Grade 5 English Pronouns – Possessive Pronouns Notes
English — Pronouns: Possessive Pronouns
Specific Learning Outcomes (for 10-year-olds)
- Identify possessive pronouns in short sentences (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs).
- Use possessive pronouns correctly to show ownership in speaking and writing.
- Distinguish possessive pronouns from possessive adjectives (e.g., mine vs my).
- Rewrite sentences to replace a possessive noun phrase with the correct possessive pronoun.
What are Possessive Pronouns?
Possessive pronouns show that something belongs to someone or something. They replace the noun and the possessive word.
List: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
Possessive pronoun vs possessive adjective
Possessive adjective (comes before a noun): my, your, his, her, its, our, their.
Possessive pronoun (replaces noun + adjective): mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
Examples:
- "This is my pen." (possessive adjective + noun)
- "This pen is mine." (possessive pronoun replaces "my pen")
- "These are our seats." → "These seats are ours."
Examples (Kenyan context)
- That school bag is mine. 🎒
- Is this book yours or his? 📚
- Our classroom is next to the playground. Those chairs are ours. 🏫
- The matatu drivers said the seats are theirs. 🚐
- The chicken belongs to mama; the chicken is hers. 🐔
Suggested Learning Experiences (class activities)
- Warm-up (5 minutes): Teacher shows an object (pencil, ball, bag). Ask: "Whose is this?" Pupils answer with full sentence: "It is mine." Encourage speaking.
- Teach the rule (10 minutes): Show the list of possessive pronouns. Explain difference between "my" and "mine" using simple sentences on the board.
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Guided practice (15 minutes): Display short sentences. Pupils change them to use possessive pronouns.
Example tasks:
- "This is my pencil." → "This pencil is mine."
- "Those are our books." → "Those books are ours."
- "The hat belongs to John." → "The hat is his."
- Pair activity (10 minutes): Give each pair a set of picture cards (family, bag, phone, goat). Pupils ask and answer, e.g., "Whose goat is this?" "It's theirs." They swap cards.
- Group game (10 minutes): "Possession relay" — two teams. Teacher says a sentence with possessive adjective, team runs to board and writes its pronoun form. First correct team scores.
- Independent work (10 minutes): Fill-in-the-blanks worksheet (see examples below). Collect and mark.
- Exit ticket (5 minutes): Each pupil writes one sentence using a possessive pronoun about something at home (e.g., "That radio is ours.").
Practice Exercises
A) Fill in the blanks with the correct possessive pronoun:
- This school bag is _____ . (I)
- Is this pen _____ ? (you)
- The kite belongs to James. It is _____ .
- The goats belong to the neighbours. They are _____ .
- We have the same shoes. These shoes are _____ .
B) Rewrite the sentences replacing the bold phrase with a possessive pronoun:
- That book is my book. → That book is _____ .
- These chairs are our chairs. → These chairs are _____ .
- The umbrella belongs to her. It is her umbrella. → It is _____ .
Answers:
- A: 1. mine 2. yours 3. his 4. theirs 5. ours
- B: 1. mine 2. ours 3. hers
Teacher tips & common errors
- Remind pupils: use a possessive pronoun to replace the whole phrase, not just the noun.
- Explain confusion between "its" (possessive) and "it's" (it is). Use simple examples: "The dog wagged its tail." vs "It's raining."
- Use real classroom items to make examples stronger and memorable.
- Encourage correct pronunciation: /maɪn/ (mine), /jɔːrz/ (yours), /hɜːrz/ (hers).
Quick Assessment (for teacher)
Listen for 5 pupils to say correct possessive pronoun sentences during pair work. Mark each as:
- 3 — correct and fluent
- 2 — correct but hesitant
- 1 — incorrect or missing