Possessive Determiners: my, your, his, her

Words that show who owns things

How do you say a book belongs to you? You say your book! Words like my, your and his show who owns something. They are called possessive determiners. 🫳

The owning words

There is one for each person:

• I 🙋 → my book 📕
• you 👉 → your hat 🧢
• he 👦 → his dog 🐶
• she 👧 → her bike 🚲
• it 🐱 → its tail
• we 👨‍👩‍👧 → our house 🏠
• they 👫 → their toys 🧸

They go before a noun

A possessive determiner always comes just before a naming word.

my book, your hat, his dog, her bike 🚲

You never use it alone. You say "my book", not just "my".

his or her?

• For a boy, use his: That is his ball. ⚽
• For a girl, use her: That is her doll. 🪆

A handy table

Person	Possessive	Example
I 🙋	my	my book 📕
you 👉	your	your hat 🧢
he 👦	his	his dog 🐶
she 👧	her	her bike 🚲
we 👨‍👩‍👧	our	our house 🏠
they 👫	their	their toys 🧸

Try it

Fill in the right word:

1. I lost ___ shoe. (my) 👟
2. She rides ___ bike. (her) 🚲
3. They eat ___ lunch. (their) 🍎

Brilliant!

Now you can show who owns what! These little words make your sentences clear and friendly.

Next, try Pronouns: He, She, They and Apostrophes for Contractions.