Guide to Possessives and Demonstratives – TOEIC® Preparation

Mastering possessives and demonstratives is a fundamental prerequisite for excelling on the TOEIC®. These two grammatical categories allow you to clearly express the ownership of an item and to designate precisely the people or objects you are talking about.

This guide complements our teaching resources on modifiers, which you can consult here: Course on Adjectives for the TOEIC® Course on Adverbs for the TOEIC®

1. Possessives in English

A. Possessive Determiners

Possessive determiners are systematically placed before a noun to indicate the owner of the mentioned item.

When using a possessive determiner, be particularly careful about the distinction between his (belonging to him) and her (belonging to her).

• My laptop is charging. (Mon ordinateur portable est en charge.)
• Your presentation was excellent. (Ta / Votre présentation était excellente.)
• His report is ready. (Son rapport [à lui] est prêt.)
• Her strategy works well. (Sa stratégie [à elle] fonctionne bien.)
• Its screen is cracked. (Son écran [d'un objet] est fissuré.)
• Our deadline is tomorrow. (Notre échéance est demain.)
• Their office is downtown. (Leur bureau est en centre-ville.)

Difference with French: In French, “son” can refer indifferently to a masculine or feminine possessor, whereas in English, the distinction is mandatory: his (masculine possessor) and her (feminine possessor). Marc cherishes his guitar. (Marc chérit sa guitare.) → "his" because Marc is male. Sophie cherishes her guitar. (Sophie chérit sa guitare.) → "her" because Sophie is female.

Emphasizing Possession with own and by …self

The term own is used to emphasize that a possession is exclusive to someone. It is always used after a possessive determiner (my, your, his, her, our, their) to intensify the notion of ownership.

• She has her own apartment. (Elle a son propre appartement.) → Insists that the apartment belongs exclusively to her.
• He manages his own team. (Il dirige sa propre équipe.) → He is solely responsible for it.
• They built their own startup. (Ils ont créé leur propre startup.)

The structure on one's own expresses the idea of doing something alone, without assistance, and is equivalent to by oneself.

• She completed the project on her own. (Elle a terminé le projet toute seule.)
• He traveled across Europe on his own. (Il a voyagé à travers l'Europe seul.)
• I solved the problem on my own. (J'ai résolu le problème par moi-même.)

You can also use by myself / by yourself / by himself..., which conveys the same meaning:

• I assembled the furniture by myself. (J'ai monté les meubles tout seul.)
• They organized the event by themselves. (Ils ont organisé l'événement eux-mêmes.)

B. Possessive Substitutes

Possessive pronouns allow you to substitute a noun previously mentioned in the discourse. They avoid unnecessary repetition. No noun ever follows a possessive pronoun.

• ❌ This laptop is my laptop. ✅ This laptop is mine. (Cet ordinateur portable est à moi.)
• ❌ Is that desk your desk? ✅ Is that desk yours? (Ce bureau est-il à toi / à vous ?)
• ❌ That tablet is his tablet. ✅ That tablet is his. (Cette tablette est à lui.)
• ❌ The blue jacket is her jacket. ✅ The blue jacket is hers. (La veste bleue est à elle.)
• ❌ This is our project, and that is their project. ✅ This is our project, and that one is theirs. (Voici notre projet, celui-là est le leur.)

Peculiarity with Indefinites

When using an indefinite pronoun such as someone, everyone, nobody, you cannot directly use a possessive pronoun like mine, yours, his... Instead, favor "their" to express possession.

• Use "their" (singular) after an indefinite pronoun to remain gender-neutral regarding the person's gender.
  • Someone left their umbrella. (Quelqu'un a oublié son parapluie.)
  • Everyone should submit their assignment. (Tout le monde devrait rendre son devoir.)
• Using a possessive pronoun after an indefinite pronoun is incorrect: Unlike standard constructions, you cannot formulate "Someone borrowed my charger. I think the charger is mine." Instead, use "theirs":
  • ❌ Somebody borrowed my charger. I think the charger is mine. ✅ Somebody borrowed my charger. I think it's theirs. (Quelqu'un a emprunté mon chargeur. Je pense que c'est le sien.)

