Possessive Adjectives, Pronouns & Nouns ESL Games, Worksheets & Activities
His, Her or Their?
ESL Possessive Adjective Games - Vocabulary, Grammar and Speaking: Matching, Forming Sentences
In this engaging set of possessive adjective games, students practice talking about who owns different objects using his, her and their. In groups, students take turns turning over a picture card and a...
My Things, Your Things
ESL Possessive Adjectives Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Matching, Labelling, Underlining, Gap-fill, Unscrambling, Correcting
This comprehensive possessive adjectives worksheet helps students identify and use possessive adjectives in sentences about everyday things. First...
Possessive Adjectives Connect Four
ESL Possessive Adjectives Game - Grammar: Gap-fill
In this rewarding possessive adjectives game, students play Connect Four by completing sentences with my, your, his, her, its, our and their. In groups, two students play and a third student checks their answers. The two players choose 'X' or 'O'...
What's your favourite...?
ESL Possessive Adjectives Game - Speaking and Writing Activity: Writing Short Answers, Asking and Answering Questions, Writing Sentences
In this fun possessive adjectives game, students play a true or false guessing game about favourites to practice the possessive adjectives: my, your, his...
Who Owns What?
ESL Possessive Adjectives Game - Grammar and Speaking: True or False, Correcting Sentences
In this free possessive adjectives game, students use pictures to identify who owns different objects and correct statements with 'his', 'her' and 'their'. In pairs, students take turns reading sentences...
Accurate Apostrophes
ESL Apostrophe Games - Grammar and Speaking: Matching, Forming Sentences, Freer Practice
In these two entertaining apostrophe games, students make nouns possessive by adding an apostrophe or apostrophe+s. Each student stands up with an apostrophe card and an apostrophe+s card...
Happy Families
ESL Possessive Nouns Game - Grammar and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice
In this productive possessive nouns game, students play a Happy Families card game to practice possessive nouns. Each card contains a picture of an object and the name of the person who the item...
Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns
ESL Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns Worksheet - Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises: Binary Choice, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Forming Sentences
This useful possessives worksheet helps students learn and practice possessive adjectives and pronouns. Students begin by completing a table with...
Possessive Nouns and Pronouns
ESL Possessive Nouns and Pronouns Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Rewriting, Gap-fill, Answering Comprehension Questions, Writing Sentences
In this insightful possessives worksheet, students practice possessive nouns and possessive pronouns. Students begin by writing the correct...
Possessive Pronoun Race
ESL Possessive Pronouns Game - Grammar: Matching, Sentence Completion
In this fast-paced possessive pronouns game, students race to complete sentences with possessive pronouns. Students take it in turns to pick up a sentence card and read it to the other two students. The students listen to the sentence and then race...
Possessive Pronouns
ESL Possessive Pronouns Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Identifying, Multiple Choice, Table and Sentence Completion, Rewriting Sentences, Unscrambling
In this free possessive pronouns worksheet, students practice the possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs. First, students read...
Whose is it?
ESL Possessive Pronouns Game - Speaking: Labelling, Forming Sentences
In this enjoyable possessive pronouns speaking activity, students play a memory game to practice possessive pronouns. Give each student a picture of an object and each pair a picture to share. The students then play a memory game where...
Correct it
ESL Possessive Adjectives and Nouns Game - Grammar: Error Correction
In this handy possessive adjectives and nouns error correction game, students correct sentences by changing subject pronouns to possessive adjectives or object pronouns to possessive pronouns. The sentences on the worksheet contain errors...
Who does this belong to?
ESL Possessives Activity - Speaking: Reading, Listening, Summarizing, Matching
In this creative possessives speaking activity, students practice language for talking about possessions. Students take it in turns to read the text on their biography card to the other group members who listen and summarize the important facts on their...
Understanding Possessive Adjectives, Pronouns and Nouns
Possessive adjectives such as 'my' and 'her' sit before a noun to show ownership, possessive pronouns such as 'mine' and 'hers' replace the noun entirely, and possessive nouns use an apostrophe to attach ownership directly to a name, as in 'Sarah's bag.' When students confuse a possessive adjective with a possessive pronoun, they produce sentences like 'That bag is her' instead of 'That bag is hers,' which sounds immediately wrong to any native speaker.
This page covers possessive adjectives, pronouns, and nouns across A1 to B1 levels with fourteen resources including card games, worksheets, speaking activities, and a board game format, with two activities available as free downloads.
