possessives: questions &reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another

possessives: questions

We use whose to ask questions:

Pattern A		Pattern B
Whose coat is this?	or	Whose is this coat?
Whose book is that?	or	Whose is that book?
Whose bags are those?	or	Whose are those bags?

reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another

We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another when two or more people do the same thing. Traditionally, each other refers to two people and one another refers to more than two people, but this distinction is disappearing in modern English.

• Peter and Mary helped one another.
  = Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter.
• We sent each other Christmas cards.
  = We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas card.
• They didn’t look at one another.
  = He didn't look at her and she didn't look at him.

We also use the possessive forms each other’s and one another’s:

They helped to look after each other’s children.
We often stayed in one another’s houses.

NOTE: We do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.

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possessives: pronouns

Can you match these possessive pronouns to the right personal pronouns and possessive adjectives?
 

yours, mine, theirs, ours, hers, his, its

Subject	Object	Possessive adjectives	Possessive pronouns
I	me	my
You	you	your
He	him	his
She	her	her
It	it	its
We	us	our
They	them	their

We can use a possessive pronoun instead of a noun phrase:

Is that John’s car?		No, it’s [my car]	>	No, it’s mine.
Whose coat is this?		Is it [your coat]?	>	Is it yours?
Her coat is grey, [my coat]is brown		Her coat is grey,		mine is brown.

We can use possessive pronouns after of.

We can say:

Susan is one of my friends.
or
Susan is a friend of mine.
but not
Susan is a friend of me

or

I am one of Susan's friends.
or
I am a friend of Susan's.
but not
I am a friend of Susan

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Possessives

This possessives page brings together information about

• possessive nouns
• possessive adjectives
• possessive pronouns
• questions
• reciprocal pronouns  

possessives: nouns

We use a noun with ’s with a singular noun to show possession:

We are having a party at John’s house.
Michael drove his friend’s car.

We use s’ with a plural noun ending in -s:

This is my parents’ house.
Those are ladies’ shoes.

But we use ’s with other plural nouns:

These are men’s shoes.
Children’s clothes are very expensive.

We can use a possessive instead of a noun phrase to avoid repeating words:

Is that John’s car?		No, it’s Mary’s [car].	>	No, it’s Mary’s.
Whose coat is this?		It’s my wife’s [coat].	>	It’s my wife’s.

possessives: adjectives

Can you match these possessive adjectives to the right personal pronouns?

its, your, my, their, our, her, his

Subject	Object	Possessive
I	me
You	you
He	him
She	her
It	it
We	us
They	them

We use possessive adjectives:

• to show something belongs to somebody:

That’s our house.
My car is very old.

• for relations and friends:

My mother is a doctor.
How old is your sister?

• for parts of the body:

He’s broken his arm.
She’s washing her hair.
I need to clean my teeth.

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quantifiers:-

We use quantifiers when we want to give someone information about the number of something: how much or how many.

Sometimes we use a quantifier in the place of a determiner:

Most children start school at the age of five.
We ate some bread and butter.
We saw lots of birds.

We use these quantifiers with both count and uncount nouns:

all	any	enough	less	a lot of	lots of
more	most	no	none of	some

and some more colloquial forms:

plenty of

heaps of

a load of

loads of

tons of

etc.

Some quantifiers can be used only with count nouns:

both

each

either

(a) few

fewer

neither

several

and some more colloquial forms:

a couple of

hundreds of

thousands of

etc.

Some quantifiers can be used only with uncount nouns:

a little

(not) much

a bit of

And, particularly with abstract nouns such as time, money, trouble, etc:, we often use:

a great deal of

a good deal of

Members of groups

You can put a noun after a quantifier when you are talking about members of a group in general…

Few snakes are dangerous.
Both brothers work with their father.
I never have enough money.

…but if you are talking about a specific group of people or things, use of the … as well

Few of the snakes are dangerous.
All of the children live at home.
He has spent all of his money.

Note that, if we are talking about two people or things we use the quantifiers both, either and neither:

One supermarket	Two supermarkets*	More than two supermarkets
The supermarket was closed The supermarket wasn't open I don’t think the supermarket was open.	Both the supermarkets were closed. Neither of the supermarkets was open. I don’t think either of the supermarkets was open.	All the supermarkets were closed None of the supermarkets were open I don't think any of the supermarkets were open

*Nouns with either and neither have a singular verb.

Singular quantifiers:

We use every or each with a singular noun to mean all:

There was a party in every street.	=	There were parties in all the streets.
Every shop was decorated with flowers.	=	All the shops were decorated with flowers.
Each child was given a prize.	=	All the children were given a prize.
There was a prize in each competition.	=	There were prizes in all the competitions.

