👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Lesson 2.3: My Family & Possessives

Your family is one of the first things people ask about. It is also an easy, warm topic in English. Today you learn the words for family members. You also learn the little words that show who owns something: my, your, his, her, and the possessive 's.

📚 What You'll Learn

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Name the main family members (mother, brother, aunt, cousin…)
Use possessive adjectives — my, your, his, her, its, our, their
Use the possessive 's to show who owns something (Anna's brother)
Introduce your family — "This is my sister, Maria."

⏱️ Estimated Time: 45–55 minutes

🎯 Project: Describe your family. Draw or write a simple family tree. Then say five or more sentences about each person.

In This Lesson

🔤 New Words in This Lesson

Here are some useful words from this lesson. Tap 🔊 to hear a word.

possessive — a word that shows who owns a thing
parents — your mother and father
grandmother — your mother's or father's mother
aunt — your mother's or father's sister
uncle — your mother's or father's brother
cousin — your aunt or uncle's child
married — living as husband and wife
owner — the person who has the thing

Why Talk About Family?

When you meet someone new, family is an early topic. "Do you have brothers or sisters?" "Who's this in the photo?" Talking about your family is friendly and personal. Good news — it uses simple words. You can learn them fast.

You need two things: the names of family members, and the small "belonging" words. In English, we don't say "the mother of me." We say "my mother." That little word my is a possessive. By the end of this lesson, it will feel easy.

🧠 Mindset

You already know your family. You just need the English words. That is a great place to start. The ideas are already in your head. You are not learning who your sister is. You are only learning to say "my sister" in a new language. The hard part is finished. 🌱

Family Word List

Here are the words you use most. Many have a formal word and a warm, everyday word. For example, mother (formal) and mom (what you say at home).

mother — mom (UK: mum)
father — dad
parents — mother + father
sister — a girl/woman with your parents
brother — a boy/man with your parents
son — your male child
daughter — your female child
wife — a married woman
husband — a married man
grandmother — grandma
grandfather — grandpa
grandparents — grandma + grandpa
aunt — your parent's sister
uncle — your parent's brother
cousin — your aunt/uncle's child
baby — a very young child
children / kids — sons and daughters

💡 Formal vs. everyday

Use mother and father in writing, or with people you don't know ("My mother is a nurse."). Use mom and dad with your family ("Bye, Mom!"). Both are correct. They just feel different. Kids is a friendly word for children.

🌍 Culture note: English family words are often less exact than in other languages. English uses one word — cousin — for the child of any aunt or uncle, boy or girl. There is no special word for "older brother" or "younger brother." Do you need to be clear? Just add a word: "my older brother," "my mother's cousin."

Possessive Adjectives

A possessive adjective goes in front of a noun. It shows who owns it. Each one matches a subject pronoun you know. Learn them as pairs:

Subject pronoun	Possessive adjective	Example
I	my	My mother is a doctor.
you	your	Is this your sister?
he	his	His name is Tom.
she	her	Her name is Anna.
it	its	The dog loves its family.
we	our	Our parents live here.
they	their	Their children are young.

The possessive adjective always comes before the noun. It does not change for one or many: my brother, my brothers. It matches the owner, not the thing.

✅ Quick pattern

possessive + noun — that's the whole trick. my + name = my name. her + car = her car. their + house = their house.

⚠️ Common confusion: his vs. her

This is hard for almost every learner. The word matches the owner, not the thing.

Tom has a sister. → His sister. (Tom is a man → his)
Anna has a brother. → Her brother. (Anna is a woman → her)

So "his sister" means the sister of a man — even though a sister is a woman. Look at the owner to choose his or her. 👀

Two more famous mix-ups:

your = belonging to you · you're = you are. (Your family ✅ · You're kind ✅)
its = belonging to it · it's = it is. (Its name ✅ · It's my dog ✅)

Possessive 's

When you name the owner (a person's name or a family word), you add 's. It shows what is theirs. Read it as "owner + 's + thing."

