Talk about family and possessions

In this lesson you practise possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, our, their) and ’s (my sister’s phone) to talk about people and things. You also practise describing family members.

Grammar · my/your/his/her

Grammar · ’s possession

Vocabulary · Family + adjectives

Speaking · Describe people

Objective: At the end of the lesson you can describe family members and say whose things they are.

Warm-up · Whose is it?

Look and answer

Choose a person in your family. Point to 3 things and say:

“It’s my ______.”
“It’s my mother’s ______.”
“It’s her / his ______.”

Example:
“It’s my phone.” · “It’s my father’s car.” · “It’s his watch.”

Warm-up: objects at home.

Grammar · Possessive adjectives

Use possessive adjectives to show ownership. They come before a noun.

Subject	Possessive adjective	Example
I	my	This is my brother.
you	your	Is this your phone?
he	his	This is his bag.
she	her	This is her book.
we	our	It’s our home.
they	their	It’s their car.

Exercise 1 · Choose

1. This is (my / I) sister.
2. He is (his / he) brother.
3. Is this (your / you) phone?
4. She is (her / she) mother.
5. It’s (their / they) house.

Answers: 1 my · 2 his · 3 your · 4 her · 5 their

Exercise 2 · Complete

Complete with my / your / his / her / our / their:

1. This is Ana. This is ______ mother.
2. This is my brother. That is ______ job.
3. We live in Tuxtla. This is ______ city.
4. They have two children. These are ______ children.
5. I have a sister. This is ______ sister.

Possible answers: 1 her · 2 his · 3 our · 4 their · 5 my

Grammar · ’s (possession)

Use ’s to show ownership: Maria’s bag = the bag belongs to Maria.

Examples

my sister’s phone
my father’s car
the teacher’s desk

Tip: If a name ends in s, you can say: James’s (common) or James’ (also possible).

Possession: whose keys? whose car?

Exercise 3 · Make phrases

Write phrases with ’s:

1. (my mother / phone) → ____________________
2. (my brother / bike) → ____________________
3. (my parents / house) → ____________________
4. (my sister / book) → ____________________
5. (my friend / bag) → ____________________

Sample answers:
my mother’s phone · my brother’s bike · my parents’ house (plural) · my sister’s book · my friend’s bag

Exercise 4 · Choose: his/her or ’s

1. This is my sister. This is ______ bag. (her / my sister’s)
2. This is Carlos. This is ______ phone. (his / Carlos’s)
3. This is Ana and Luis. This is ______ house. (their / Ana and Luis’s)
4. My father has a car. It’s ______ car. (his / my father’s)

Suggested answers: 1 her or my sister’s (both OK) · 2 his or Carlos’s · 3 their · 4 his or my father’s

Vocabulary · Describe family members

Use simple A1 adjectives to describe people.

Adjectives

friendly · kind · funny
quiet · shy · confident
hard-working · busy
nice · helpful

Sentence models:
“My mother is friendly.”
“My brother is hard-working.”

Vocabulary: describing people positively.

Exercise 5 · Choose the best adjective

1. My sister helps me. She is ______. (helpful / shy)
2. My father works a lot. He is ______. (hard-working / quiet)
3. My brother doesn’t talk much. He is ______. (quiet / funny)
4. My mother likes people. She is ______. (friendly / shy)
5. My cousin tells jokes. He is ______. (funny / busy)

Answers: 1 helpful · 2 hard-working · 3 quiet · 4 friendly · 5 funny

Exercise 6 · Write your own

Write 5 sentences about your family members.

My ______ is ______.
My ______ is ______.
My ______ is ______.
My ______ is ______.
My ______ is ______.

Reading · Family description (A1)

Read

Laura (34) lives with her parents. Her mother is friendly and helpful. She works in a small shop. Laura’s father is quiet, but he is very kind. He likes cooking. Laura has one brother. Her brother’s name is Pablo. He is funny and hard-working. Pablo studies in the evening and he works in the morning.

Reading: family description at home.

Exercise 7 · True or False?

1. Laura lives with her parents.
2. Laura’s mother works in a hotel.
3. Laura’s father is quiet and kind.
4. Pablo is Laura’s cousin.
5. Pablo studies in the evening.

Answers: 1 True · 2 False · 3 True · 4 False · 5 True

Exercise 8 · Answer

1. What is Laura’s mother like?
2. What does Laura’s father like?
3. What is Pablo like?
4. When does Pablo study?

Sample answers:
1 She is friendly and helpful. · 2 He likes cooking. · 3 He is funny and hard-working. · 4 He studies in the evening.

Pronunciation · his / her (weak forms)

In fast speech, his and her can be weak. Practise clearly first, then naturally.

Repeat

his name his phone her sister her bag their house

Sentence rhythm

It’s his phone.
It’s her bag.
It’s their house.

Drill: Say each sentence 3 times (slow → normal). Then change one noun.

Speaking · Two activities

Activity 1 · “Whose is it?” (pair work)

Student A describes an object. Student B asks “Whose is it?”

A It’s a phone. It’s black.

B Whose phone is it?

A It’s my sister’s phone. / It’s her phone.

Use these objects: phone · keys · bag · book · wallet · laptop · car

Activity 2 · Describe a family member

Choose one person. Speak for 30–45 seconds.

Who is the person?
What does he/she do?
What is he/she like? (friendly, quiet, funny…)
What is his/her routine?

Output goal: Use at least 3 possessive adjectives and 2 adjectives.

Mini Project · My family, my things

Write 10–12 sentences about your family and possessions.

Writing plan

Sentence 1–2: who you live with
Sentence 3–6: describe one family member (job + adjective)
Sentence 7–9: describe another person (routine + adjective)
Sentence 10–12: 3 objects and whose they are (my / his / her / ’s)

Model:
“I live with my parents. My mother is friendly. She works in a shop. My father is quiet and kind. This is my father’s car. These are my mother’s keys. It’s her bag, and it’s my phone.”