#53 - Their cat is now our cat 😺! - Practice with their and our

A correction! In our conversation Diana said that words that sound the same, but are spelled differently are homonyms. That isn't correct. Those words are homophones.

Remember that in podcast # 48 we practiced using the possessive adjectives his and her?

Right! We use possessive adjectives to describe something that belongs to a person or people . Remind us please, what is an adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes a noun (and a noun is a person, place or thing). So, in the phrase “a big book”, book is a noun – a thing, and “big” is an adjective that describes the book. A possessive adjective shows possession or ownership. Sometimes you will hear possessive adjectives also called possessive pronouns.

For example, if that cat belongs to Maya, I can say that’s Maya’s cat” or I can say “That’s her cat.” Because Maya is female, I use “her”. Correct! And if that dog belongs to Ben, I can say “That is Ben’s dog” or “That is his dog.” I use “his” because Ben is a male.

Today let’s practice two more possessive adjectives: “our” and “their”. If something belongs to me and at least one other person, I can use “our”.  For example, if I am talking about the house that I live in with my son and my daughter, I can say “Our house is grey.”

Yes! And if something belongs to or more other people – not including me – I can use “their”. For example, if that car belongs to my neighbors, I say “That is their car.”  

Well, that is easy! We use “our” when we talk about me and one or more other person possessing or owning something, And when we talk about two or more other people- not including me, owning something, we use their.

Notice something, dear listener! It doesn’t matter if the people who possess the person place or thing are male or female, we use our and their. Right! Those possessive adjectives do not change, like his and her. The girls lost their homework. The boys lost their homework.

OK!I think we should mention that the possessive “their “is spelled /written t-h-e-i-r

Why is that important? Well, because in English we have two other words that sound the same but have other meanings. That’s crazy! Yup! Two other words that we pronounce like “their”.

The contraction for they are: “they’re” – they + ‘ + re – “they’re”. ..and “t-h-e-r-e” meaning  “at that place” . Put the book there, please. 

Hmmm...Words that sound the same but are spelled/written differently – what is the word for that? Those words that sound the same but are spelled differently are homophones: homo= same;  phone = sound. Just remember, dear listener that the possessive “their” is spelled “t-h-e-i-r”. 

Excuse me, but I think we should add that there is a homophone for “our”, too. Yes! The possessive “our” is written “o-u-r”. And the other “hour” is h – o – u – r, which is 60 minutes or we sometimes use “hour “ for :”time, like ”What is the hour?” or “What time is it?”

 OK, dear listener, let’s get back to the possessive adjectives our and their. Listen for them in our short conversation.

D: Do you remember our neighbors, the Walkers? 

L: Sure, I remember the Walker family.

D: Well, they moved last month, but they couldn’t take their cat. 

L: Why couldn’t they take their cat?

D: Their new apartment doesn’t allow cats.

L: What did they do with their cat?

D: Well, their cat is now our cat!

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