Possessives are nouns and pronouns used to show various kinds of possession or belonging (ownership, authorship, relationship, and other kinds of attachment). Most singular possessive nouns (including names ending in s, z, or x) end in ‘s, and most plural possessive nouns end in s’. Exceptions to the latter rule are plural nouns that do not end in s; for example, the possessive of children is children’s.
Possessive pronouns are my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, and theirs. My, your, her, its, our, and their always precede the nouns they modify (my hat, your computer, our house). Mine, yours, hers, ours, and theirs are called absolute possessives. These possessives don’t precede nouns but are used absolutely, i.e., separately ("That hat is mine," "That computer is yours," "That house is ours").
An appositive is a word, phrase or clause that identifies or explains another word or other words in the same sentence. Appositives are said to be in apposition with the words they identify or explain. Most appositives are nouns in apposition with preceding nouns; however, they can also be pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, phrases, clauses, and they occasionally precede the word or words with which they are in apposition. Examples: "We planned to travel (fly) to Seattle" (a verb in apposition with a verb), "These flowers are for my best friend, you" (a personal pronoun in apposition with a noun).
One differentiates between restrictive appositives (necessary for identification) and nonrestrictive appositives (unnecessary for identification): "My cousin Alan broke his arm" (restrictive), "My father, a skiing instructor, broke his arm" (nonrestrictive).
The pronouns myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves are sometimes reflexive (e.g., himself in "he hurt himself") and sometimes intensifying. As intensifying pronouns, they are appositives. Example: "The author herself will be there to sign copies of her new book" (an intensifying pronoun in apposition with a noun).
As you make your way through these flashcards, you may wish to refer to a section of my website that deals with terminology, www.german-latin-english.com/diagrammingterms.htm.
* When a proper noun is in apposition with a possessive noun, only the proper noun has the possessive ending.
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