Possessive Determiner
A possessive determiner is a word that shows possession and is followed by a noun.
My, our, your, his, her, its, and their are possessive determiners.
Possessive determiners are always followed by nouns. But possessive pronouns are never followed by nouns.
The subject of my report is the Inuit of Canada. [determiner]
Her first novel was published in 1960. [determiner]
Do you have their telephone number? [determiner]
Is that your scarf? [determiner]
It’s very similar to mine. [pronoun] (It’s very similar to my scarf.)
That’s not [determiner] their house. [determiner]
Theirs has got a red front door. [pronoun]
It was [determiner] his fault not [pronoun] hers.
Be careful with these three possessive determiners:
| possessive determiner | contraction (sounds the same) |
|---|---|
| your: This is your book. |
you're (you are): Hurry up! You're late! |
| its: The dog licked its paw. |
it's (it is/it has): It's coming. (It is coming...) It's arrived. (It has arrived...) |
| their: Which is their house? |
they're (they are): They're waiting. (They are waiting...) Also note there as an adverb: I'm not going there. |