Possessive nouns add 's to singular nouns and most names, as in 'the dog's lead' or 'James's coat,' and add only an apostrophe after the s of plural nouns, as in 'the students' books.' Each subject pronoun pairs with a distinct possessive adjective and possessive pronoun, and the table below shows all seven sets alongside example sentences.
| Subject Pronoun | Possessive Adjective | Possessive Pronoun | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | my | mine | 'That is my bag. The bag is mine.' |
| you | your | yours | 'Is that your coat? Yes, it's yours.' |
| he | his | his | 'That is his phone. The phone is his.' |
| she | her | hers | 'Those are her keys. The keys are hers.' |
| it | its | — | 'The cat hurt its paw.' |
| we | our | ours | 'This is our table. The table is ours.' |
| they | their | theirs | 'That is their car. The car is theirs.' |
When to Use Possessive Adjectives, Pronouns and Nouns
Avoiding repetition with possessive pronouns: A speaker switches from a possessive adjective to a possessive pronoun when the noun has already been mentioned and repeating it would sound clunky, so a response like 'I left mine at home' flows far more naturally than 'I left my bag at home' when the topic is already clear.
Signalling ownership in descriptions: Writers use possessive nouns when they want to attach an object or quality directly to a named person or thing, making descriptions more specific and immediate, so 'the teacher's desk' locates ownership in a way that 'the desk of the teacher' does not in everyday English.
Asking about possession in conversation: A speaker uses a possessive adjective when asking about something that belongs to the person they are talking to, because it personalises the question and invites a direct answer, as in 'Is this your umbrella?' rather than the more formal 'Does this umbrella belong to you?'
3-Step Framework for Teaching Possessive Adjectives, Pronouns and Nouns
1. Introduce Possessive Adjectives Through Sentence Construction: Open with a card-based game that puts possessive adjectives to work immediately. Students arrange possessive adjective, noun, and predicate cards into sentences about themselves and others within a ten-minute time limit, then read their sentences aloud as a group, scoring one point for each true or believable sentence. The truth-value scoring means students have to think carefully about meaning, not just grammar.
2. Tackle Possessive Nouns With a Physical Response Game: Shift the focus to possessive nouns with a fast elimination game. Every student stands holding an apostrophe card and an apostrophe+s card, and when a noun is called out they hold up the correct possessive ending to make it possessive. Any student who holds up the wrong card sits down and is out, which keeps every student alert and deciding actively throughout.
3. Consolidate All Three Forms Through Reasoned Speaking: Finish with a speaking activity that requires students to produce possessive language in a sustained, reasoned context. Students listen to biography cards and assign objects to the right person, explaining their reasoning using structures like 'I think this is Richard's laptop because...' or 'This laptop belongs to Richard because...' The justification requirement pushes students well beyond single-word answers.
Common Mistakes with Possessive Adjectives, Pronouns and Nouns
Using a subject pronoun instead of a possessive adjective: Students often write the subject pronoun where a possessive adjective is needed, particularly at lower levels, because both forms share the same position before a noun and the distinction is not yet automatic. Wrong: 'She left she bag on the bus.' Correct: 'She left her bag on the bus.'
Confusing its with it's: Students often write 'it's' where 'its' is needed, because the apostrophe signals possession for nouns everywhere else in English, making the possessive form without an apostrophe feel like an error even when it is correct. Wrong: 'The company released it's annual report.' Correct: 'The company released its annual report.'
Common Questions About Teaching Possessive Adjectives, Pronouns and Nouns
What is a free worksheet for teaching possessive pronouns?
The worksheet Possessive Pronouns is a free download that covers mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs through six exercises. Students move from identifying possessive pronouns in sentences and completing a reference table, through multiple-choice and gap-fill practice, to rewriting sentences and unscrambling word-order puzzles, building toward independent production.
What is a fun game for practicing possessive nouns?
The game Happy Families is a card-collecting game where students ask for items using possessive nouns, for example 'Do you have Joshua's tennis racket?' Students collect sets of four cards by asking others, handing over an unwanted card in exchange for each one they receive. Every question requires a correctly formed possessive noun to score.
What is a good speaking activity for practicing possessive adjectives?
Students use my, your, his, and her in natural conversation with the activity What's your favourite...? They write answers about their favorites, marking five as true and five as false, then quiz a partner who guesses which answers are lies. A follow-up writing stage extends the practice to his and her, for example 'Her favorite place is the beach.'
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