Word: his (pronoun)

Associations

"His" is a possessive pronoun that shows ownership. It is used to indicate that something belongs to a male person or animal.

• Example 1: "This is his book." (The book belongs to him.)
• Example 2: "I saw him with his dog." (The dog belongs to him.)
• Example 3: "His car is parked outside." (The car belongs to him.)

A well-known synonym for "his" is "theirs," but "theirs" is used for plural ownership, while "his" is specifically for singular masculine ownership.

Substitution

Instead of "his," you could use:

• "my" (if you are talking about yourself)
• "her" (if you are talking about a female)
• "their" (if you are talking about a group) Using these words changes the owner of the object you are talking about.

Deconstruction

The word "his" comes from the Old English word "his," which has the same meaning. It is a simple form with no prefixes or suffixes. It has been used for centuries to show possession related to males.

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when you used "his" in a sentence? What was the context?
• How would the meaning change if you replaced "his" with "her" in a sentence?
• Can you create a sentence using "his" that describes something important to you?