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 will improve 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 and include: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs. For example:
The report is mine.
The presentation is theirs.
Common mistakes
Confusing possessive adjectives with possessive pronouns. Remember, possessive adjectives are used with a noun ("my book"), while possessive pronouns stand alone ("the book is mine").
Misplacing apostrophes. Avoid using apostrophes with possessive pronouns (e.g., "its" is correct, not "it's," which 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 understand the context of ownership and responsibility.
Mini practice
Fill in the blanks with the correct possessive adjective or pronoun:
The laptop on the desk is mine (belonging to me).
Is this your (belonging to you) pen or hers (belonging to her)?
We completed our (belonging to us) project yesterday, and theirs (belonging to them) is due next week.
Answers
mine
your, hers
our, theirs