This / These / Its / It’s on the TOEIC®: Common Traps and Mistakes to Avoid

Possessives (my, your, his) and demonstratives (this, that, these, those) are determiners that indicate ownership or the proximity of an item.

In the TOEIC®, they mainly appear in Parts 5 and 6, often in questions where you must choose between a possessive and a demonstrative, or identify the correct agreement.

The classic mistake: confusing "its" (possessive) and "it's" (contraction), or incorrectly agreeing the demonstrative with the noun. These small errors cost you easily recoverable points, and TOEIC® test creators regularly test candidates on this trap in Part 5.

Possessives: Rules and Forms in English

Possessives show who something belongs to. In the TOEIC®, two forms exist:

possessive adjectives (my, your, his)
and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his).

Possessive adjectives always come before a noun. Possessive pronouns replace it.

Adjectives vs. Possessive Pronouns:

Possessive Adjective	Possessive Pronoun	Usage
my	mine	My report / The report is mine
your	yours	Your deadline / This deadline is yours
his	his	His proposal / The proposal is his
her	hers	Her contract / The contract is hers
its	—	Its performance (never a pronoun)
our	ours	Our budget / The budget is ours
their	theirs	Their office / The office is theirs

TOEIC® Example:

"The company updated its policy last week."
"This laptop is mine, not yours."

Even among candidates who already have access to preparation materials through their school, the confusion between its and it’s comes up very frequently in Part 5.

The problem isn't the rule itself, but the lack of focused practice on these confusing points.

When candidates train directly on these traps, receiving method reminders and tips the moment an error occurs, they make significantly fewer mistakes.
This is exactly the type of practice you get when reviewing your TOEIC® with Flow Exam.

Demonstratives: Distance and Agreement

Demonstratives (this, that, these, those) indicate proximity (close item vs. distant item) and must agree in number (singular vs. plural) with the noun.

TOEIC® Examples:

"This report needs your approval by Friday."
"These documents were submitted yesterday."
"That meeting we had last month was productive."
"Those policies apply to all employees."

Decision Chart:

Proximity	Singular	Plural
Close (here, now)	this	these
Far (there, past)	that	those

Agreement with the Main Noun (and not the nearest word!)

In the TOEIC®, demonstrative-noun agreement is often tested in long sentences. The noun is separated from the demonstrative by complements, adjectives, or relative clauses.

Classic Structure:

"This detailed analysis of the quarterly results show..." → Incorrect
"This detailed analysis of the quarterly results shows..." → Correct

The demonstrative "this" must agree with "analysis" (singular), not with "results" (plural). The verb follows the main subject.

Some students can sometimes be tricked by the noun closest to the verb. However, the real subject is placed at the beginning of the sentence, right after the demonstrative.

Demonstratives without a Noun

Demonstratives can also be used alone, as pronouns, to replace a previously mentioned noun.

"We reviewed several proposals. This is the most cost-effective."
"I prefer those to the previous models."

In the TOEIC®, this form often appears in Part 6 (fill-in-the-blank passages), where you must choose the correct demonstrative based on context and number.

Common Errors and How to Avoid Them

Clearly, this is where many candidates foolishly lose points.

Chart of Classic Errors:

Error	Correction	TOEIC® Trap
It's performance improved	Its performance improved	Possessive/Contraction confusion
This documents are ready	These documents are ready	Singular/Plural agreement
The report is our's	The report is ours	Incorrect apostrophe on possessive pronoun
That policies apply here	Those policies apply here	Far demonstrative agreement
This is their's office	This is their office	Double error: their's does not exist
Mines is better	Mine is better	Incorrect addition of "s"

The "its" vs "it’s" Trap in Detail

In the TOEIC®, this trap appears in 1 out of every 3 questions related to possessives in Part 5. The rule must become second nature:

its = possessive (his/her/its for an object/company)
it’s = contraction of "it is" or "it has"

Quick test: try replacing it with "it is". If the sentence makes sense, use "it’s". Otherwise, use "its".

"The company announced its new strategy." → it is new strategy? No. So, its.
"It’s important to review the guidelines." → It is important? Yes. So, it’s.

Complex Agreements: Demonstratives + Complements

When a complement separates the demonstrative from the main noun, TOEIC examiners test your ability to spot the real subject.

"This series of workshops is designed for managers."

"Series" = singular (it has the same spelling in plural, but here it is singular because of "this").

"These types of contracts require legal review."

"Types" = plural, so "these" and the verb must be plural.

Successful candidates apply a simple method: isolate the main subject (right after the demonstrative) and check the agreement.

There is no need to needlessly memorize lists of rules; what's crucial is truly understanding the sentence's meaning to figure out what the subject is and what demonstratives follow from it.

Checklist for Test Day

On test day, you will have very little time per Part 5 question. Here is a quick method for possessives and demonstratives.

Step 1: Identify the Type

Is it a possessive? Check if there is a noun immediately following it. If yes, possessive adjective. If no, possessive pronoun.
Is it a demonstrative? Check the number of the noun (singular/plural).

Step 2: Apply the Rule

Possessive: "its" or "it’s"? Test replacement with "it is".
Demonstrative: singular or plural? Look for the main noun, not the complement.

Step 3: Verify Agreement

The verb agrees with the main subject, not the closest complement.

Clues for Answering in a TOEIC® Context:

Clue in the Sentence	Action
"it's" in the answers	Check if "it is" works
Noun separated from the demonstrative	Isolate the main subject
Possessive pronoun at the end of the sentence	Check that there is no noun following it
"this/that" + verb	Look for a singular subject
"these/those" + verb	Look for a plural subject

In Part 6, demonstratives often appear at the beginning of a sentence, referring back to information mentioned in the preceding paragraph. You must identify the noun they refer to.

Ready to Practice?

Now you have mastered the rules for possessives and demonstratives and you know the classic TOEIC® traps.
The next step: practice under real conditions, with questions that exactly reproduce the format of the official Test.

On Flow Exam, you can practice directly on the Determiners topic in Part 5, with thousands of questions in the same format as the official TOEIC®. You will work specifically on the possessives, demonstratives, and other determiners that appear on the test.

Some Superpowers of the Flow Exam Platform You Can Test Right Now:

150 truly exclusive tips based on the experience of over 500 candidates who scored +950 on the TOEIC®: clear, concrete, tested, and validated in the field.
Intelligent practice system that adapts exercises to your profile and trains you directly on the topics where you make the most errors. Result → 3.46x faster progress compared to traditional platforms.
Ultra-personalized learning path: targeted practice only on the questions and topics where you lose points → continuously adjusted to adapt to your evolving level.
Personalized statistics on +200 specific topics (adverbs, pronouns, linking words, etc.)
Real Conditions Mode exactly like Test Day (listening instructions, timer, etc.) → You can activate it whenever you want.
Flashcards automatically generated from your own mistakes, and optimized by the J method (spaced repetition) for lasting memorization and zero forgets.
+300 points on the TOEIC® guaranteed. If not, we offer a full refund.