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Possessive Noun Form
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Secondaire
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Table des matières
- Haut de page
- Possessive Noun Form: Uses
- To Show Belonging or Ownership
- To Show the Relationship Between People
- To Show One’s Occupation
- To Express Concepts
- Possessive Noun Form: Apostrophe Placement
- Nouns
- Nouns Ending in S
- Plural Nouns
- Possessive Noun Form - Apostrophe Placement Exercise
- For Advanced Users—Joint Possession
- See Also
We use possessive nouns to indicate ownership.
Possessive Noun Form: Uses
To form possessive nouns, add ’s or just an apostrophe to the owner.
We use possessive noun forms:
-
to show belonging or ownership
-
to show the relationship between people
-
to show a person's occupation
-
to link a concept to someone
To Show Belonging or Ownership
Julia has a beautiful swan.
This is Julia’s swan.
There are many diamond mines in South Africa.
These are South Africa’s diamond mines.
To Show the Relationship Between People
Manuel has 2 cousins.
They are Manuel’s cousins.
The father of Nadia works at the factory.
Nadia’s father works at the factory.
To Show One’s Occupation
Alfred teaches at his pilot school.
This is Alfred’s pilot school.
Carol works at her bakery.
It’s Carol’s bakery.
To Express Concepts
The cruelty of the villain in the movie was intense.
The villain’s cruelty in the movie was intense.
When I was young, the patience of my grand-mother impressed me.
When I was young, my grand-mother’s patience impressed me.
Possessive Noun Form: Apostrophe Placement
Possessive Nouns: Apostrophe Placement
Nouns
Add ’s to singular nouns or proper nouns.
This is my sister’s car.
Trevor’s house is nice.
Nouns Ending in S
It’s possible to add only the apostrophe to singular nouns or proper nouns ending in s or to add ’s. Both possibilities are grammatically correct.
The octopus’s tentacles are impressive.
or
The octopus’ tentacles are impressive.
Chris’s cat is playful.
or
Chris’ cat is playful.
Plural Nouns
Add ’ to regular plural nouns.
The dogs’ obsession with sticks is well-known.
The obsession belongs to the dogs.
"Dog" is a regular noun.
The sailors’ boat is still in the port.
The boat belongs to the sailors.
“Sailor” is a regular noun.
Add ’s to irregular plural nouns.
People’s right to vote hasn’t always been accessible.
The right to vote belongs to the people.
“Person” is an irregular noun.
This is the children’s playground.
The playground belongs to the children.
“Child” is an irregular noun.
If you’re unsure if a word is a possessive noun, you can reverse the nouns and add belongs to between them to verify.
Original: This is Magda’s book.
Reversed: This book belongs to Magda.
Original: It’s the dogs’ toy.
Reversed: This toy belongs to the dogs.
In both cases, Magda’s and dogs’ are possessive nouns. The use of the ’s or ’ simplifies the formulation and clarifies the meaning of belonging.