A. Read the text and notice the words in italics:

Uncle Masud drives our school bus. I reach my school in time. Sushil, my friend, also goes with me. He is a brilliant student of our class. Today Sushil's pencil box has been lost. So he has not completed his homework. As Shushil is a friend of mine, I have lent him my pencil. Our class teacher is very serious about our homework.

These are possessives. They answer the following questions:

Whose school bus is that?
Whose school is that?
Whose class is that?
Whose pencil box is lost?
Whose homework was not done?
Whose friend is Shushil?

They show ownership and relationship.

B. Find out the possessives:

Whose child is this?

"Whose child is this?" I asked one day Seeing a little one out at play.

"Mine", said the parent with a tender smile.

"Mine to keep a little while

To bathe his hands and comb his hair,

To tell him what he is to wear,

To prepare him that he may always be good

And each day do the things he should."

"Whose child is this?" I asked again,

"Mine," to keep just for a little while,

To teach him how to be gentle and kind,

To train and direct his dear little mind,

To help him live by every rule

And get the best he can from school."

"Whose child is this?" I asked once more,

Just as the little one entered the door.

"Ours", said the parent and the teacher as they smiled,

And each took the hand of the little child.

"Ours to love and train together

Ours this blessed task forever."

[Anonymous]

A. To show that something belongs to a person, 's is added to nouns. For example:

She drove her father's car. She reached her sister's house. Her sister Luna opened the door. She took Sharafi's book from the table. She found Sadman's room locked from inside.

Singular nouns:
Muntaha received Bani's prize.
A freedom fighter's courage is very important.
Safin's friends joined him at the party.
Irregular plurals of nouns:
Children's garments are sold in that market.
Rumman is in a men's hostel.

An apostrophe is placed at the end of regular plural nouns:

Mira is in the girls' hostel.
Students' representatives met the Principal.
Lawyers' association protested against the administrative initiative.

's is placed at the end of singular nouns ending in s:

They visited Sirajus's new house.
We entered Anis's flat.

Only an apostrophe without 's' is also in use to avoid an unpleasant hissing sound:

They visited Sirajus' new house.

We entered Anis' flat.

B. Pronouns that are used to show one or more things belonging to a person are Possessive Pronouns.

Pronouns have two possessive forms:

See the following examples:
This is our country.
This book is mine.
Ours is a beautiful country.

C. Identify the possessives in the following story:

Two sick men were given the same room in a hospital. One man could sit up in his bed for about an hour. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man spent all his time lying on his bed opposite the window. The men talked for hours almost every day. They talked about their wives and children, their homes, their jobs and almost about everything.

Every afternoon the man in the bed by the window would sit up and talked to his roommate about all the things he could see outside the window. The man on the other bed eagerly waited for this speaking and listening time. His friend's vivid descriptions of passing things seen through the window inspired him to live.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans play on the water, while children float their paper boats. A wonderful view of the skyline can be seen in the distance. The man by the window told his friend all this in detail. The listener would close his eyes and see everything in his mind's eye.

D. Singular and plural possessive nouns:

Join the sentences with the help of possessives. One is done for you:

1. This is a tiger. Its body has stripes. => The tiger's body has stripes.
2. There are spiders. Their webs catch insects.
3. There is a book on the table. Its pictures are obscure.
4. There is a cat. Its baby is called a kitten.
5. There is one shark. Its teeth are sharp.
6. There are sheep. Their fur keeps them warm.
7. Bangladesh is a beautiful country. Its nature is green.