Rules in Forming

Possessives
Princess and Nina’s report

Princess S. De Juan
Niňa Grace Foja
Contents
01 Singular Noun

02 Plural Noun

03 Joint Possession

04 Separate Possession
Contents
05 Building, Object and
Furniture as Possessor

06 Time & Money as Possessive

Adjective

07 Compound Noun

08 Possessives and Gerund

Contents
09 “s” or “of” structure

10 Double Possessives

11 Compound Possessives

12 Possessives with Appositive

Section Break
Insert the Sub Title of Your Presentation
Section Break
Insert the Sub Title of Your Presentation
Challenge No.1!
Which of the following is/are correct?
A. Witness’s story
B. Witness’ story
C. Witness’s answer
D. Witness’ answer
Oops! There’s another rule 
Add ‘s to singular COMMON nouns
ending in s unless the next word begins
with s.
Add only an apostrophe to plural nouns
ending in s. (boys’ bikes)
Add ‘s to plural nouns not ending in s.
(men’s bikes)

How to form the possessive of nouns that

are plural in form but singular in meaning?
Example: Mathematics

01 and 02
Singular and Plural Nouns
 03 and 04
Joint and Separate
Possessives
John’s and Henry’s dogs
-When two or more people SEPARATELY
own items, put an apostrophe or ‘s after each
noun.
-When two or more people JOINTLY owns an
item, put the apostrophe after the noun
closest to the item.
John and Henry’s dogs

Challenge No.2!
Correct me if I’m wrong.
1. We are planning to attend Sam’s
and Teresa’s retirement party.
(One party is being held to celebrate
their retirement)
If a possessor is a building, an 05 Building, Object, and
object, or a piece of furniture,
you DON’T need to add an Furniture as Possessors
apostrophe to show
Challenge No. 5!
possession.
Which of the following is correct?
The maid cleaned the hotel room. or
Many writers consider it bad
The maid cleaned the hotel’s room.
form to use ‘s if a possessor
is a furniture, building, or an
inanimate object in general.

We must use the noun as an

attributive: the hotel room So, we must say…

Attributive?
Shut the car door.
is a noun that modifies We must meet in the office lobby.
another noun and functions
as an adjective.
When units of time and money 06 Time and Money as
are used as possessive
adjectives, add ‘s. Possessive Adjective
-A dollar’s worth of change
-A day’s wait Challenge No. 6!
Find the possessive adjective.
Possessive adjective is an What color is your brother’s jacket?
adjective that is used to show -What color is yours? Mine is blue.
ownership. It comes before a
noun in the sentence. It can
also be used to replace a
noun. Possessive Pronoun substitutes a noun phrase and
prevent its repetition.

PA my your his her its our your their

PP mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs
 07 Compound Noun

My father-in-law’s book

Use ‘s only after the last word of a compound term.

The editor-in-chief’s decision

Use a possessive case 08 Possessives and Gerund
noun/pronoun before a gerund.
Challenge No. 7!
Possessive Case Pronouns Can you identify a problem in the given sentence?
include my, your, our, his, her, 1. I appreciate you taking the time to read my story.
and their.

Jill was pleased by Natalie’s The failure to use the possessive case with the gerund can
returning on time. give a sentence a meaning completely different from what
the writer actually intends.
I appreciated his calling me
before he placed the order.
Consider these two sentences:
-Bruce did not like the woman standing in front of him at
What can we do about the parade.
others’ not being able to read -Bruce did not like the woman’s standing in front of him at
well? the parade.
 09 “s” or “of” structure
Sadly, there’s NO absolute rule to tell you whether you need to use,
or can use a possessive form with “of” or one with “s”.

The simple rule that you can “only use ‘s with people” is a very
broad generalization, with lots of exceptions.

Besides, there are a lot of cases where, even with people, you
cannot use ‘s.
Here are the main forms of “possession” and some examples to
remember:
The first thing to determine is: is the possessor animate or inanimate?