Owner	+ 's + thing	Meaning
Anna	Anna's brother	the brother of Anna
my father	my father's car	the car of my father
Tom	Tom's phone	the phone of Tom

The order is always owner first: Anna's brother (✅), not brother's Anna (❌).

💡 Plural owners: the apostrophe moves

The owner ends in -s because it is plural? Put the apostrophe after the s. Add nothing more:

one parent → my parent's house
two parents → my parents' house (apostrophe after the s)

You say both the same way. The difference is only in writing. Keep it simple: one owner → 's, plural owner ending in s → s'.

✅ Don't confuse the two 's

's can mean two things. The rest of the sentence makes it clear:

Possessive: Anna's brother = the brother belonging to Anna.
Short for is: Anna's my sister = Anna is my sister.

Have & Has

To say how many family members you have, use have or has. The word changes with the subject. (We learn the full pattern next lesson. For now, just use it for family.)

Subject	Form	Example
I	have	I have two sisters.
you	have	You have a big family.
we	have	We have three children.
they	have	They have one son.
he	has	He has a brother.
she	has	She has a brother.
it	has	The team has a new name.

✅ Easy rule

Use has only with he, she, it (and one person's name — Tom has…). Everything else uses have. In British English you may also hear "I've got two sisters" and "She's got a brother". Same meaning.

Talking About Family

Now let's put it together. Here are the phrases to introduce your family and to ask about another person's.

This is my sister. These are my parents. Who's this? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Do you have any children? Yes, I have one brother. No, I'm an only child. Her name is… His name is…

Imagine two friends looking at a family photo on a phone. Read both parts out loud — first slowly, then faster.

A: Is that a photo of your family?
B: Yes! Look, this is my phone. Here's a picture.
A: Oh, nice! Who's this?
B: This is my sister, Maria. Her son is next to her.
A: So he's your nephew. And this man?
B: That's my father. His name is Carlos.
A: Do you have any brothers?
B: Yes, I have one brother. His name is Leo.
A: What a lovely family!

💡 "This is…" for introductions

For one person, say "This is my…" — This is my brother. For more than one, say "These are my…" — These are my parents. To ask, say "Who's this?" (Who is this?).

Practice & Project

🏋️ Exercise 1: Choose the right possessive adjective

Objective: Pick my, your, his, her, its, our, their to match the owner.

Choose the right word for each gap.

Tom is happy. sister is here. (his / her)
Anna loves brother. (his / her)
We live with grandparents. (our / their)
My friends are here. children are outside. (Our / Their)
Look at the dog — name is Rex. (it's / its)
Excuse me, is this phone? (your / you're)

✅ Answer

1. His sister (Tom is a man). · 2. her brother (Anna is a woman). · 3. our grandparents. · 4. Their children. · 5. its name (belonging → its). · 6. your phone (belonging → your).

🏋️ Exercise 2: Rewrite using possessive 's

Objective: Turn "the … of …" into the shorter 's form.

Rewrite each phrase with 's (or s' for plural owners).

the brother of Anna → ____________
the car of my father → ____________
the phone of Tom → ____________
the house of my parents → ____________

✅ Answer

1. Anna's brother · 2. my father's car · 3. Tom's phone · 4. my parents' house (plural owner → apostrophe after the s).

🏋️ Exercise 3: Family logic

Objective: Find the right family word.

Fill in the missing family word.

My mother's mother is my .
My father's brother is my .
My aunt's daughter is my .
My parents' son (not me) is my .
My sister's daughter — I am her aunt or uncle, and she is my . (niece)

✅ Answer

1. grandmother (grandma). · 2. uncle. · 3. cousin. · 4. brother. · 5. niece (a bonus word: your sister's daughter).

🎯 Your Project: My Family Tree

This is your speaking task. Do it out loud — to a partner, a teacher, or your phone.

