Skill 22 : Possessives

Possessive adjectives and pronouns both show who or what "owns" a noun. However possessive adjectives and possessive pronoun do not have the same function, and these two kinds of possessives can be confused on the TOEFL test. A possessive adjective describes a noun. It must be accompanied by a noun. Possessive pronoun takes place of a noun: it cannot be accompanied by a noun.


Beth gave us her television
Beth gave us hers.

Notice that the first example the possessive adjective her is accompanied by the noun television. In second example, the possessive pronoun hers is not accompanied by a noun.

The following chart outlines the possessives and their uses.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES	POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
My	mine
Your	Yours
His	His
Her	Hers
Its	Its
Our	Ours
Their	Theirs
Must be accompanied by a noun	Cannot be accompanied by a noun

These example show the types of errors that are possible with possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns on the TOEFL test.

The students turned in theirs papers.
I would like to borrow your.

In the first example, the possessive pronoun theirs is incorrect because it is accompanied by a noun papers, and  a possessive pronoun cannot be accompanied by a noun. The possessive adjective theirs is needed in the first example. In the second example, the possessive adjective your is incorrect because it is not accompanied by a noun and a possessive adjective must be accompanied by a noun. The possessive pronoun yours is needed in the second example.