Belongings or possessions—whatever you want to call them—we all have them. But, how do we talk about them? The answer is with possessives.
This explanation will show you the different rules for forming possessives, how to navigate possessives using "-s", and see plenty of examples along the way.
Fig. 1 - The things in your home are your possessions. We use possessives to talk about our possessions.
Possessives (Grammar) Definition
To begin, let's look at a definition of possessives:
Possessives refer to the words and word forms we use to show the relationship between items and their owners.
The way we show possession depends on how the word is used within a sentence, and possessives can appear in the form of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives.
We typically use the "possessive" or "genitive" case to show possession—these two terms are often used interchangeably. The most common example of the genitive case is adding the suffix "-s" to the end of a subject that owns an item.
Grammar Rules for Possessives
Now that we have a good idea of what possessives are and why we use them, let's look at some general rules for forming possessives. We will look at:
Possessives and Nouns
When we form possessives, we typically need to modify a noun in some way – after all, it's much easier for a noun to own something than a verb!
Nouns are one of the main parts of speech (word classes). A noun is a naming word that describes 'things' - these could be physical things, such as animals, people, buildings etc., or abstract things, such as love.
To show possession, a noun must go through an inflectional process. This typically means adding a letter/group of letters (i.e., an affix) to the word to show grammatical change.
For singular nouns, such as cat, man, girl, and tree, we add an apostrophe (') and the suffix "-s" to the end of the word.
Suffix – An affix (letter/group of letters) added to the end of a word.
For plural nouns that end in the letter "s", e.g., trees, we simply add an apostrophe to the end of the word.
For irregular plural nouns, such as women, feet, and children, we once again add an apostrophe and an "-s" to the end of the word.
Singular noun – The tree's leaves
Plural noun – The boys' soccer ball
Irregular plural noun – The women's knitting group
Did you know the apostrophe used before the "s" to show possession is called the possessive apostrophe?
Collective nouns (i.e., a word used for a group of people or animals) follow the same rules as singular nouns.
Team – Team's
Herd – Herd's
Staff – Staff's
Possessives and Pronouns
Possessive pronouns are the same as any other pronoun in that they replace a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence.
Pronouns are words or groups of words that can replace a noun. They help us to avoid repetition.
Ownership is shown by replacing the owner and owned object (e.g., her bag) with a possessive pronoun (e.g., hers).
Is that Katy's lunch? No, it's her dinner!
Possessives and Words Ending in 'S'
Sometimes, you'll come across a word that you wish to make plural, but it already ends in the letter "s". No worries, there are a few guidelines to help you decide what to do in this situation.
If the word is in its singular form and ends with an "s", you should still add an apostrophe and an "-s".
They were looking for Jess's phone.
If the word is in its plural form and ends with an "s", place a single apostrophe at the end of the word—after the last "s".
We are going over to the Smiths' house.
It's important to note that some people, including the Associated Press Stylebook (AP), are in favor of simply adding an apostrophe to the end of any word ending in "s" whether it's single or plural. For example, "Jess' phone." It's best to check with your teacher to find out which style is preferred in your school.
There is one exception (of course!) regarding historical and Biblical names. If the name ending in "s" has only one syllable, we add an apostrophe and an "-s" to the end. However, if the name has two or more syllables, then we just add an apostrophe.
One syllable – Zeus -Zeus's
Three syllables – Hercules - Hercules'
Try saying both of these examples aloud. The agreement on using the apostrophe plus "-s" in this way is likely because of pronunciation and the way the names sound.
Again, there are conflicting ideas about this concept. As a general rule of thumb, try saying the possessive a loud and seeing what sounds best.
Examples of Possessives
So, we now know all the different types of possessives and the rules for figuring them out. Let's recap our new knowledge with some further examples and a handy chart representing possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives.
- Singular nouns – dog → dog's, e.g., "The dog's bowl needs to be washed."
- Singular nouns ending in "s" – Chris → Chris's, e.g., "He really liked Chris's watch."
- Plural nouns ending in "s" – girls → girls' e.g., "That's the girls' room."
- Irregular plural nouns – sheep → sheep's, e.g., "Open the sheep's pen, please."
- Collective nouns – team → team's, e.g., "This is the team's trophy."
Fig. 3 - The correct possessive depends on the noun. Plural or collective nouns usually require an apostrophe and "-s", such as "the herd's field".
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