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Possessive

The document discusses using possessive 's to show belonging or ownership. It notes that for singular nouns, we add 's, while for plural nouns we add an apostrophe '. It also discusses using possessive 's with names, proper nouns, and irregular plural nouns.

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Muhammad Rizam Hj Bakri
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29 views

Possessive

The document discusses using possessive 's to show belonging or ownership. It notes that for singular nouns, we add 's, while for plural nouns we add an apostrophe '. It also discusses using possessive 's with names, proper nouns, and irregular plural nouns.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Rizam Hj Bakri
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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POSSESSIVE 'S

When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we


usually add 's to a singular noun and an apostrophe ' to a plural noun, for
example:

 the boy's ball (one boy)


 the boys' ball (two or more boys)

Notice that the number of balls does not matter. The structure is influenced by
the possessor and not the possessed.

one ball more than one ball

one boy
the boy's ball the boy's balls

more than one boy


the boys' ball the boys' balls

The structure can be used for a whole phrase:

 the man next door's mother (the mother of the man next door)
 the Queen of England's poodles (the poodles of the Queen of England)

Although we can use of to show


possession, it is more usual to use
possessive 's. The following phrases
have the same meaning, but #2 is more
usual and natural:

1. the boyfriend of my sister


2. my sister's boyfriend
Proper Nouns (Names)

We very often use possessive 's with names:

 This is Mary's car.


 Where is Ram's telephone?
 Who took Anthony's pen?
 I like Tara's hair.

When a name ends in s, we usually treat it like any other singular noun, and add
's:

 This is Charles's chair.

But it is possible (especially with older, classical names) to just add the
apostrophe ':

 Who was Zanir’ father?

Irregular Plurals

Some nouns have irregular plural forms without s (man > men). To show
possession, we usually add 's to the plural form of these nouns:

singular noun plural noun


my child's dog my children's dog
the man's work the men's work
the mouse's cage the mice's cage
a person's clothes people's clothes

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