Show Possession in English with ‘S, My, and Mine
Showing that you own something or that something belongs to you, using English language, is remarkably simple—and yet students still make mistakes. The following guide will show you how to show possession in English, so that you can avoid any embarrassing slips in front of friends and colleagues.
Don’t understand this blog? You can find a translation of any challenging vocabulary at the end of this article.
Jump to the point you find most interesting:
TL;DR: How languages show possession and connection is different. Compared to other languages, English’s grammar for possessives is reasonably simple. Once you’re familar with possessive S, possesive pronouns like “my”, and possessive pronouns like “mine”, you will be comfortable in most situations. There are very few exceptions to the rules. Comparing the rules in other languages with our own can help understand languages in general—and motivate us.
A Quick Admission:
Let me admit something, students: my commitment to learning Czech language isn’t the best. In fact, at times my commitment is embarrassingly low. Actually, I feel embarrassed even writing this to you! 🙈
(Hence today’s use of emojis!)
I could blame my lack of commitment on many things, such as being busy (parenthood, two jobs, other hobbies), working from home and not needing Czech on a daily basis, having a beautiful Czech partner fluent in English, etc, etc 🥱
You get the idea.
But one of the reasons is that Czech is so much harder than English.
And I hope this “difference in difficulty” will inspire you now. Because I believe the English system for showing possession is much easier than the Czech one.
In any event, by the end of this article, you’ll be able to tell me if I’m wrong.
How Do Languages Show Possession?
Languages show that an object is owned by or connected with someone using different methods. In Czech, this method changes a lot for gender, number and other grammatical reasons. This isn’t the case in English—at least not to the same degree!
I won’t lecture you on your own language just in case I say something wrong, but bear Czech’s complexity—and the complexity of other languages—in mind as we look at English. It might bring you some relief.
Here’s a taster of how some languages show possession:
Possessive suffixes
Existenial constructions
Genitive case
Clitics
Etc
Let’s take a brief look at a few examples before moving on:
Turkish:
Some languages use possessive suffixes. In Turkish, we have the noun “ev”, which means house, and the possessive suffix “-im”. Put them together and we have “evim”. This means “my house”.
Russian:
Honestly, this one is confusing for me. I would need to study it longer to talk about it with more confidence, so I’ll keep this explanation brief. Many languages use existential constructions, a structure that translates to something like “At me there is a car”. For example, Russian “U menya yest' mashina”, or "The car is to me". As an English speaker, this construction feels unnatural for me.
Czech:
I said above I wouldn’t lecture you on your own language, so again, I’ll keep this short—but Czech and many other languages use the genitive case to show possession. This compares to an “of” structure in English. For example, “Kniha bratra “(The book of my brother) or “Dům mého otce” (The house of my father). The possessed object changes grammatical form to the genitive case.
And by the way, I’m aware Czech has other ways of showing possession, including possessive adjectives and complex possessive pronouns. Languages often have multiple ways of showing possession.
English
My mother tongue, including other features such as “my” and “mine”, uses clitics to show possession. A clitic is a morpheme (morfém) that has the characteristics of a word, but is always attached to a host word or phrase.
That’s a simplified explanation of clitics, of course. But I want to focus on teaching you English, not linguistic terminology. let me put it another way:
English has a simple way of showing ownership/possession using a clitic. That’s an apostrophe and the letter S:
How do I show Possession Using an apostrophe and an S?
What’s an apostrophe? Well, it’s useful tool for contracting two words into one, such as the word “what’s” (what is) at the beginning of this sentence. But it’s also used for possession. It looks like this:
‘
Put it before the letter S to create a possessive S:
‘s
Let’s talk about a man named John, and we want to say he has a car. We stick ‘s on the end of the first noun (John) to show the following noun (car) belongs to the first noun (John):
John’s car.
If your English is good enough to read this blog post, then you probably knew that already. But let me show you some more cool things about using ‘s (almost) universally to show possession.