1) Animates: HUMAN POSSESSORS

1.1. In cases of true possession: 's is normal.
A1) The lady's car wouldn't start.
A2) The dog's ball was red..

With qualities, attributes or actions: 's is common.

A3) Madonna's reputation is international.
A4) The dog's name was Jackson.
A5) The Queen's arrival was delayed.

These can also be easily expressed using of.

A31) The reputation of Madonna is international.
A41) The name of the dog was Jackson.

There is a difference in emphasis between the two alternatives: examples

A3-A5 emphasize the possessor,
A31 and A41 emphasize the quality or attribute.
In A5, the "possessor" is the subject of the verbal noun following it.
Situations in which there is no choice:

Sometimes however, even though both forms are theoretically possible, the structure of a
sentence will determine the choice of expression, as a word may 04 have to stand next to other
words qualifying it: for example
A32) The reputation of Madonna, the American singer, is international
We can NOT say:
A32X) ** Madonna's reputation, the American singer, is international. **
Examples A1 and A2 will be rephrased using "of" if this is structurally essential:
A 11) The car of the lady I had lunch with wouldn't start
Clearly, the other theoretical option gives the wrong meaning!
A 11x) **The lady's car I had lunch with wouldn't start. **
D
D
D
1.2 Relating a part to a whole (animates)
Use of "of" is obligatory when expressing the relation of a proportion to a composite whole
A61 the rest of the people,
A62 the majority of voters
A63 a quarter of the committee 04

We can NOT say:

A61x: the people's rest,
A62x: the voters' majority
A63x: the committee's quarter

Of and 's are both possible (depending on sentence structure) when expressing the relation of a
part to a unitary (single) whole.
A7 The man's arm was broken, or
A71 The arm of the man was broken
D
D
D
2. Inanimate possessors
For qualities, attributes, actions, or parts: Of is the usual structure, but 's may be possible;

The unusual "'s" form can be used with some familiar nouns for stress, or for reasons of
04
sentence structure.
B1 The cost of the operation was enormous.
B2 The condition of the goods we received was not very satisfactory
B3 The launch of the new book was very successful.
B31 The new book's launch was very successful.
B4 Where's the lid of the saucepan?
B5 The front end of the car was smashed up.
B6 The departure of the train was delayed for an hour.
B61 The train's departure was delayed for an hour.
D
D
D
In examples B3 and B6, the sentence could be rephrased using subject and verb
instead of the possessive structures.
B32 The new book was launched very successfully (subj. + passive verb)
04
B62 the train departed an hour later than planned (subj. + active verb)
2.1. Relating a part to a whole (inanimates) or a group to its constituents
The "of" form is normally obligatory when expressing the relation of a part to a whole
(or a whole to its parts) when the part has no meaning unless it refers to a whole.
B7 the top of the stairs .
(i.e. the word top is meaningless without reference to stairs)
B8 the back of the building
B9 The middle of the report
D
D
D
The same is usually true when expressing the relation of a unit to a group (or a group to its
units) when the group is defined by the units of which it is composed.
B10 A collection of paintings
B11 A group of trees
04
We can NOT say:
B71x: the stairs' top .
B81x: the building's back.
B101x A paintings' collection
However there sometimes is a choice when the part is expressed as adjective+noun, or
when the part is more important in the phrase than the whole (B 13, B131),
B12 The top floor of the building
B121 The building's top floor
B 13 The roof of the building was on fire
B 131 The building's roof was on fire
D
D
D
The Double Possessives has
been around since the 15th
century, and is widely 10 Double Possessives
accepted.
Challenge No. 8!
It’s extremely helpful, for Which is/are correct?
instance, in distinguishing -a friend of Jake
between… -a friend of Jake’s

A picture of my father (in

which we see a man) and
Using both is correct! 
But when a pronoun is involved, make it a possessive:
A picture of my father’s A friend of his (not a friend of him)
(which he owns)
Examples of Possessive Adj
-my, your, her, our, their
11 Compound Possessives

Answer: Challenge No. 8!

Eric’s and your home Which is/are correct?
-You and Eric’s home
- Yours and Eric’s home

Another example:

The two sentences are INcorrect! 

