Adult ESL/ELL Beginner Quiz: Pronouns And Possessives
10 questions · exam conditions
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Pronouns And PossessivesQuestion 1 of 10

Which sentence uses a pronoun correctly?

Her loves her new job at the hospital downtown.
Her loves she new job at the hospital downtown.
She loves she new job at the hospital downtown.
She loves her new job at the hospital downtown.
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Adult ESL/ELL Beginner Quiz

Adult ESL/ELL Beginner Quiz: Pronouns And Possessives

Practice Pronouns And Possessives in Adult ESL/ELL Beginner with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Pronouns And Possessives, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Adult ESL/ELL Beginner.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Which sentence uses a pronoun correctly?

  1. Her loves her new job at the hospital downtown.
  2. Her loves she new job at the hospital downtown.
  3. She loves she new job at the hospital downtown.
  4. She loves her new job at the hospital downtown. (correct answer)
Explanation: When a question asks about pronoun usage, you need to think about two different jobs a pronoun can do in a sentence: it can be the subject (the one doing the action) or show possession (ownership of something). English uses different pronoun forms for each job. For a female person, "she" is the subject pronoun — it performs the action of the verb. "Her" is used for possession (showing something belongs to her) or as an object. In the sentence "She loves her new job at the hospital downtown," the word she correctly performs the action (loving), and her correctly shows that the job belongs to her. That makes D the right answer. Now let's look at why the others fail. A uses her in the subject position ("Her loves..."), which is wrong — you cannot say "Her loves." The subject must be she. B makes two errors at once: it uses her as the subject ("Her loves...") AND uses she to show possession ("she new job") — both are backwards. She cannot show ownership; only her can. C gets the subject right with she, but then incorrectly uses she again to show possession ("she new job"). You need her there, not she. A helpful tip: if you can replace the pronoun with "Sarah," it's a subject slot — use she. If you can replace it with "Sarah's," it's a possession slot — use her. This simple swap test will help you catch pronoun errors quickly on exam day.

Question 2

A student writes this sentence: 'Me and my friend go to school every day.' What is the BEST correction for the words 'Me and my friend'?

  1. My friend and I (correct answer)
  2. My friend and me
  3. I and my friend
  4. Me and her friend
Explanation: When a question asks you to fix a subject phrase like "Me and my friend," you need to think about subject pronouns versus object pronouns. The subject of a sentence — the one doing the action — requires subject pronouns like I, he, she, we, and they, not object pronouns like me, him, her, or us. A simple trick to find the right pronoun is to remove the other person from the sentence and test it alone. Ask yourself: would you say "Me go to school" or "I go to school"? Clearly, "I go to school" is correct, so I belongs in the subject position — making A, "My friend and I," the right correction. It also follows a polite convention: place the other person's name before your own pronoun. Here's why the other choices fail. B, "My friend and me," keeps the object pronoun me in the subject role — the same error as the original sentence, just reordered. C, "I and my friend," actually uses the correct subject pronoun I, but it violates the social convention of putting others before yourself, and it sounds unnatural in standard English. D, "Me and her friend," introduces two problems: it keeps the wrong pronoun me, and it changes my to her, which alters the sentence's meaning entirely. As a study tip, whenever you see a paired subject like "  and  ," remove one person, test the pronoun alone, and always place yourself last. This two-step check will catch most pronoun errors on the exam.

Question 3

A teacher shows students two pictures. In the first picture, a woman holds a red bag. In the second, a man holds a blue bag. The teacher says: 'The red bag is  . The blue bag is  .'

The teacher is pointing to the woman's bag first, then the man's bag. Which pair correctly completes the teacher's sentences?

  1. her / his
  2. hers / his (correct answer)
  3. hers / him
  4. she / he
Explanation: When a sentence uses a possessive pronoun without a noun after it (like "The bag is  "), you need a standalone possessive pronoun. These are different from the possessive adjectives that come before a noun (like "her bag" or "his bag"). This question tests whether you can choose the right form. The sentence says "The red bag is  " — the bag belongs to the woman, and there's no noun following the blank. That means you need hers, the standalone possessive for "she/her." Similarly, "The blue bag is  " refers to the man's bag with no noun following, so you need his, which works both as a standalone possessive and before a noun. That makes B (hers / his) correct. Looking at the wrong choices: A (her / his) is a common trap. "Her" is a possessive adjective — it must come before a noun, as in "her bag." Saying "The bag is her" is ungrammatical. C (hers / him) gets the first word right but fails on the second. "Him" is an object pronoun (used after verbs or prepositions, like "I see him"), not a possessive pronoun — it cannot show ownership. D (she / he) uses subject pronouns, which are used as the subject of a verb ("She runs"), never to show possession. A helpful tip: memorize the difference between possessive adjectives (my, your, her, his) and standalone possessive pronouns (mine, yours, hers, his). When no noun follows the blank, always choose the standalone form.

Question 4

Read this short conversation: Tom: 'Is this Ana's book?' Lisa: 'No, that book is not  .   book is on the table.'

