“Lebron James”
Most people think that Lebron James is the best basketball player in the world. He is very athletic, but many people think he is too egotistical. He has become infamous because he’s not a very humble person.
But whether or not you like him, you cannot dispute that Lebron James is a dominant basketball player. You have to admire his skills, even if he is a showboater. Wouldn’t you be proud if you were as good at basketball as Lebron?
Gary and Marni are talking about Lebron James. Find out more in today’s English lesson about a dominant basketball player.
Marni: So, Lebron James. What do you think of him?
Gary: Lebron James. He is infamous.
Marni: Yeah, he is arguably one of the best players. You can’t dispute that.
Gary: The little that I have seen has shown me how dominant a player he is on the court.
Marni: Absolutely. He is very egotistical and very self-absorbed.
Gary: What I’ve seen is… I guess we could describe him as a showboater.
Marni: I think when you have such skill in the game, and you are the leader of the team and everybody looks to you, you kind of dominate. Right?
Gary: He does.
Marni: Not only your team, but in the league. I want not to like him, but it’s really hard to separate this egotistical sports star from his skill.
Gary: The personality, right?
Marni: You have to just admire his skill level.
Gary: I guess I wish he had less of a social presence and wasn’t as big as a name, but was more known for his skills.
Marni: Yeah, yeah.
Gary says that Lebron James is infamous. He wishes Lebron would be more humble, and not such a showboater. But Gary agrees that Lebron James is a very good basketball player.
Marni thinks that no one can dispute the fact that Lebron is one of the best players in the world. She admires his skill and thinks that he is a very dominant player. However, Marni thinks he is very self-absorbed.
Do you agree that Lebron James is one of the best players in the world? Do you want sports stars to be humble or egotistical?
Possessive Adjectives
Gary wishes Lebron wasn’t so famous for the things he says. Gary says, “I guess I wish he had less of a social presence and wasn’t as big as a name, but was more known for his skills.” He uses a possessive adjective.
Possessive adjectives are used to show who (or what) owns something. The common possessive adjectives are my, your, his, her, its, our, their, and whose.
Posessive adjectives come before the noun they are modifying. For example, “I am riding my bike,” or, “The cat is cleaning its tail.” Gary is talking about Lebron’s basketball skills when he says “his skills.”
Possessive adjectives are different from possessive pronouns, which replace the noun in a sentence. Like all adjectives in English, possessive adjectives go directly before the noun. For example, “Let’s go to your house,” or, “Ruby is driving our car today.”
Be careful! There is no apostrophe (‘) in the possessive adjective its. We only use an apostrophe when writing the contraction of “it is” or “it has,” as in, “It’s time for lunch.”
Which is correct, “That is his house,” or, “That is he’s house”?