my, your, his, her, its, our, their

A possessive adjective goes before a noun. It shows who has the thing or who the person is connected to.

Each one goes with a subject pronoun:

• I → my
• you → your
• he → his
• she → her
• it → its
• we → our
• they → their

The word doesn't change for the noun after it: my brother, my sisters.

His or her

His and her follow the owner, not the thing. If the owner is a man, it's his. If the owner is a woman, it's her.

Its or it's

Its means "belonging to it". It's means it is or it has.

Their, there and they're sound the same, and so do your and you're. The spelling shows the meaning.

Body and clothes

With parts of the body and with clothes, use a possessive, not the.

Common mistakes

• × Sam and her sister (Sam's sister) → Sam and his sister
• × the my car → my car
• × The dog wants it's ball. → The dog wants its ball.
• × I wash the hands. → I wash my hands.
• × They're house is big. → Their house is big.