Lisa is talking about Ana. Which pair correctly completes Lisa's sentences?

  1. hers / Her (correct answer)
  2. her / Her
  3. hers / Hers
  4. she / Her
Explanation: When you see a question about pronouns, ask yourself two things: Is the pronoun replacing a noun (standing alone), or is it describing a noun (coming before it)? This question tests exactly that distinction with possessive pronouns. Lisa's first blank needs a pronoun that stands alone — it replaces "Ana's book" without any noun following it. Her second blank needs a pronoun that describes the noun "book" that comes right after it. These are two different jobs, so they need two different pronoun forms. Answer A — "hers / Her" — is correct. "Hers" is a standalone possessive pronoun ("that book is not hers"), and "Her" is a possessive adjective that modifies the noun that follows ("Her book is on the table"). This pair perfectly matches the two different grammatical roles. Answer B — "her / Her" is the most common trap. "Her" before a noun works fine ("Her book"), but "her" cannot stand alone after a verb. You must say "that book is not hers," not "not her." Answer C — "hers / Hers" makes the opposite mistake: "Hers" works alone, but you cannot put "Hers" directly in front of a noun. You would never say "Hers book." Answer D — "she / Her" is wrong because "she" is a subject pronoun, not a possessive — it tells who does something, not whose something is. A helpful tip: if a possessive pronoun is followed by a noun, use her/his/their. If it stands alone with no noun after it, use hers/his/theirs.

Question 5

A teacher asks students to complete this sentence about two classmates named Jin and Rosa: 'Jin and Rosa are late.   forgot   homework.'

Which pair of words correctly fills both blanks?

  1. Their / their
  2. They / them
  3. They / their (correct answer)
  4. He / his
Explanation: When filling in blanks about people, you need to choose the right kind of pronoun for each job in the sentence. Ask yourself two questions: "What word acts as the subject (the doer)?" and "What word shows ownership?" In this sentence, "  forgot   homework," the first blank needs a subject pronoun — the word doing the forgetting. The second blank needs a possessive adjective — the word showing whose homework it is. Because we're talking about Jin and Rosa (two people, not one), both words must be plural. The correct plural subject pronoun is they, and the correct plural possessive adjective is their, making choice C — "They / their" the right answer. Choice A (Their / their) fails because their is a possessive word, not a subject pronoun. You cannot say "Their forgot homework" — that has no proper subject doing the action. Choice B (They / them) is close but wrong in the second blank. Them is an object pronoun (used after verbs or prepositions, like "I see them"), not a possessive. "They forgot them homework" doesn't show ownership correctly. Choice D (He / his) uses singular pronouns, but Jin and Rosa are two people, so singular forms don't apply here. A handy tip: draw a quick pronoun chart in your notes separating subject (I, you, he, she, they), object (me, you, him, her, them), and possessive (my, your, his, her, their). When you see two blanks like this, label the job of each blank before looking at the answer choices.

Question 6

Read this paragraph: 'Ana has a sister.   name is Paula. Ana and Paula share an apartment.   apartment is small but clean.'

Which pair of words correctly completes both blanks in the paragraph?

  1. Her / Our
  2. Her / Their (correct answer)
  3. His / Their
  4. Her / Her
Explanation: When a sentence uses a pronoun to replace a noun (a person or thing already mentioned), you need to match that pronoun to who or what it refers to. This is called pronoun agreement, and it's the key skill being tested here. Look at the first blank: "  name is Paula." This sentence is talking about Ana's sister — one female person. The pronoun replacing "Ana's sister" must be feminine and singular, which is her. That immediately rules out choice C, which uses "His" — a masculine pronoun that doesn't match a female subject. Now look at the second blank: "  apartment is small but clean." At this point, the paragraph is talking about both Ana and Paula together — two people sharing one apartment. When a pronoun refers to two or more people, you need a plural possessive pronoun: their. This confirms that choice B (Her / Their) is correct. Choice A ("Her / Our") fails because "our" means the speaker is included — but the narrator is not living in the apartment, only Ana and Paula are. Choice D ("Her / Her") fails because the second "her" is singular, referring to only one person, but the apartment belongs to two people. Choice C ("His / Their") fails on the first blank, as explained above. A helpful tip: before choosing a possessive pronoun, ask yourself two questions — How many people? (singular vs. plural) and What gender? (he/she/they). Answering both will guide you to the right word every time.

Question 7

Maria is talking about her family. She says: 'This is Carlos.   is my brother.   car is red.'

Which pair of words correctly completes both blanks in Maria's sentences?

