Introduction
Understanding possessive adjectives and pronouns is crucial for the TOEIC test, especially in the Listening and Reading sections. These words help indicate ownership and are commonly used in business communication. Mastering them improves your ability to understand and construct sentences accurately.
Explanation
Possessive adjectives are used before nouns to show who owns something. They include: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. For example:
This is my report.
Have you seen their presentation?
Possessive pronouns replace nouns to show ownership. They include: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs. For example:
The report is mine.
The presentation is theirs.
Note: “its” is rarely used as a possessive pronoun on its own in modern English.
Common mistakes
Confusing possessive adjectives with possessive pronouns. Possessive adjectives are used with a noun (my book), while possessive pronouns stand alone (the book is mine).
Misplacing apostrophes. Do not use apostrophes with possessive pronouns. For example, “its” is correct, while “it’s” means “it is”.
Tips for the TOEIC test
Listen carefully for possessive adjectives and pronouns in conversations. They often indicate relationships between people and objects.
In reading sections, pay attention to these words to better understand ownership and responsibility.
Mini practice
Fill in the blanks with the correct possessive adjective or pronoun:
The laptop on the desk is _____.
Is this _____ pen or _____?
We completed _____ project yesterday, and _____ is due next week.
Answers
mine
your, hers
our, theirs