"This" and "That" Aren't Enough: The Possessives and This/That/These/Those Cheat Sheet

In Indonesian, you only have two words for pointing at something: "ini" for near, and "itu" for far. That's it. Whether it's one object or a hundred, the word stays the same — "ini buku" (this book) and "ini buku-buku" (these books) both use "ini." English isn't that simple: there are four different words depending on distance AND number.

The same goes for possession. Indonesian says "mobil Tom" (literally "car Tom") — the owner's name goes at the end, no extra marks needed. English flips the order completely and adds a strange little mark: "Tom**'s** car." These two topics look small, but getting them wrong instantly signals you're translating directly from Indonesian. This article rounds up both in one cheat sheet you can reopen any time.

1. Possessive Adjectives (My, Your, His, Her...) and Possessive 's

Possessive adjectives go before a noun to show who it belongs to.

Subject	Possessive adjective
I	my
you	your
he	his
she	her
it	its
we	our
they	their

Examples: my book, her phone, their house.

Possessive 's is used for people's names or specific nouns, and the word order is completely reversed from Indonesian:

Indonesian (original order)	English
mobil Tom (car Tom)	Tom**'s** car
tas kakak saya (bag sibling my)	my sister**'s** bag

Rule	Example
Single owner: noun + 's	Tom's car
Plural noun ending in -s: noun + ' only	the students' books
Irregular plural (no final -s): noun + 's	the children's toys

💡 Memory trick for Indonesian speakers: any time your Indonesian sentence follows the "[thing] [owner]" pattern — like "mobil Tom" or "buku adik saya" — flip the order completely, then insert 's between the owner's name and the noun: "Tom's car," "my sister's book." It's the exact same flipping trick you already used for adjective order.

💡 Classic trap: its (no apostrophe) means possession — belonging to it. it's (with an apostrophe) is short for "it is." These two sound identical when spoken, so the only way to tell them apart is in writing. If you can replace the word with "it is" and the sentence still makes sense, use it's. If not, use its.

2. This, That, These, Those — Not Just "Ini" and "Itu"

This is where the mistakes happen most, because your brain automatically translates directly: "ini" → this, "itu" → that, done. But English splits things further based on how many objects there are.

	Near	Far
One object (singular)	this	that
More than one (plural)	these	those

Examples: This book is mine. (near, one) That car over there is fast. (far, one) These shoes are new. (near, many) Those mountains are beautiful. (far, many)

💡 Memory trick for Indonesian speakers: since Indonesian doesn't distinguish number on "ini/itu," you need one extra step you've never had to think about before — count the objects first. One nearby object → this. Many nearby objects → these (think of the extra "e" as a signal for "more than one"). Far away, the same pattern applies: that → those. If the noun is plural (usually ending in -s), the pointing word must match — never "this books," always "these books."

Cheat Sheet — Save This

• Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their — placed before the noun.
• Possessive 's: reverse the Indonesian word order, add 's for a single owner, add just ' for a plural noun ending in -s.
• Its vs it's: its = possession (no apostrophe), it's = short for "it is" (with an apostrophe).
• This/that/these/those: check two things at once — distance (near/far) AND number (one/many). This (near, one), that (far, one), these (near, many), those (far, many).

These two topics look minor, but they show up in nearly every everyday conversation. Bookmark this page — it's faster to check back here than to guess from scratch again.