Section outline

  • Possessive Nouns shows ownership or possession of things, relations, ideas, feelings or emotions.

    They are generally represented by adding an apostrophe & 's' at the end of the noun showing ownership.

    Rules for forming possessive nouns:
    Rules  Examples
    Singular nouns: add an apostrophe & ‘s’ at the end of the word. This is my dad’s new car. This is Bill’s favourite toy.
    Singular nouns ending with ‘s’: add an apostropheafter the ‘s’  This is James' / James's car. My boss' / boss's name is Mr. Hilton. 
     Plural nouns ending with ‘s’: add an apostrophe after the ‘s’. The teachers' room is upstairs. Babies’ shoes are on the shelf.
    Nouns that share possession together: add an apostrophe & ‘s’, only to the last noun in the group. Mom and dad’s room is upstairs. This is Jack and Jill’s pail of water.
    Nouns that are together but have separate possession, add an apostrophe & ‘s’ to each noun separately. Ann’s & Jane’s dresses are pink and red. Ben’s and Bill’s offices are in the same building but on different floors.
    Nouns that refer to places, add an apostrophe and ‘s’  to the noun to whom the place belongs. The dentist’s clinic is on the next street. Sam’s Pizza serves fresh pizza.
    Hyphenated possessive nouns, add an apostrophe & ‘s’  at the end of the last word in the hyphenated word. My brother-in-law’s office is in the city.
    Compound possessive nouns, add an apostrophe & ‘s’  at the end of the compound word. The cowboy’s hat is very big.  The trash can's lid  is broken.
    Plural nouns, add an apostrophe & ‘s’ to make them possessive. The children’s picnic is tomorrow. There is a sale on women’s clothes.

    Important tips:

    1. Always remember to put the apostrophe for possessive noun or else it will become a plural noun.

    Example:

    This is the girl's room.

    (Here, if you write just girls without apostrophe, it will be a plural noun & entire meaning of the sentence will change)

    2. Don't get confused between plural and possessive nouns.

    Examples:

     All the rooms are cleaned in the morning.

    (Here, rooms is used as plural as we are speaking of many rooms)

    Please send me the room's photo.

    (Here, a photo which belongs to a room is a possession of that room)