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Possessive Nouns

What is a Possessive Noun and how to use it in English

 

Possessive nouns show that something belongs to someone or something. We use 's or ' to make a noun possessive.

## For One Person/Thing
If the noun is just one person or thing, we add 's at the end.
Examples:
- The girl's doll
- The dog's bone
- The car's wheel

## For More Than One
If the noun is more than one person or thing, we add ' after the s.
Examples:
- The girls' dolls
- The dogs' bones
- The cars' wheels

## Two Owners
If two people own something together, we add 's to the last noun only.
Example:
- Mom and Dad's car (the car belongs to both Mom and Dad)

So to show that something belongs to a noun, just add 's or ' at the end! The 's means "belongs to" that noun.

 

Possessive Nouns

We can show ownership with apostrophes and "s" or just an apostrophe.

For singular nouns, add 's to the end of the noun:
- The dog's bone
- Mary's car
- The teacher's desk

For plural nouns ending in s, add ' after the s:
- The dogs' bones
- The students' books
- The teachers' lounge

For plural nouns not ending in s, add 's:
- The children's toys
- The women's restroom
- The men's department

If a singular noun ends in s, you can add either 's or just ':
- James's car or James' car
- The boss's office or The boss' office

For joint possession of two nouns, add 's only to the second noun:
- John and Mary's house (they co-own the house)

For individual possession of two nouns, make both nouns possessive:
- John's and Mary's cars (they each own their own car)[1][3]

Possessive nouns show ownership, but can also indicate a relationship or association without literal possession:
- Alice's brother (he is related to Alice, not owned by her)
- The car's engine (the engine is part of the car)[1]

When a noun is italicized or in quotes, make the possessive outside of the italics/quotes:
- The Catcher in the Rye's ending[1]
- "Hey Jude's" lyrics[1]

In some fixed expressions, only an apostrophe is used after a noun ending in s:
- For goodness' sake[1]

So in summary, add 's to singular nouns, ' to plural nouns ending in s, and 's to plural nouns not ending in s to make them possessive. The possessive shows ownership, relationship or association.

Citations:
[1] https://www.scribbr.co.uk/nouns/possessive-nouns/
[2] https://www.grammarly.com/blog/possessive-case/
[3] https://www.ef.co.uk/english-resources/english-grammar/forming-possessive/
[4] https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/possessive-s
[5] https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/possessives-nouns

Stephen

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