APOSTROPHE S – POSSESSIVE

NOUNS
Apostrophe S – Meanings and Uses
Look at these three short sentences.
John’s tall.
John’s studied.
John’s car.
What do they have in common… apart from the name John?
They all have an apostrophe S at the end of John.
What does an apostrophe S mean?
The apostrophe + s has 3 different meanings in English:

‘s + adjective
When an apostrophe S is followed by an adjective like in the first example:
John’s tall.
then the apostrophe S is a contraction of IS.
John’s tall is a short way of saying John IS tall.

‘s + past participle
When an apostrophe S is followed by a past participle like in the second example:
John’s studied.
then the apostrophe S is a contraction of HAS.
John’s studied is a short way of saying John HAS studied.
Remember that regular past participles end in -ED.
A sentence with HAS + Past Participle is in the present perfect tense.

‘s + noun
When an apostrophe S is followed by a noun like in the last example:
John’s car.
then the apostrophe S is used to show possession or that something belongs to
someone or something.
We don’t say “the car of John” as you do in some languages. No, in English we use the
apostrophe S.
We say John’s car which means that the car belongs to John.
John’s, with an apostrophe S, is called a possessive noun.
 The book belongs to Julie. Julie is the owner of the book. We don’t say “the book of
Julie”, no we say Julie’s book.
 Do you want to go to Mike’s party?
It is the party that Mike is having.
 I’m going to meet Susan’s parents tonight.
Susan obviously doesn’t own her parents. The apostrophe S can show a relationship
between different people or things. Here Susan’s parents refers to “the parents of
Susan.”
Paul’s, Julie’s, Mike’s, and Susan’s are all possessive nouns.
Now, there are some simple rules about how to use the apostrophe S.

Singular Nouns NOT ending in S

When we have a singular noun, we just add an apostrophe S like we have already seen.
For example:
 We went to Ange’s house last night.
Ange is a singular noun, the name of a person, so we just add an apostrophe S to the
end of her name which becomes Ange’s. Ange’s house means the house belongs to
Ange.
 Is that your friend’s bike?
We are talking about one friend (a singular noun) and his or her bike. The bike that
belongs to your friend.
 Where is the dog’s bone?
Dog is a singular noun so we just put Apostrophe S after it. It refers to one dog owning
or having one bone.

