Yesterday, we talked about the strong possessive pronouns. They stand alone in place of a possessive noun.
Today we will talk about the weak possessive pronouns. Weak possessive pronouns are also called possessive adjectives.
Here is a list of weak possessive pronouns: my, his, her, our, their, your
They are known as possessive adjectives because they function like adjectives. They modify nouns.
I lost my notebook.
Mary cleaned her bedroom.
Dad washed his car.
In each of these sentences, the weak possessive pronoun acts like an adjective and gives more information about the noun it modifies.
The possessive pronoun my modifies the noun notebook.
The possessive pronoun her modifies the noun bedroom.
The possessive pronoun his modifies the noun car.
These weak possessive pronouns are different from the pronouns we looked at yesterday because each of today’s possessive pronouns must have a noun after it. That’s why these weak possessive pronouns are sometimes called possessive adjectives.
Each of these pronouns is modifying a noun:
I washed my car.
My dad practiced his speech.
Mary made her bed.
My brother and I painted our garage.
The band members packed up their instruments.
Remember: Weak possessive pronouns act as adjectives and sit in front of a noun to modify the noun.