an English listener that the brother belongs to some man.

Its (no apostrophe) is the possessive adjective: The cat licked its paw. It's (with an apostrophe) is short for it is or it has: It's raining; It's been ages. The test is to expand the word: if it is or it has fits, write it's; if not, write its. The same rule separates your from you're and their from they're.

Why does English say I washed my hands rather than I washed the hands?

English attaches a possessive adjective to parts of the body and items of clothing even when the owner is obvious: He raised his hand, she closed her eyes, I put on my jacket. Many languages use the definite article in these sentences, so learners tend to drop the possessive. In English, the hands sounds as if you are talking about someone else's hands or a pair of hands in general.

Are possessive adjectives the same as possessive determiners?

Yes. Possessive adjective is the traditional name and possessive determiner is the more precise modern one, because these words behave like the, a, and this rather than like ordinary adjectives: they cannot follow be (you cannot say the book is my), they cannot be graded, and only one fits before a noun. Both names describe the same seven words: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.

English grammar · Beginner

Possessive Adjectives: My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, and Their

Written by Eleanor Whitfield, Lead English Curriculum Editor · Reviewed September 2026

Possessive adjectives are the words my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. They go in front of a noun to say who it belongs to or is connected with (my phone, their house, her brother). The form is chosen by the owner, not by the noun: a woman's book is her book whether she has one book or ten, and a man's books are his books. They never take an apostrophe, and they replace the article rather than combining with it.

Maria left her umbrella in my car.

her matches Maria (the owner), my matches the speaker; the nouns don't matter

What it is

A possessive adjective answers the question whose? before a noun. Instead of repeating the owner (Maria's bag, the bag of Maria), English puts a short word in the article's slot: her bag. There are seven, one for each personal pronoun: my, your, his, her, its, our, their. Because they are determiners, they behave like the and a: one per noun, always first, and never alone. What makes them tricky for learners is that they agree with the possessor, not with the thing possessed, so his car and his cars share a form while his car and her car differ, and its (belonging to it) is spelled without the apostrophe that it's (it is) has.

Tom loves his job. Anna loves her job. (his for a male owner, her for a female owner; job is the same) They love their jobs. (their for a plural owner; the plural noun does not change the form)

How to spot it

Find a noun and check the word directly in front of it. If that word tells you who the noun belongs to and could be replaced by a name with 's (my car = Ana's car), it is a possessive adjective. If the word stands alone with no noun after it (this is mine), it is a possessive pronoun instead.

Can I borrow your pen? (your + noun: the pen belongs to the listener)
The company changed its logo. (its for a thing, no apostrophe)
We sold our house last year. (our + noun for we)
The twins finished their homework. (their for a plural owner)

Her is both the possessive adjective (her book) and the object pronoun (I saw her). The noun after it is the clue: her book has a noun, so it is possessive; I saw her has none, so it is the object form.

Possessive Adjectives Quick Reference

The seven possessive adjectives, with the pronouns they belong to

Subject pronoun	Possessive adjective	Possessive pronoun	Example
I	my	mine	This is my seat. This seat is mine.
you	your	yours	Is this your coat? Is this coat yours?
he	his	his	He forgot his keys. The keys are his.
she	her	hers	She sold her bike. The bike was hers.
it	its	(none in normal use)	The cat licked its paw.
we	our	ours	We love our new flat. The flat is ours.
they	their	theirs	They painted their fence. The fence is theirs.

Common Possessive Adjectives Examples in English

Possessive adjectives grouped by the kind of connection they express, because belonging is only one of the relationships they cover:

Things You Own

I can't find my glasses.: my + plural noun; the form does not change
Their car is parked outside.: their for a plural owner
Have you got your ticket?: your for the listener
The dog is chewing its bone.: its for an animal

Ownership is the core meaning, but possessive adjectives do not always mean legal ownership: my seat on the train is simply the seat I am using.

People in Your Life

Her brother lives in Toronto.: her: the owner is female; brother is male
Our teacher is from Ireland.: our for a shared connection
He introduced me to his wife.: his: the owner is male; wife is female
My colleagues are very supportive.: my + plural noun

His and her follow the person who has the relationship, not the person named: her husband, his sister.

Parts, Features, and Qualities

The city is famous for its bridges.: its for a place
She raised her voice.: a person's own voice
The book lost its cover.: its for an object
I admire their patience.: a quality belonging to a group

Its is the form for organisations, places, and things: The team celebrated its victory (or their victory in British English, where a team can be plural).

Set Phrases and Everyday Expressions

I'm on my way.: on + possessive + way
Take your time.: a fixed expression with your
He changed his mind at the last minute.: change + possessive + mind
We did our best.: do + possessive + best

In these expressions the possessive adjective always matches the subject: I did my best, they did their best.

How Possessive Adjectives Work

Four rules of agreement and position, and one about apostrophes, explain everything on this page.

The Form Follows the Owner, Not the Noun

Choose the possessive adjective by asking who owns or is connected to the noun. A woman's things are her things, a man's are his, a group's are their. The noun after it changes nothing: her book, her books, her brother, her brothers. Speakers of languages where the possessive agrees with the noun (French son livre, sa maison) tend to reverse this, producing his mother for a woman's mother.

Laura called her father. Marco called his mother.

her because Laura is female, his because Marco is male

Who owns it? That decides the word.

One Form for Singular and Plural Nouns

Unlike many languages, English possessive adjectives do not change for number. My covers my book and my books; their covers their child and their children. The only plurality that matters is the plurality of the owner: our (we) and their (they) are plural because the owners are.

