What's Your Favorite?
My, your, his, her, its, our, their. Seven small words that say who something belongs to — and four of them sound exactly like a word you already know. That is where the trouble starts.
Warm-up
One word answers are fine here. Tap a card when you have answered it.
The easiest conversation in any language. Ten questions, all the same shape, and by the end of them I know quite a lot about you — and you know seven new words.
Useful language
Favorite things
Click a word, then click its meaning. Correct pairs turn green. The audio button says the word.
Complete the sentences
Click a word in the bank, then click a gap. Click a filled gap to clear it.
- I'm Anna. This is _____ bag.
- Hello! What's _____ name?
- He is Tom. _____ car is red.
- She is my sister. _____ hair is long, and my hair is short.
- It is a cat. _____ eyes are green.
- We are a family of four. _____ house is small, but we love it.
- They are in the park. _____ dog is happy.
- Pizza is my _____ food.
Four students, the same questions
Watch what happens to the word my when somebody else talks about them.
Four students answer the same questions about their favorite things. They all start with the same word: my.
Marcos says: "My favorite band is The Beatles and my hobby is video games." So his favorite band is The Beatles, and his hobby is video games.
Sofia says: "My favorite movie is The Lion King. My favorite colors are pink and black." So her favorite movie is The Lion King.
Amara says: "My favorite book is The Color Purple and my favorite actress is Meryl Streep." So her favorite actress is Meryl Streep.
Kenji says: "My favorite singer is Kendrick Lamar. My favorite food is pasta." So his favorite food is pasta.
Marcos and Kenji are in the same class. Their teacher is Sara. When they talk about the class together, they say: "Our teacher is nice."
Multiple choice
Click an answer and you get the result right away, with the reason.
-
Whose favorite band is The Beatles?
And his hobby is video games.
-
___ favorite movie is The Lion King.
Sofia is one woman, so her.
-
What are Sofia's favorite colors?
Two colors, so the verb is are: her favorite colors are…
-
Whose favorite actress is Meryl Streep?
And her favorite book is The Color Purple.
-
___ favorite food is pasta.
Kenji is one man, so his.
-
Who is Kenji's favorite singer?
A singer, not a band and not an actress. The three words are different jobs.
-
Marcos and Kenji say: "___ teacher is nice."
They are talking about themselves, and I is inside the group, so our.
-
You talk about Marcos and Kenji. You say: "___ teacher is Sara."
Two other people, so their. Compare it with the question above.
-
Everybody starts with the same word. Which one?
Because they are talking about themselves. The word changes only when somebody else reports it.
-
Which word do you use for a cat?
Animals and things take its — with no apostrophe.
-
What is the difference between "my" and "his"?
That is all these seven words do: they answer the question whose?
-
A good title for this text would be:
The text is built to show one change: what happens when somebody else tells your answer.
My, your, his, her, its, our, their
Seven words, and each one has a partner. Every subject pronoun from Class 1 has a possessive twin. Learn them in pairs and you never have to think again.
- I → my · I am a fan. My favorite singer is Beyoncé.
- you → your · he → his · she → her · it → its
- we → our · they → their
- It never changes for plural: his car and his cars, her name and her names. In Portuguese the word changes; in English it does not.
- It follows the owner, not the thing: Tom's car → his car, even though "car" is a thing.
-
I am Anna. This is ___ bag.
I is the pronoun; my is the possessive twin.
-
He is Tom. ___ car is red.
One man, so his. It does not matter that a car is a thing.
-
She is my teacher. ___ name is Sara.
She's means she is, which would give you "she is name is Sara".
-
We are in class. ___ teacher is nice.
We → our. Careful: our and are sound similar.
-
It is a cat. ___ eyes are green.
No apostrophe. It's with an apostrophe always means it is.
-
They are in the park. ___ dog is happy.
Same trap as the last one: they're means they are.
-
Which one is correct?
Trick question — only the first exists. These seven words never change for plural.
-
Tom and Sara are married. ___ house is big.
Two owners, so their, even though there is only one house.
Its or it's? Four dangerous pairs
- it's = it is · its = of it · It's a book. Its name is The Color Purple.
- he's = he is · his = of him · He's a student. His book is here.
- you're = you are · your = of you · You're my teacher. Your name's Claire.
- they're = they are · their = of them · They're my friends. Their names are George and Harry.
- The test: can you say it is in that place? Then it takes an apostrophe. If not, it does not.
-
___ a book about a family.
Try the test: "It is a book" works, so it takes the apostrophe.
-
___ name is The Color Purple.
"It is name is…" makes no sense, so there is no apostrophe.
-
___ a student in my class.
"He is a student" works.
-
___ book is on the table.
Whose book? His. The apostrophe version would give "he is book".
-
___ my favorite teacher.
"You are my favorite teacher" — so the short form with an apostrophe.
-
What's ___ name?
The most common written mistake in English, and now you will never make it.
-
___ names are George and Harry.
Whose names? Theirs. No apostrophe.
-
Which sentence is WRONG?
Open it up: "they are names are here". The test works every time.
Write the possessive
One word in each gap: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.
Read the first sentence before you answer. It always tells you who the owner is — and the owner decides the word.
-
aI am Anna. This is ___ bag.
-
bHe is Tom. ___ car is red.
-
cShe is my teacher. ___ name is Sara.
-
dWe are in class. ___ teacher is nice.
-
eThey are in the park. ___ dog is happy.
-
fHello. What's ___ name?
-
gIt is a cat. ___ eyes are green.
-
hYou and I are here. ___ class is at seven.
-
iSofia is Spanish. ___ favorite color is pink.
-
jMarcos and Kenji are students. ___ teacher is Sara.
Two words in one sentence
Each sentence needs a pronoun and a possessive. Example: Harry is a teacher. ___ is from England and ___ school is in London. → He … his
-
aHarry is a teacher. ___ is from England and ___ school is in London. (two words)
-
bHello! ___ name is Sandra and ___ from Brazil. (two words)
-
c___ a good restaurant. ___ name is Marble-Kitchen. (two words)
-
d___ Mark and Sally. ___ house is blue. (two words)
-
e___ my teacher Anna. ___ school is in the center. (two words)
-
fGood morning! Are ___ John and Sally? Where are ___ bags? (two words)
-
gAnna and I are sisters. ___ are from Rio and ___ parents live there. (two words)
-
hLook at that dog. ___ is very big and ___ tail is long. (two words)
Ten favorites
Answer with a full sentence: My favorite … is … Then I ask you about somebody else and you change the word.
Useful language
My favorites and theirs
40–70 words. Write five of your own favorites with my. Then write three sentences about somebody in your family, with his or her. Finish with one sentence starting Our favorite…
My results
Check your score, then copy it and send it to your teacher on WhatsApp.
One job for this week. When you write anything in English, stop at every its, your and their and ask: can I say it is, you are, they are here? Two seconds, and the mistake never happens again.