Possessive Nouns

When a noun shows ownership or possession

Forming the Possessive of Singular Nouns

• To make singular nouns possessive, simply add

‘s

Examples

• the food of the fish = the fish’s food• the claw of the lobster = the lobster’s claw

• the book of the boy = the boy’s book

• the cheese of the mouse = the mouse’s cheese

Singular Possessive: Exception

• When a singular noun ends in "s" it may seem the word is plural. However, there are many singular proper nouns that end in "s" like Bess, Jones, etc. When a name ends in "s" or "es", simply add an apostrophe to the end.

• the car of Bess = Bess’ car• the house of Jones = Jones’ house

Reminder

• Singular nouns are made possessive by adding ‘s, unless it is a proper noun that ends in “s” already, like Jones.

Forming the Possessives of Plural Nouns

• There are 2 ways to make plural nouns possessive…

Plural Possessives #1

• If the plural noun ends in “s”, simply add an apostrophe to the end

• the coats of the girls = the girls’ coats• the marbles of the vases = the vases’ marbles

• the cat of the boys = the boys’ cat

• Remember: All of the words - girls, vases, and boys - end in “s” and are plural. They only need an apostrophe on the end.

Plural Possessives #2

• If the plural possessive does NOT end in “s” add

‘s

Examples

• the babies of the salmon = the salmon’s babies• salmon is plural in this case, but does not end in “s”

• the fish of the children = the children’s fish• We know that children is a plural noun, but it

does not end in “s.” Therefore, it requires ‘s after the “n”

• the boats of the men = the men’s boats

Keep in Mind…

• Singular Possessives

• When a singular noun (usually a proper noun like a name) ends in “s”, only add an apostrophe. Otherwise, singular nouns take - ‘s.

• Plural Possessives

• If the plural noun ends in “s”, only add an apostrophe

• If the plural noun does not end in “s” (like children, fish, salmon, deer), add -‘s

Also Keep In Mind…

• Only the noun that possesses or owns something determines the apostrophe or -’s. It does not matter how many things the noun owns or posseses.

• Hat example