Our daughter and our sons are all at university.

our stays the same before singular and plural nouns

Same word before one thing or many.

It Takes the Article's Place

A possessive adjective is a determiner, so it fills the slot that the, a, or this would fill. You cannot put both: the my car and a your friend are impossible. To say one of someone's friends, English uses a friend of mine, with the possessive pronoun after of.

My car is outside. A friend of mine is outside.

my replaces the; a friend of mine avoids a my friend

Never the my. Use a ... of mine.

His and Her Follow Gender; Its Covers Everything Else

His is for a male owner, her for a female owner, and its for a thing, an animal whose sex is unknown or irrelevant, an organisation, or a place. For a person whose gender you do not know, or who uses they, their is standard: Someone left their umbrella. Pets are often his or her when the owner knows them.

The hotel raised its prices. Every guest has their own key.

its for the hotel; their for an unspecified person

His, her, its; their when you don't know.

No Apostrophe, Ever

Possessive adjectives never take an apostrophe, because they are already possessive. Its means belonging to it; it's means it is or it has. Your is possessive; you're is you are. Their is possessive; they're is they are and there is a place. The apostrophe in English marks a missing letter or a possessive noun (Ana's), never a possessive adjective.

The dog wagged its tail. It's a friendly dog.

its = belonging to it; it's = it is

If you can say it is, write it's; otherwise its.

Common Mistakes with Possessive Adjectives

Incorrect: The dog wagged it's tail.

Correct: The dog wagged its tail.

Its is the possessive and takes no apostrophe, like his and hers. It's is the contraction of it is, and it's tail would mean it is tail, which is nonsense.

Incorrect: Maria loves his job.

Correct: Maria loves her job.

The possessive adjective follows the owner. Maria is a woman, so the job is her job, whatever the gender of the noun in the learner's own language. His would tell the listener the job belongs to a man.

Incorrect: They love theirs children.

Correct: They love their children.

Theirs is the possessive pronoun and stands alone: the children are theirs. Before a noun the adjective their is needed, and it never adds -s to agree with a plural noun.

Incorrect: I washed the hands before dinner.

Correct: I washed my hands before dinner.

English uses a possessive adjective with parts of the body, even when it is obvious whose they are. The hands would make the listener wonder whose hands you mean.

Where English Uses a Possessive and Other Languages Don't

Two habits of English that learners rarely guess: possessives with body parts and clothes, and own for emphasis.

Body parts and clothing

English puts a possessive adjective before parts of the body and items of clothing where many languages use the definite article. He broke his arm, not he broke the arm; she put on her coat, not she put on the coat.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face.: my, twice, where other languages say the
He put his hands in his pockets.: his before both nouns
She shook her head.: her head, even though there is only one

The definite article appears only after a preposition in a few violent or medical phrases: She hit him on the head. He was shot in the leg.

Own for emphasis

Add own after a possessive adjective to stress that something belongs to that person and nobody else, or that they did something without help.

I'd like a room of my own.: belonging to me alone
She started her own business.: her own = hers, not someone else's
Mind your own business.: a fixed expression

Own needs a possessive in front of it: my own, their own, never an own.

Quick Check: Possessive Adjectives

Fill each gap with the right possessive adjective, or choose between its and it's.

1. Sara and ___ husband are moving to Leeds.

Answer: her

the owner, Sara, is female

2. We forgot ___ passports at home.

Answer: our

we takes our; passports being plural changes nothing

3. The company is closing ___ oldest factory.

Answer: its

a company is it; no apostrophe

4. Peter says ___ sister is a dentist.

Answer: his

the owner, Peter, is male, although sister is female

5. ___ raining, so the cat is staying in ___ basket.

Answer: It's, its

it is, then belonging to the cat

6. The students handed in ___ essays on time.

Answer: their

plural owner: their

Possessive Adjectives FAQs

What are the possessive adjectives in English?: There are seven: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their, one for each personal pronoun. They go in front of a noun to say who it belongs to: my phone, your seat, his brother, her car, its lid, our house, their children. They are also called possessive determiners, because they occupy the same slot as the and a.
What is the difference between his and her?: His is for a male owner and her for a female owner, and the choice depends only on the owner, never on the noun. So Tom's sister is his sister and Anna's brother is her brother. Learners whose languages make the possessive agree with the noun often reverse this, and a sentence like Anna loves his brother tells an English listener that the brother belongs to some man.
Is it its or it's?: Its (no apostrophe) is the possessive adjective: The cat licked its paw. It's (with an apostrophe) is short for it is or it has: It's raining; It's been ages. The test is to expand the word: if it is or it has fits, write it's; if not, write its. The same rule separates your from you're and their from they're.
Why does English say I washed my hands rather than I washed the hands?: English attaches a possessive adjective to parts of the body and items of clothing even when the owner is obvious: He raised his hand, she closed her eyes, I put on my jacket. Many languages use the definite article in these sentences, so learners tend to drop the possessive. In English, the hands sounds as if you are talking about someone else's hands or a pair of hands in general.
Are possessive adjectives the same as possessive determiners?: Yes. Possessive adjective is the traditional name and possessive determiner is the more precise modern one, because these words behave like the, a, and this rather than like ordinary adjectives: they cannot follow be (you cannot say the book is my), they cannot be graded, and only one fits before a noun. Both names describe the same seven words: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.