A picture of her and Eric’s If one of the joint owners is written as a pronoun, use
house possessive adjectives.
 When a possessive noun is
12 Possessives with Appositive
followed by an appositive, a
word that renames or explains
that noun, the apostrophe +s is Challenge No. 9!
added to the appositive, not to Which is/are correct?
the noun. When this happens, -We must get Joe Bidwell, the family attorney's signature.
we drop the comma that would -We must get Joe Bidwell’s, the family attorney signature
normally follow the appositive
phrase.
Create such constructions with caution, however, as you
We must get Joe Bidwell, the might end up writing something that looks silly:
family attorney's signature.
: I wrecked my best friend, Bob's car.
You're frequently better off using the "of-genitive" form, writing
something like "We must get the signature of Joe Bidwell, the
family attorney" and "I wrecked the car of my best friend,
Bob."
Simple
Images &
Contents
Get a modern
PowerPoint
Presentation that is
You can simply impress beautifully designed. I
your audience and add a hope and I believe that
this Template will your
unique zing and appeal to
Time, Money and
your Presentations. Easy Reputation. You can
to change colors, photos simply impress your
and Text. audience and add a
unique zing and appeal
to your Presentations.
Easy to change colors,
photos and Text.
Infographic Style
You can simply impress your audience and add a unique zing
and appeal to your Presentations. I hope and I believe that this
Template will your Time, Money and Reputation. Get a modern
PowerPoint Presentation that is beautifully designed.

Example Text : Get a modern PowerPoint Presentation that is

1 beautifully designed. I believe that this Template will your Time.

Example Text : Get a modern PowerPoint Presentation that is

2 beautifully designed. I believe that this Template will your Time.

Example Text : Get a modern PowerPoint Presentation that is

3 beautifully designed. I believe that this Template will your Time.

Example Text : Get a modern PowerPoint Presentation that is

4 beautifully designed. I believe that this Template will your Time.
 We Create
Quality Professional
PPT Presentation
Portfolio
Presentation
You can simply impress your audience and add a
unique zing and appeal to your Presentations. I hope
and I believe that this Template will your Time, Money
and Reputation.

You can simply impress your audience and add a

unique zing and appeal to your Presentations. I hope
and I believe that this Template will your Time, Money
and Reputation.
 Your Text Here Your Text Here
Two Column You can simply impress
your audience and add a
You can simply impress
your audience and add a

Style unique zing and appeal to

your Presentations. Easy
to change colors, photos
and Text. I hope and I
unique zing and appeal to
your Presentations. Easy
to change colors, photos
and Text. I hope and I
believe that this Template believe that this Template
will your Time, Money will your Time, Money
and Reputation. Get a and Reputation. Get a
modern PowerPoint modern PowerPoint
Presentation that is Presentation that is
beautifully designed. beautifully designed.
Easy to change colors, Easy to change colors,
photos and Text. You can photos and Text. You can
simply impress your simply impress your
audience and add a audience and add a
unique zing and appeal to unique zing and appeal to
your Presentations. your Presentations.

You can simply impress your audience

and add a unique zing and appeal to
your Presentations.
One Column Your Text Here
Get a modern PowerPoint Presentation that is beautifully
designed.

Style You can simply impress your audience and add a unique zing and
appeal to your Presentations. I hope and I believe that this
Template will your Time, Money and Reputation. You can simply
impress your audience and add a unique zing and appeal to your
Presentations. You can simply impress your audience and add a
unique zing and appeal to your Presentations. You can simply
impress your audience and add a unique zing and appeal to your
Presentations. I hope and I believe that this Template will your
Time, Money and Reputation.

I hope and I believe that this Template will your Time, Money and
Reputation. You can simply impress your audience and add a
unique zing and appeal to your Presentations.

Get a modern PowerPoint Presentation that is beautifully

designed.

You can simply impress your audience

and add a unique zing and appeal to
your Presentations.
 Thank You
Insert the Sub Title of Your Presentation
 Shapes IMAGES

D
D
D