Possession: 's, Have Got & Object Pronouns

My sister’s new puppy is adorable. She has got a small apartment, but the puppy doesn’t mind — he has got plenty of energy for short walks.

Yesterday I visited her. “Look at him!” she said, pointing at the puppy. “He’s got my mom’s eyes — dark and round!” I laughed and picked him up. He licked me immediately.

My sister loves him so much. She talks about him all the time, and honestly, I understand her. Every time I see him, I want to hug him too. My parents’ house is close to hers, so the puppy visits them every weekend.

In English, we have three very common ways to talk about belonging and receiving an action. We use the possessive ’s for names, have got for things we own, and object pronouns when someone is the target of an action.

The Possessive ’s

When we want to show that something belongs to a person, we add ’s to their name or the noun.

• This is John’s car. (The car belongs to John)
• My sister’s husband is tall. (The husband of my sister)

If the name already ends in -s (like James or parents), you can add just an apostrophe (’) or the full ’s — both are common, so pick one style and stay consistent.

• My parents’ house is big.
• Charles’s office is closed. (or Charles’ office)

Have Got (Possession)

In British English, we often use have got instead of just have to talk about possession, family members, and physical descriptions.

Positive

• I / You / We / They have got (I’ve got) a new phone.
• He / She / It has got (He’s got) blue eyes.

Negative

• I haven’t got a car.
• She hasn’t got any brothers.

Questions

• Have you got a pen?
• Has he got any children?

Object Pronouns

Subject pronouns (I, you, he…) do the action. Object pronouns receive the action. They usually go after the verb or a preposition (like to, for, with).

• I → me (Can you help me?)
• You → you (I love you.)
• He → him (Call him tonight.)
• She → her (Look at her.)
• It → it (I bought it yesterday.)
• We → us (They work with us.)
• They → them (I don’t know them.)