Plural Nouns ending S

BUT what happens if there is more than one dog? When there are two dogs, we say:
 Where are the dogs’ bones?
The rule is: Plural nouns ending in S… we only add an apostrophe.
In this lesson, we are going to look at possessive nouns and how to use the apostrophe S.
We only have an apostrophe after the S in dogs because dogs is a plural noun ending in
Possessive Nouns – The Apostrophe S S. We cannot say: Where are the dogs’s bones? No, this is NOT correct.
A possessive noun, which contains an apostrophe S, is used to show possession or that Dogs’ bones, with only an apostrophe after the S, means… the bones of the dogs
there is a relationship between two things or that something belongs to someone or (dogs plural).
something. Compare these two sentences. Pay attention to the position of the apostrophe:
Look at the example:  Where are the dog’s bones?
 Paul’s house is very big. (refers to ONE dog and its bones)
Instead of saying “the house of Paul” in English we use the apostrophe S to show that  Where are the dogs’ bones?
the house belongs to Paul. (refers to TWO dogs and their bones)
Here are some more examples: There is NO difference in pronunciation between dog’s and dogs’.
 Where is Julie’s book? So when someone is speaking, how do we know if they are talking about one dog or two
dogs? It depends on the context.
Let’s look at another example:
 This is my friend’s house
Singular nouns ending in S
(this refers to the house of my friend… ONE friend) The fun part comes when we have singular nouns ending in S.
How can I write that my two friends have a house? You would write: For example class is a singular noun ending in S. Even though it ends in S, it is still a
 This is my friends’ house singular noun so we add an apostrophe S to the end like other singular nouns. For
(this refers to the house of my friends… TWO friends) example:
Friends is a plural noun ending in S so we just add an apostrophe to the end.  The class’s project.
We don’t say friends’s house … No, this is NOT correct. This means the project of the class.The entire class had one project to do together. Class
So the rule is… Plural Nouns ending S. We only add an apostrophe to the end and NOT is a singular noun.
an extra S. Did you hear how I added a final /iz/ syllable to the end? (listen to the video to hear
 You need your parents’ permission. this)
This is the same as saying: “permission from your parents.” … both parents, not just one This extra syllable is added to singular nouns ending in S when we have added the
parent. apostrophe S.
 Fortunately, the girls’ toilet was open. But what happens when are talking about two classes. The plural form of class
This is the same as saying: “the toilet of the girls” or in some countries it is called is classes.
the bathroom or restroom instead of toilet. How would we write the sentence now if we are talking about the projects of both
Since, dogs, parents, and girls are all plural nouns that end in S, we only add an classes? We would say:
 The classes’ projects.
apostrophe to the end.
We just add an apostrophe to the end because classes is a PLURAL noun ending in S.
Plural nouns that do NOT end in S This refers to the projects of the classes, the different classes.
Now, not all plural nouns end in S. Also note that we don’t say classes’s. It is a plural noun that ends in S so just the
For example, child is a singular noun. We can say: apostrophe is added.
 The child’s toys are on the floor. In both sentences class’s and classes’ are pronounced the same, but they are written
(This refers to the toys of ONE child) differently. The context of what we are talking about usually tells us if we are talking
How can we say the same thing but referring to more than one child? about one class or two classes.
The plural of child is children. So our sentence is now: So the rule is: Singular nouns ending in S… we add apostrophe S.
 The children’s toys are on the floor.  The class’s teacher is nice. (This refers to the teacher of the class)
Yes, children is a plural noun but it does NOT end in S, so we just add an apostrophe S to  The princess’s dress is pink. (This refers to the dress of the princess)
the end.  My boss’s office is big.
Children’s toys means the toys of the children. This refers to the office of my boss
Remember, the plural of child is children, NOT childrens. All of these nouns, class, princess, and boss end in S but they are singular nouns, so
So the rule is: Plural nouns NOT ending in S… we add apostrophe S. we just add the apostrophe S at the end.
 The children’s camping trip.
This refers to the camping trip of the children.
Names of people that end in S
(Child is singular. The plural of child is children.) What happens with the names of people that end in S like James or Lewis or Jones?
 He always corrects people’s grammar.
Grammarians are divided between adding an apostrophe S or only the
This refers to the grammar of different people. apostrophe.
(Person is singular. The plural of person is people.) You may see it written in the following ways:
 James’s dog is hungry. (with an apostrophe + S)
 The men’s toilet is disgusting.
This refers to the toilet for the men, that is used by men.  James’ dog is hungry. (only with an apostrophe)
(Man is singular. The plural of man is men.)
Both forms are correct though the first one seems more common. My personal Means: Is it your sister’s dress?
preference is using apostrophe S as in the first example because in spoken English we
add the additional syllable of /iz/ at the end.
But with classical or religious names ending in S, we only add an apostrophe:
 Sophocles’ plays are still performed today.
 Hercules’ strength seemed unlimited. Apostrophe S with periods of time
 Jesus’ disciples carried out his teachings. The apostrophe S can also be used with time periods.

Apostrophes with two or more people  Have you seen today’s newspaper?

When we are talking about two or more people, we add an apostrophe S or only an  This morning’s meeting was boring.
apostrophe depending on the rules we have already seen.  Last year’s profits increased significantly.
If there are two owners of something, we only add ’s to the final name.
 Stacy and Steve’s car is old. BUT BE CAREFUL!!!
Both Stacy AND Steve are joint owners of the same car so we only add ’s to the final We do NOT use an apostrophe with decades or years.
name, in this case Steve.  A lot of great music was created in the 80s. (NO APOSTROPHE!)
But what happens if each person owns a car? Both Stacy owns a car and Steve owns a
 The hippie movement began in the 1960s. (NO APOSTROPHE!)
car and both cars are old. In this situation we add ’s to both names:
 Stacy’s and Steve’s cars are old. Plural forms of Acronyms – No Apostrophe
This way we see there are two owners of two different cars. We also do NOT use an apostrophe S as the plural form of an acronym.
Notice how the verb is in plural form because we are talking about more than one car.
 There have been many sightings of UFOs in the area. (NO APOSTROPHE!
No noun after apostrophe S 9
Usually we don’t put the noun (or object) after the ‘s to avoid repetition, especially
when the meaning is clear.  He has just sold all of his DVDs. (NO APOSTROPHE!)
 My car is older than John’s.
This is the same as saying:
 My car is older than John’s car.
The word car at the end is not necessary as it sounds repetitive. Without the
word car at the end, the meaning is still clear. We already know we are talking about
cars as it was mentioned before.
The same applies when answering a question:
 A: Whose umbrella is this?
B: It is Mary’s.
You don’t need to say: “It is Mary’s umbrella”  because it is obvious we are talking
about the same umbrella. The meaning is clear. Saying umbrella again is not necessary
and sounds repetitive.
A couple more examples…
 A: Whose are these shoes?
B: They are my brother’s.
This is the same as saying my brother’s shoes, but without sounding repetitive.
 That is a beautiful dress. Is it your sister’s?