Possessives

Possessives show ownership, i.e., that something belongs to someone or something else.

How to Show Possession

English has three main rules to show possession:

For singular nouns, and plural nouns that don’t end in s, add ’s.
- e.g., He placed the notebook on the student’s desk.
- e.g., He placed the notebooks on the children’s desks.
For plural nouns that end in s, add only an apostrophe.
- e.g., He placed notebooks on all the students’ desks.
For singular nouns that end in s, you can choose whether to add only an apostrophe after the original s or add an ’s after the original s.
- e.g., He placed the notebook on James’ desk, or;
- e.g., He placed the notebook on James’s desk.

Whether you choose ’s or only an apostrophe for singular nouns ending in s is a stylistic choice. Choose one and be consistent.

Here are some of the key errors that writers make when using possessives:

Error	Incorrect	Correct
Putting an apostrophe before the final s of a singular noun	e.g., ��’s book.	James’ or James’s
Pluralizing a noun with ’s	e.g., I read four ��ٴǰ��’s.	stories
Pluralizing a family name with ’s	e.g., The �²��’s came with us to the restaurant.	Walkers
Using a singular possessive when you really need a plural	e.g., They had a ��’s night out.	��’
Leaving the apostrophe out entirely	e.g., The womens change room e.g., The girls change room	women’s; ��’
Using an apostrophe with a possessive adjective	e.g., They said the book was �ٳ�𾱰�’s.	theirs

Fill in the blank with s, ’s, or s’ (check the answers in the next section).

The leaders took the group___ manifesto to the government. (singular)
The study examined the effect of children___ playgroups on development.
It was difficult to distinguish which ideas were his and which ideas were her___.
They researched several different compan___ before investing.
They were interested in each compan___ human rights record.
I left a messages on my boss___ voicemail.
The Berke___ went up to the Bechard___ cottage for the weekend.
It was the author___ opinion that the data was inadequate. (plural)
On the weekend we went to the Farmer___ Market.
They sat down together to play domino___.