Possession grammar examples

What is a possessive noun?

A possessive noun is when we add apostrophes(’s) (also: possessive s) or just an apostrophe (’) to a noun to show that it owns something.

Possessive 's examples

We can also indicate possession using the prepositionof.

Learn when to use an apostrophe in English grammar, then put your knowledge to the test in the exercises.

How to use the possessive s

The basic rule is as follows: use apostrophe s (’s) with singular nouns and just an apostrophe (’) with regular plural nouns.

Example:

the intern’s desk

the desk belongs to one intern

the interns’ desk

the desk belongs to more than one intern

The longer explanation is that the type of possessive depends on the final letter of the noun:

• add ’s to all nouns that don’t end in -s; i.e.

  singular nouns and irregular plurals.

Examples:

this quarter’s sales

singular noun

Yasmin’s company

singular noun

a children’s book

irregular plural noun

• just add an apostrophe (’) to nouns that end in -s; i.e.

  regular plural nouns and some singular no

  possession rules in english
  possession s rules