English Grammar and Composition chapter 4: Possessives

UNIT 04 Possessives

A. Read the following passage and notice the use of possessives:

Figure

Description: A line drawing of a fish farm: several people stand around a tank or pond on the left and right, and a man at the right holds a fishing net. Fish are visible in the water in the centre, and fences are drawn in the background.

We have a small farm in our village. My father and his friend Mr. Mrinal own the farm. The name of the farm is Muradnagar Motsho Khamar. My father**’s** name is Alimuzzaman. Our farm is a fish farm. Many of our neighbours are employed there. The customers are our village people, some nearby stores and also some big department stores in Dhaka city. All the members of our family work for our business. Mr. Mrinal’s family is also spending much time for it. The condition of the business is really good. We are really proud of our business. Working for the growth of the business is the dream of mine. Our neighbours’ families will be benefitted by that.

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Look at the words in the text and see the different types of possessive in the following chart.

Possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives are words that go before nouns to talk about-

• belongings: I want to complete my homework first.
• relationship: Mahin says that his mother is a banker.
• parts of the body: Rimu has broken her leg.
• things that are connected with us: We have planted fifty coconut trees in our school.

In the above examples, ‘my’, ‘his’, ‘her’ and ‘our’ are possessive pronouns because they show possession.

Activity 1

Now read the following text and fill in the gaps with possessive adjectives:

_________ father came to this city forty years ago. He was quite a young man then. _________ dream was to run a business here in this small town and live happily. I can’t imagine _________ beauty either. _________ father brought all _____________ family members in a rented house. They moved from _________ village home. Can you think about _________ hopes and anxieties during the initial days?

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Possessive pronoun

• We use possessive pronoun to talk about something that belongs to us or is connected with us. It is usually used at the end of a sentence and is not followed by a noun.
• We also use a possessive pronoun for the thing we are referring to. We have already mentioned the thing in an earlier sentence.

Activity 2

Read the conversation between two friends. Complete their conversation by putting in the correct possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns as needed.

Bindu : How about ________ garden project?

Titul : Fantastic! I took ________ suggestions.

Now I’m spending more time behind it.

Now the garden is full of different flowers.

Everyone is amazed to see ________ beauty.

How about ________ ?

Bindu : ________ is like yours.

But this time I’ve planted some new cactus.

I’m inspired to see Laila’s garden.

The speciality of ________ is – it is full of white flowers and they are mostly local flowers.

Titul : Did you go to ________ (use Antara) garden.

Bindu : Not yet. Let us go to see them one day.

After all they are ________ friend.

Activity 3

Mita and her brother Imran are going to meet their aunt’s family at Satkhira. Complete the conversation by putting correct possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns.

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Mita : Imran, have you packed ____suitcase?

Imran : No, sister. Not yet. Have you done ____?

Mita : Yes, I have done _____ today.

Imran : What things have you taken?

Mita : I have taken some of _____ (I) clothes.

Imran : Okay. _shirts are at the laundry. Do you need to press some of (you)?

Mita : No. I have already done at home. Take _____ sweater. It will be pretty cold at Satkhira.

Imran : Okay. I will take a sweater and ______ (Arman) jacket.

Mita : Why? What happened to ____?

Imran : The sleeves of the jacket have become dirty.

Mita : Okay. Then you can take ____(he).

Imran : What is the scheduled time of the train?

Mita : It is at 6 am. We have to start____(we) journey from home before 5am.

Activity 4

Rewrite the following sentences. Use possessives as necessary. The first one is done for you.

a) What is the name of your best friend?

What is your best friend’s name?

b) What is the colour of the shirt of your colleague?

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c) What is the address of her partner?

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d) What is the last name of your sister?

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e) What is the height of his brother?

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f) What is the favourite food of your mother?