{"id":2905,"date":"2016-03-03T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T16:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=2905"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:44:03","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:44:03","slug":"apostrophes-and-possessive-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/apostrophes-and-possessive-pronouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Apostrophes and Possessive Pronouns"},"content":{"rendered":"

In two earlier<\/a>\u00a0posts<\/a>, we looked at the use of apostrophes with possessive nouns.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019ll look at the way apostrophes are used with possessive pronouns\u2026 or rather how they aren\u2019t used<\/strong>, in most cases. For the most common pronouns in the English language, you do not<\/strong> use an apostrophe to note possession. Instead, these common pronouns change other aspects of their spelling and word form when they become possessive.<\/p>\n

Below is a chart of the eight most common pronouns in English and their possessive forms:<\/p>\n

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Notice that some of these pronouns have two possessive forms. That\u2019s because, in the case of me, you<\/em>, her<\/em>, us<\/em>, and them<\/em>, the possessive form changes depending on its position in the sentence.<\/p>\n

My\/<\/em>mine are irregular forms. But for the other pronouns, if the possessive pronoun is not followed by the word for the possessed object, it will have an s<\/em> added to it. If the possessive pronoun is followed by the possessed object, it won\u2019t have an s<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If this still sounds a little confusing, don\u2019t worry\u2014you\u2019ll get the hang of this pattern quickly by looking at the examples below. (The possessed objects are underlined<\/u>, and the possessive pronouns are in bold<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n