Possessive adjectives are words that come before a noun to show ownership. They always have a noun after them.

Here are the possessive adjectives:

Worked Example

Look at this dialogue from the textbook:

Rehema: "My name is Rehema. I have a sister; her name is Nuru."

David: "My name is David. I have a brother; his name is Adam."

In these sentences:

• My comes before the noun "name"
• Her comes before the noun "name"
• His comes before the noun "name"

Possessive pronouns are words that replace a noun. They stand alone and are not followed by a noun.

Here are the possessive pronouns:

Worked Example

From the textbook:

• "This is Juma. The bike is his." (his = the bike)
• "This is Neema. The ball is hers." (hers = the ball)
• "The garden belongs to the pupils. It is theirs." (theirs = the garden)

Notice how the possessive pronoun replaces the noun completely.

• Possessive adjective + noun → "This is my book."
• Possessive pronoun alone → "The book is mine."

Both sentences mean the same thing, but the structure is different.

Here is how to change a sentence from using a noun to using a possessive pronoun:

Example: This bag belongs to me. → It is mine.

Now try these:

1. That bicycle belongs to John. → It is ________.
2. These books belong to Sarah and me. → They are ________.
3. Those shoes belong to you. → They are ________.
4. That phone belongs to my sister. → It is ________.
5. This house belongs to us. → It is ________.
6. That chair belongs to them. → It is ________.

• Use my, your, his, her, its, our, their before a noun (possessive adjectives).
• Use mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs in place of a noun (possessive pronouns).
• Possessive pronouns answer the question "Whose?"

In everyday life in Tanzania, we use these words at school, at home, and in the market. For example, when you are at Mwalimu Nyerere market selling fruits and someone asks about a bag of tomatoes, you can say, "That bag of tomatoes is mine, but these mangoes are theirs." This helps you clearly show who owns what when sharing items with friends or selling goods at the market.