(4 min) On paper, draw a simple family tree (or write a list). Add at least four people: you and three family members. Write each person's name and family word.
(3 min) Point to each person and say a full sentence: "This is my mother. Her name is ___."
(3 min) Say at least five sentences. Use my, his, and her at least once each.
(2 min) Add one have/has sentence: "I have two sisters." or "My brother has a son."
(2 min) Did you record yourself? Listen one time. Did you match his/her to the right owner?

✅ Project Completion Checklist

☐ I drew or wrote a family tree with 4+ people
☐ I said 5+ sentences about my family
☐ I used my, his, and her correctly
☐ I used one have or has sentence
☐ I introduced someone with "This is my…"

🎯 Quick Quiz

Question 1: Anna has a brother. How do we say it?

Question 2: Which sentence shows the house belongs to two parents?

Tips & Common Mistakes

✅ Do's

Look at the owner to choose his/her, not the thing.
Put the possessive before the noun: my mother, never mother my.
Practice with real photos of your family. This helps the words stick.

❌ Common Mistakes

⚠️ Watch Out

his vs. her: "Anna and his brother" ❌ → "Anna and her brother" ✅. Match the owner.
the … of me: "the mother of me" ❌ → "my mother" ✅. English uses the possessive adjective.
your / you're: "Your kind" ❌ (that means "belonging to you"). "You're kind" ✅ = "you are kind."
its / it's: "It's name is Rex" ❌ → "Its name is Rex" ✅. No apostrophe for belonging.
have vs. has: "She have a brother" ❌ → "She has a brother" ✅.

📓 Learning Journal

Keep adding to your learning journal — a notebook or a note on your phone. After every lesson, take five minutes. Write down:

Key concepts you learned
Things that clicked for you
Questions or confusion points to revisit
Ideas you want to try
Your progress and feelings about learning English

✍️ This lesson's prompt: Write three or four sentences about your family in English. Use my, his, and her at least once each, and one have/has sentence. For example: "I have one sister. Her name is Lena. My father is a teacher." Which word was hard to choose — his or her? Write it down. You will learn it faster.

📝 Lesson Summary

🎓 Key Takeaways

Family words come in formal (mother, father) and everyday (mom, dad) forms.
Possessive adjectives — my, your, his, her, its, our, their — go before a noun and match the owner.
his = a man's · her = a woman's — always look at who owns the thing.
The possessive 's shows ownership (Anna's brother); plural owners take s' (my parents' house).
Use have for I/you/we/they and has for he/she/it.

🎉 What You've Accomplished

You can now name your family. You can show who owns something. You can introduce people with "This is my…" That is real, everyday English. You use it every time you share a photo or meet someone new. Well done! 🎉

❓ Common Questions at This Stage

What's the difference between her and hers?

Her goes before a noun (her car). Hers stands alone (The car is hers). This lesson needs only the before-the-noun forms — my, your, his, her, its, our, their. The alone forms (mine, yours, hers…) come later.

Do I say "mom," "mum," or "mother"?

All are correct. Mom is American and mum is British. Both are the warm, everyday word. Mother is more formal. Pick the one for where you live. Use "mother" in writing.

How do I remember its vs. it's?

Try to say "it is" instead. Does "it is" fit? Then use it's. Does it not fit? Then you mean belonging, so use its. "It's my dog" = "It is my dog" ✅. "Its name is Rex" — "It is name" makes no sense, so use its ✅.

🔭 Looking Ahead

In Lesson 3.1, we move into daily life with the Present Simple — how to say what you do every day: "I work," "She lives in Rome," "We eat dinner at seven." Your have/has practice today is a great start.

✅ Before the Next Lesson

Say five sentences about your family out loud, from memory.
Point at three things and say who owns them ("That's my sister's bag.").
Write your Learning Journal entry for this lesson.

🌟 Encouragement for the Journey

Family is at the heart of every language — and now you can talk about yours in English. Small words like my and her and 's connect people, just like your family connects you. Keep going — you are building something real. See you in Lesson 3.1! 👋