  1. He / His (correct answer)
  2. She / Her
  3. He / He
  4. His / He
Explanation: When you see a question about filling in blanks with words like "he," "his," "she," or "her," you're being tested on subject pronouns and possessive pronouns. The key is asking yourself two things: Who are we talking about? and What job does the pronoun do in the sentence? In Maria's sentences, she's talking about Carlos — a man. That tells you right away the pronoun must be masculine. Now look at each blank. The first blank says "  is my brother." Here, the pronoun is the subject of the sentence (it's doing the action). The correct masculine subject pronoun is He. The second blank says "  car is red." Here, the pronoun shows ownership — whose car? That calls for a possessive pronoun, and the masculine possessive is His. So the correct pair is He / His, which is answer A. Choice B is wrong because "She" and "Her" are feminine pronouns, but Carlos is male. Choice C uses "He" for both blanks, but "He car" is not correct English — you can't use a subject pronoun to show ownership. Choice D reverses the order, putting "His" first and "He" second. "His is my brother" doesn't make grammatical sense because "His" is possessive, not a subject. A helpful tip: always check two things — the gender of the person and the role of the pronoun in the sentence. Make a small chart: He/She = subject (does the action), His/Her = possessive (shows ownership). This will help you on many similar questions.

Question 8

David and Susan are neighbors. Susan says: 'David and I walk to work.   apartment is near the office, so the walk is short for   .'

Which pair of words correctly completes Susan's sentence?

  1. Our / us (correct answer)
  2. We / us
  3. Our / we
  4. Their / them
Explanation: This question tests your knowledge of pronoun case — specifically, knowing when to use subject, object, and possessive pronouns. When you see a fill-in-the-blank with pronouns, ask yourself two things for each blank: (1) Is this pronoun showing ownership, or is it doing/receiving an action? In Susan's sentence, the first blank comes before the noun apartment — "  apartment." Whenever a pronoun comes directly before a noun to show ownership, you need a possessive pronoun. Since Susan is talking about herself and David, the correct possessive is our. The second blank appears after the preposition for — "the walk is short for  ." Pronouns that follow prepositions (like for, with, to) must be object pronouns. The correct object pronoun for Susan and David is us. That makes A) Our / us the correct answer. Now let's look at why the others fail. B) We / us is wrong because we is a subject pronoun — it performs actions (e.g., "We walk"), but it cannot show possession before a noun like apartment. C) Our / we gets the first blank right, but we is a subject pronoun and cannot follow the preposition for — you need the object form us there. D) Their / them uses the wrong person entirely; their and them refer to people outside the conversation, but Susan is talking about herself and David, so you need first-person plural pronouns. A helpful tip: memorize the trio — we / our / us — as a set. Subject = we, Possessive = our, Object = us. Knowing this pattern will help you quickly sort pronoun questions.

Question 9

A student wants to say that a phone belongs to him. He writes: 'This phone is   .' Which word correctly completes the sentence?

  1. he
  2. him
  3. his (correct answer)
  4. her
Explanation: When a noun or pronoun shows ownership, you need a possessive pronoun. In English, possessive pronouns replace "belonging to [person]" and stand alone at the end of a sentence, as in "This phone is  ." The word that fits here is C) his. "His" is the possessive pronoun for a male person (he/him), and it works perfectly at the end of a sentence to show that the phone belongs to him. "This phone is his" clearly communicates ownership. Now let's look at why the other choices don't work. A) "he" is a subject pronoun — it does the action in a sentence, like "He has a phone." It cannot show ownership. B) "him" is an object pronoun — it receives the action, like "Give the phone to him." It also cannot express ownership. Both "he" and "him" are pronouns for males, which is why they're tempting here, but they serve different grammatical roles. D) "her" is actually the correct possessive pronoun — but for a female person. Since the question tells you the phone belongs to him (a male), "her" refers to the wrong person entirely. A helpful tip: English has three forms for each person — subject, object, and possessive. For males: he / him / his. For females: she / her / her. When a sentence ends with ownership (like "This   is  "), you always need the possessive form. Memorizing these three-word sets will help you quickly spot the right pronoun in any question like this.

Question 10

Which sentence has an error in pronoun or possessive use?

  1. We forgot our umbrellas at the bus stop this morning.
  2. They finished their homework before dinner last night.
  3. She called her mother every Sunday afternoon.
  4. Him and his brother work at the same large factory. (correct answer)
Explanation: When a sentence uses a pronoun as the subject of a verb, you must use a subject pronoun (I, you, he, she, we, they). When a pronoun acts as an object, you use an object pronoun (me, him, her, us, them). Mixing these up is one of the most common errors tested on this exam. Look at choice D: "Him and his brother work at the same large factory." The word "Him" is being used as a subject — it's performing the action of working. But "him" is an object pronoun. The correct subject pronoun is "he," so the sentence should read "He and his brother work at the same large factory." A quick trick: cover up "and his brother" and test the pronoun alone. You would never say "Him works at the factory," which shows immediately that it's wrong. That's the error, making D the correct answer to choose. Choices A, B, and C are all grammatically correct. In A, "we" is properly used as a subject, and "our" correctly shows possession of the umbrellas. In B, "they" is the subject and "their" is the matching possessive — both are right. In C, "she" is the subject and "her" correctly shows that the mother belongs to her — no errors there. A good study habit: whenever you see a pronoun in a compound subject like "X and Y," isolate just the pronoun and test it alone against the verb. If it sounds wrong by itself, it's wrong in the sentence too.