Second Grade English: Possessive Pronouns (my, your, his, her, their, our)

When you want to show that something belongs to you or someone else without using a noun and an apostrophe, you turn to a special family of words called possessive pronouns. While nouns require an apostrophe to show ownership (like Leo's jacket), possessive pronouns show ownership naturally through their very spelling. In this chapter, you will master the primary possessive pronouns of second grade my, your, his, her, their, and our learn how to pair them with nouns, and discover the critical difference between possessive words and contractions.

What Is a Possessive Pronoun?

A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that demonstrates ownership or belonging.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                  POSSESSIVE NOUN VS. PRONOUN                    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                 |
|   POSSESSIVE NOUN:    "That is [ Maya's ] bicycle."             |
|                       (Requires apostrophe -'s)                 |
|                                                                 |
|   POSSESSIVE PRONOUN: "That is [ her ] bicycle."                |
|                       (Clean substitute; NO apostrophe!)        |
|                                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

The No-Apostrophe Law

This is one of the most vital rules in all of English grammar: Possessive pronouns NEVER use apostrophes! Words like his, hers, theirs, ours, and its show ownership all by themselves. If you put an apostrophe in its (it's), it is not a possessive pronoun; it is a contraction meaning it is!

Master Directory of Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns match the person or group that owns the object.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS DIRECTORY                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Owner           | Possessive Form Used Before a Noun           |
+------------------+----------------------------------------------+
|  I (Myself)      | my ("This is my pencil.")                    |
|  You (Listener)  | your ("Is that your backpack?")              |
|  He (One Male)   | his ("Leo cleaned his messy room.")          |
|  She (One Female)| her ("Sophia tied her running shoes.")       |
|  It (One Object) | its ("The puppy wagged its tail.")           |
|  We (Group with  | our ("We love our beautiful school.")        |
|      Myself)     |                                              |
|  They (Multiple  | their ("The birds built their cozy nest.")   |
|      Others)     |                                              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Determining the Right Pronoun by Ownership

Match the pronoun directly to the owner: If a boy named Carlos owns a book -> it is his book. If a girl named Maya owns a guitar -> it is her guitar. If you and your sister own a pet hamster -> it is our hamster. If two neighbors own a shared garden -> it is their garden.

Avoiding Common Possessive Traps

There are two major homophone traps involving possessive pronouns that trick many writers.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 POSSESSIVE VS. CONTRACTION TRAPS                |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Possessive Pronoun (Ownership) | Contraction (Two Words)       |
+---------------------------------+-------------------------------+
|  its ("The cat licked its paw") | it's (Short for "it is")      |
|  your ("Wash your hands")       | you're (Short for "you are")  |
|  their ("They rode their bikes")| they're (Short for "they are")|
+---------------------------------+-------------------------------+

The "Expansion Test"

Whenever you are writing and wonder whether to use an apostrophe, try expanding the word: Does "The bird flapped it is wings" make sense? NO! So write the possessive pronoun: its. Does "You are lunch is ready" make sense? NO! So write the possessive pronoun: your. Does "They are going to the park" make sense? YES! So write the contraction: they're.

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Fill in each blank with the correct possessive pronoun (my, your, his, her, our, or their): "David forgot to bring ___ lunchbox to school." "Maya and I finished painting ___ treehouse." "The students raised ___ hands to answer the question."

Exercise 2: Choose the correct word in parentheses: "(Its / It's) raining outside, so the dog went into (its / it's) warm doghouse."

Exercise Solutions

Solution to Exercise 1: The completed sentences are: "David forgot to bring his lunchbox to school." "Maya and I finished painting our treehouse." "The students raised their hands to answer the question."

Solution to Exercise 2: The correct choices are: "It's raining outside (contraction for It is), so the dog went into its warm doghouse (possessive pronoun showing ownership of doghouse)."