genitivedeterminer

A genitive determiner is a word class that marks a genitive (possessive) relationship between the noun it accompanies and a possessor. It is part of the determiner system and is used to express ownership or association within a noun phrase. In many grammars, genitive determiners are called possessive determiners or possessive adjectives.

In English, the main possessive determiners are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. They appear before the noun: my book, your car, their house. They encode the possessor’s person and number (first, second, or third person; singular or plural) and generally do not vary for gender. Possessive determiners are different from possessive pronouns such as mine, yours, and his, which can stand alone without a noun.

Cross-linguistically, genitive determiners can be more morphologically complex. Some languages inflect determiners for gender, number, or case and may align with the possessor in person and number. Others maintain invariant forms. In many languages, possessive relations can also be expressed with affixes on the noun or with separate constructions (such as a genitive case or a periphrastic “of” phrase). The exact morphology and syntax vary by language, but the core function—linking a noun to its possessor within a noun phrase—remains central.

Functionally, the genitive determiner occupies the determiner slot of the noun phrase, directly qualifying the noun. It is distinct from the genitive case marking on nouns and from possessive pronouns, though all relate to expressing possession or association in discourse.