The Possessive Pronoun related to "it"

For "it", the use of "its" as a possessive pronoun is very rare, as it is preferred to restructure the statement.

• ❌ The building is modern. The elevators are its. ✅ The building is modern. Its elevators are fast.

C. The Saxon Genitive

The Saxon genitive (marked by « 's ») is used to indicate possession. It is mainly reserved for human beings, animals, and anything perceived as animate (the possessors).

Genitive Construction

• Add « 's » to the possessor when it is singular.
  • Sarah's portfolio. (Le portfolio de Sarah.)
  • The dog's collar. (Le collier du chien.)
  • My sister's apartment. (L'appartement de ma sœur.)
• Add only « ' » (without an additional s) at the end of a possessor already in the regular plural (ending in -s).
  • The employees' benefits. (Les avantages des employés.) → "Employees" already ends in -s, so only the apostrophe is added.

Here are some special cases to remember:

• If there are two joint possessors, add « 's » only to the last one mentioned
  • Tom and Lisa's apartment. (L'appartement de Tom et Lisa.)
• If the possessor is a proper noun ending in "s" (James, Chris, …), you can use either « ' » or « 's »
  • James' presentation = James's presentation (La présentation de James)

To learn more about this topic, consult our course on plurals

Contexts for Using the Genitive

• With human beings: « 's » is used to denote what belongs to a person. This is the most frequent usage.
  • Julia's strategy (La stratégie de Julia.)
  • Michael's proposal (La proposition de Michael.)
  • My colleague's office (Le bureau de mon collègue.)
  • My grandparents' house (La maison de mes grands-parents.)
• With animals:
  • Since animals are considered living, the genitive is generally preferred:
    • The cat's whiskers. (Les moustaches du chat.)
    • The eagle's nest. (Le nid de l'aigle.)
  • For animals perceived as less familiar (e.g., insects, wild species), "of" can also be used:
    • The wings of the butterfly. (Les ailes du papillon.) But "The butterfly's wings" is still acceptable.
• With collectives: The genitive applies to organizations, companies, or human groups:
  • The board's decision. (La décision du conseil d'administration.)
  • The firm's reputation. (La réputation de l'entreprise.)
  • The club's president. (Le président du club.)
• With places and businesses: « 's » is frequently used to denote places, especially commercial establishments.
  • The town's history. (L'histoire de la ville.)
  • Paris's architecture. (L'architecture de Paris.)
  • The butcher's shop. (La boucherie.)
  • I'm heading to the doctor's. (Je vais chez le médecin.)
• With temporal expressions: The genitive is very common for expressing duration and periods.
  • Today's meeting. (La réunion d'aujourd'hui.)
  • A month's salary. (Un mois de salaire.)
  • Five years' experience. (Cinq ans d'expérience.)
• With certain fixed phrases: Several uses of the genitive have become idiomatic expressions:
  • At death's door. (Aux portes de la mort.)
  • For goodness' sake! (Pour l'amour de Dieu !)
  • A hair's breadth. (Un cheveu de distance.)

What about inanimate objects?

For inanimate items, "of" is generally preferred over the genitive.

• The handle of the door (rather than "The door's handle.")
• The cover of the magazine. (La couverture du magazine.)
• The price of the ticket. (Le prix du billet.)

Nevertheless, the genitive remains possible for certain objects if they are associated with a person or personified:

• The computer's memory. (La mémoire de l'ordinateur.)
• The plane's crew. (L'équipage de l'avion.)
• The nation's wealth. (La richesse de la nation.)

2. Demonstratives in English

A. Demonstrative Determiners

Demonstrative determiners are always placed before a noun and indicate whether the item (or person) is close or far away in space.

Four forms are distinguished:

• This document is crucial. (Ce document-ci est crucial.)
• These reports are ready. (Ces rapports-ci sont prêts.)
• That building across the street is historic. (Ce bâtiment-là de l'autre côté de la rue est historique.)
• Those products on display are new. (Ces produits-là en vitrine sont nouveaux.)