Common ‘s situations
Using ‘s in your language for possession creates a simple grammatical system:
It works whatever the gender: John’s car, Elizabeth’s car.
It works for irregular nouns too: Children’s toys, Sheep’s field (regardless of whether it’s 1 sheep or 10 sheep) 🐑
If the object belongs to more than one person, you write ‘s on the last noun in the sequence: John and Elizabeth’s car.
If the object owned it obvious, you can omit it: I’m going to my mum’s (house)
It can be used to show connection, not just possession: My dad’s sister (we don’t typically say “the sister of my dad” in English—remember the “of” or genitive construction found in Czech).
And it’s not just used for people. We can use it with inanimate objects too: The house’s windows are big (alternatively, you could write, “The windows on the house are big”).
Note on the final bullet point: You need to put the higher concept object/possessor first. The main object takes priority over the smaller one. You can say “my house’s windows” but not “my windows’ house”. The second option makes it sound like the windows are bigger than the house, or that the windows own the house, in addition to other strange interpretations.
But showing possession can’t be that straightforward, surely?
Okay, so maybe there are a couple of complications 😅
What do you do if the noun already ends in an S? For example, in the name James. Good news, there’s an easy fix. Usually, we add the apostrophe to the end of the first noun without including the extra S. Like so:
James’ car.
However, some freaky style guides prefer to keep both S letters:
James’s car.
Now, I’m supposed to remain objective and describe what happens in English without asserting my own opinion. However, I freely admit to you now that I die a little inside when I see apostrophe S written like this: James’s 😪
How does possessive S change with regular plural nouns?
We know irregular nouns such as “children” become “children’s”, but what about plural nouns that already end in an S? Can you guess what English does?
We handle it the same way we do singular nouns that end in S, like the name James. Usually, we add the apostrophe without the extra S:
The dog’s toy (one dog who owns one toy).
The dogs’ toy (many dogs who own one toy).
Other points of confusion
Remember, we also use ‘s in contractions. That’s contracting two words into one by putting an apostrophe between them. Take a look:
He’s sick (he is sick, not he owns a sick).
He’s written a book (He has written a book, not he owns a written book).
So, how do you know if ‘s shows possession? Or how do you know ‘s is a contraction of a noun and auxiliary verb (is or has, for example) ending in S?
Here’s a simple answer using sentence structure:
If the sentence looks like [noun + ’s] + [noun], it’s possession. For example, “John’s car.”
If the sentence looks like [noun + ’s] + [anything else, plus part of a verb phrase is missing], it’s likely a contraction, and ‘s = is or has. For example, “What’s wrong with John?”
Possessive ‘S Exercise:
Are there other ways to express ownership in English? Yes, English has other possessives and ways of showing possession. For example, mine, my, and whose—possessive pronouns can also change when they become plural or change gender—his, her, your, their, etc.
But before we continue, it’s time to check out your skills:
One final point:
For every topic you find difficult in English, you can find another topic that’s easier than what’s found in your native language, Czech—if you look hard enough!
Whenever learning gets difficult, remind yourself of this. Look for the positives and don’t dwell on the negatives.
And I shall humbly try to do the same 🙈🙏
Ask an English teacher about pronunciation—or anything else you’re dying to ask.
How to Use “My” and “Mine” in English
Now you've mastered adding 's to the end of nouns to show possession and connection, it's time to show possession with MY and MINE. Good news, this is even more simple than using the clitic, possessive ‘s.
A quick reminder of English word order
First, here's a quick but necessary reminder of English word order. Check below. A simple sentence might look like this:
(A man) + (kicked) + (a ball)
(subject noun) + (verb) + (object noun)
Let’s break it down:
Subject noun = a man,
Verb = kicked
Object noun = a ball.
English has a subject, verb, object (SVO) word order. You cannot change this word order without changing the sentence's meaning. English is strict about this. You can't write "a ball kicked a man" because a ball doesn't have legs and can't kick anyone!
