possessive
/pəˈzɛsɪv/
adjective
- Wanting to keep or control someone or something, often in a way that is not healthy or fair.
- My dog is possessive about his food bowl and growls if you come near it.
- She has a possessive attitude toward her favorite books and won't lend them out.
- He became very possessive of his girlfriend, not wanting her to talk to anyone else.
- Relating to or showing ownership or possession in grammar (e.g., 'my', 'your', 'John's').
- In English, we add an apostrophe and 's' to form the possessive form of a noun.
- Possessive adjectives like 'her' and 'their' show who owns something.
- The word 'its' is a possessive pronoun, but it has no apostrophe.
Synonyms
Antonyms
noun
- A word or form that shows ownership or possession (e.g., 'mine', 'yours', 'John's').
- Some languages have different endings for possessives depending on the noun.
- The teacher explained that 'hers' is a possessive, not a contraction.
- In the sentence 'The book is mine,' 'mine' is a possessive.