We often use every to talk about times like days, weeks and years:

When we were children we had holidays at our grandmother’s every year.
When we stayed at my grandmother’s house we went to the beach every day.
We visit our daughter every Christmas.

BUT: We do not use a determiner with every and each. We do not say:

The every shop was decorated with flowers.
The each child was given a prize.

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definite article: the

The definite article the is the most frequent word in English.

We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the hearer/reader knows exactly what we are referring to.

• because there is only one:

The Pope is visiting Russia.
The moon is very bright tonight.
The Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979.

This is why we use the definite article with a superlative adjective:

He is the tallest boy in the class.
It is the oldest building in the town.

• because there is only one in that place or in those surroundings:

We live in a small village next to the church.	=	(the church in our village)
Dad, can I borrow the car?	=	(the car that belongs to our family)
When we stayed at my grandmother’s house we went to the beach every day.	=	(the beach near my grandmother’s house)
Look at the boy in the blue shirt over there.	=	(the boy I am pointing at)

• because we have already mentioned it:

A woman who fell 10 metres from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter. The woman fell while climbing.
The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two men walking on the peakwere killed in a fall. 

We also use the definite article:

• to say something about all the things referred to by a noun:

The wolf is not really a dangerous animal (= Wolves are not really dangerous animals)
The kangaroo is found only in Australia (= Kangaroos are found only in Australia)
The heart pumps blood around the body. (= Hearts pump blood around bodies)

We use the definite article in this way to talk about musical instruments:

Joe plays the piano really well.(= George can play any piano)
She is learning the guitar.(= She is learning to play any guitar)

• to refer to a system or service:

How long does it take on the train.
I heard it on the radio.
You should tell the police.

• With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly, unemployed to talk about groups of people:

Life can be very hard for the poor.
I think the rich should pay more taxes.
She works for a group to help the disabled.

The definite article with names:

We do not normally use the definite article with names:

William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
Paris is the capital of France.
Iran is in Asia.

But we do use the definite article with:

• countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic:

the United Kingdom; the kingdom of Nepal; the United States; the People’s Republic of China.

• countries which have plural nouns as their names:

the Netherlands; the Philippines

• geographical features, such as mountain ranges, groups of islands, rivers, seas, oceans and canals:

the Himalayas; the Canaries; the Atlantic; the Atlantic Ocean; the Amazon; the Panama Canal.

• newspapers:

The Times; The Washington Post

• well known buildings or works of art:

the Empire State Building; the Taj Mahal; the Mona Lisa; the Sunflowers

• organisations:

the United Nations; the Seamen’s Union

• hotels, pubs and restaurants*:

the Ritz; the Ritz Hotel; the King’s Head; the Déjà Vu

*Note: We do not use the definite article if the name of the hotel or restaurant is the name of the owner, e.g.,Brown’s; Brown’s Hotel; Morel’s; Morel’s Restaurant, etc.

• families:

the Obamas; the Jacksons

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indefinite article: a and an:-

1. We use the indefinite article, a/an, with count nouns when the hearer/reader does not know exactly which one we are referring to:

Police are searching for a 14 year-old girl.

2. We also use it to show the person or thing is one of a group:

She is a pupil at London Road School.

Police have been searching for a 14 year-old girl who has been missing since Friday.

Jenny Brown, a pupil at London Road School, is described as 1.6 metres tall with short blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white blouse and dark blue jeans and blue shoes.

Anyone who has information should contact the local police on 0800349781.

3. We do not use an indefinite article with plural nouns and uncount nouns:

She was wearing blue shoes. (= plural noun)
She has short blonde hair. (= uncount noun)

Police have been searching for a 14 year-old girl who has been missing since Friday.

Jenny Brown, a pupil at London Road School, is described as 1.6 metres tall with short blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white blouse and dark blue jeans and blue shoes.

Anyone who has information should contact the local police on 0800349781.

4. We use a/an to say what someone is or what job they do:

My brother is a doctor.
George is a student.

5. We use a/an with a singular noun to say something about all things of that kind:

A man needs friends. (= All men need friends)
A dog likes to eat meat. (= All dogs like to eat meat)

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interrogative determiners: which and what

We use "which" as a determiner to ask a question about a specific group of people or things:

Which restaurant did you go to?
Which countries in South America have you visited?

When we are asking a general question we use "what" as a determiner:

What films do you like?
What university did you go to?

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