Now you know that information, you might already be able to figure out the difference between MY and MINE 🔎🤔
If not now, you will soon!
How to Use MY
To add information to a noun, we put an adjective before it. I'm going to put two adjectives (tall and blue) in the sentence we looked at earlier:
A tall man kicked a blue ball.
MY is a possessive adjective. It appears in positions where we would normally find adjectives. We put it before a noun to show ownership. For example:
A tall man kicked my ball.
These adjectives give us a much clearer image of the man and the ball, including who the ball belongs to. In this case, it doesn't belong to the tall man. It belongs to me. If he belonged to him, the sentence would be:
A tall man kicked his ball.
How to Use MINE
MINE is a possessive pronoun. This means it appears in a position where you would normally find a noun (John, Sally, computer) or pronoun (he, she, it). Here's an example:
The ball is mine.
So, it is my ball. The ball is mine . The man kicked my ball. The ball the man kicked is mine.
Another sentence: My book is on the shelf. The book on the shelf is mine .
Take a look at this sentence: “My good news isn’t mine alone.” Let me label this sentence with the different parts of speech so that you can see how My and Mine work together:
My (adjective 1) good (adjective 2) news (noun) isn't (verb) mine (possessive pronoun) alone (adverb).
My and Mine Exercise
Fill in the blanks with MY or MINE.
This is ___ book.
That pen is ___.
She loves ___ new dress.
Is this jacket ___ or yours?
I can't find ___ keys.
The red bag is ___, but the blue one is hers.
___ phone is on the table.
He borrowed ___ car yesterday.
(9!) Bonus question:
Rewrite this sentence using MINE instead of MY:
👉 That's my laptop.
Conclusion
All things considered, showing possession and connection is much more straightforward in English than in many other languages. If you can master basic word and possessive S, you’re unlikely to make many mistakes.
Here’s what I recommended:
Spend 15 minutes learning possessive pronouns (his, hers, theirs, its—don’t confuse “Its” with “It’s; can you tell me the difference?)
Spend 20 minutes learning Mine and My
Spend 30 minutes learning possessive S (and revise again in a week to make sure the exceptions aren’t confusing you).
Perhaps the only notable thing not covered in this post is how to use the word “whose”. let’s save that for another, after you improve or master what’s taught in today’s article.
My and Mine Answer Key:
My
Mine
My
Mine
My
Mine
My.
My
FAQ
Do you teach this grammar in your English lessons?
I teach students whatever they need to improve. If you want to talk to me and learn about showing possession in English, feel free to get in touch.
Can I learn English without knowing all this linguistic and grammar terminology?
Absolutely, and many do! But I enjoy the terminology. It’s a useful tool for language analysis, and the more you know about languages in general, the easier languages are to understand as entities.
Do you like Czech language?
I do, actually. I’m trying to be brave about its complexity.
Do you have a translation of the difficult vocabulary in this lesson?
Yes, I have translated the vocabulary below with Google, in no particular order. Pardon any inaccuracies.
Vocabulary:
to admit to something - přiznat se k něčemu
to bear something in mind - mít něco na mysli
possession, possessives - posednutí, přivlastnění
noun - podstatné jméno
higher concept - vyšší koncept
to do something on a daily basis - dělat něco na denní bázi
to remain objective - zůstat objektivní
to assert your opinion - prosadit svůj názor
auxiliary verb - pomocné sloveso
common situations - běžné situace
to dwell on something - zabývat se něčímto
to do something humbly, to be humble - dělat něco pokorně, být pokorný
subject noun - podstatné jméno,
object noun - předmět podstatné jméno
adjective - přídavné jméno
possessive adjective - přivlastňovací přídavné jméno
possessive pronoun - přivlastňovací zájmeno
verb - sloveso
adverb - adverb
to label something - označit něco
parts of speech - slovní druhy
to have a catch-up - dohnat
to figure it out - přijít na to
the ball belongs to me - míč patří mně
I felt obliged - Cítil jsem se zavázaný
hence - proto
