Adjectives modify nouns by expressing to whom the object belongs. Chinese grammar is exclusive of adjectives; instead, they use stative verbs or pronouns to express possession. In order to show possession, a person may adjoin ‘de’ to personal pronouns as indicated below
| English | Chinese |
| His/hers | tade |
| My, mine |
wode |
| Your, yours | nide |
| Theirs | tamende |
| Ours |
womende |
When constructing a sentence to illustrate possession, one should place the object being determined before ‘de’ and place the determinant after it as indicated.
| Singular | Plural | |
| My university | wo de daxue | women de daxue |
| His/her university | ta de daxue | tamen de daxue |
| Your university | ni de daxue |
nimen de daxue |
In certain cases where the expression is that of close relationships, people may omit determiners and retain the object being determined. In such a case, a person does not have to include the term ‘de’.
| My mother | wo mama |
| My place |
wo nar |