B. Demonstrative Pronouns

When this, these, that, those are used autonomously (with no noun following), they are demonstrative pronouns. They replace the noun to identify an object or a person.

• This (singular): "This is my proposal." (Ceci est ma proposition.)
• These (plural): "These are my colleagues." (Ceux-ci sont mes collègues.)
• That (singular): "That is my desk over there." (Cela là-bas est mon bureau.)
• Those (plural): "Those are her files." (Ceux-là sont ses dossiers.)

Additional examples:

• What is this? (Qu'est-ce que c'est ?)
• I disagree with that. (Je ne suis pas d'accord avec cela.)
• These are the finest examples available. (Ceux-ci sont les meilleurs exemples disponibles.)
• Those are out of reach. (Ceux-là sont hors de portée.)

You can also use the contracted forms That's (That is) and What's this? (What is this?) in spoken language.

C. Extended Uses of Demonstratives

The demonstratives this, that, these, those are not only used to designate objects or people according to their spatial proximity. They can also be used in other situations, notably to situate temporally, introduce a notion, emphasize a point, or express a judgment.

Situating in Time (Present, Past, Future)

Demonstratives allow for positioning events temporally.

• This and these refer to the present moment or the immediate future.
• That and those refer to the past or a more distant future.

Examples:

• I'm loving this semester. (J'adore ce semestre.) → The current semester.
• Those were challenging times. (C'étaient des moments difficiles.) → Referring to a past period.
• That moment transformed everything. (Cet instant-là a tout transformé.) → Referring to a specific moment in the past.

Modulating an Adjective or Adverb

This and that can be used to intensify or attenuate an adjective or an adverb.

• This → Highlights something intense or marked.
  • I didn't know the test would be this challenging! (Je ne savais pas que le test serait aussi difficile !)
  • Why is he speaking this quickly? (Pourquoi parle-t-il aussi vite ?)
• That → Allows for qualifying or minimizing something.
  • The presentation wasn't that impressive. (La présentation n'était pas si impressionnante que ça.)
  • He doesn't seem that concerned. (Il n'a pas l'air si inquiet que ça.)

Introducing or Recalling an Idea

This and these are often used to announce a notion that will be developed, and that and those to refer to an already mentioned or known notion.

• This is the key point I want to make. (C'est le point clé que je veux soulever.) → Presenting information.
• That's precisely my argument! (C'est précisément mon argument !) → Confirming an already mentioned idea.
• These are my conclusions. (Voici mes conclusions.)
• Those who persevere achieve success. (Ceux qui persévèrent réussissent.)

Intensifying much and many

Demonstratives can also be used to emphasize a significant quantity or to compare quantities with much (uncountable) and many (countable).

• I didn't anticipate this much paperwork. (Je ne m'attendais pas à autant de paperasse !)
• I've never encountered that many participants. (Je n'ai jamais rencontré autant de participants.)

Distinction between this much and that much

This much is used to refer to a large or current quantity:

• I didn't anticipate this much responsibility. (Je ne m'attendais pas à autant de responsabilités !) → The speaker is talking about the current workload they observe, which exceeds their expectations.

That much is used to qualify or minimize a quantity:

• I don't enjoy meetings that much. (Je n'apprécie pas tant que ça les réunions.) → "That much" qualifies here: the person likes meetings a little, but moderately.

If you are referring to something directly observable or an immediate situation, favor this much / this many. If you are making a comparison with another situation or wish to attenuate an intensity, use that much / that many.

To learn more about much and many, consult our course on indefinite pronouns

Conclusion

In English, possessives allow you to express ownership (via possessive determiners and pronouns, as well as the Saxon genitive), while demonstratives allow you to precisely designate the items or people being discussed (according to proximity and number).

The key is to grasp the functional difference:

• Possessive: Who does this item belong to? (my, your, his, her, our, their, mine, etc.)
• Demonstrative: Which item or person are we talking about, and how far away is it? (this, these, that, those)

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