Possessive ‘s: Rules, Examples & Exercises

The Possessive ‘s, also called the genitive case, is used to show ownership or a relationship between two nouns. It also helps to indicate that something belongs to someone or is related to something. Moreover, this case is most commonly formed by adding an apostrophe and an -s to a noun (e.g., John’s book). In fact, this is a special case of Possessive, click here to learn more about Possessives.

Go to Exercises – click here

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Examples of Possessive 's
- Plural Nouns and Possessive 's
Exceptions
Possessive 's Exercises

Examples of Possessive ‘s

Example	Explanation
John’s book	The book belongs to John.
Mary’s car	The car belongs to Mary.
Peter’s dog	The dog belongs to Peter.

Plural Nouns and Possessive ‘s

When a noun is plural and ends with an -s, we form the case by adding just an apostrophe (‘), without an additional -s.

Example	Explanation
The teachers’ lounge	The lounge belongs to the teachers.
The students’ books	The books belong to the students.
The dogs’ toys	The toys belong to the dogs.

Exceptions

Plural nouns without -s: For plural nouns that don’t end in -s, we still add an apostrophe -s.
- Example: The children’s toys (the toys belong to the children).
Proper nouns ending in -s: For names like James, it is common to add just an apostrophe (James’) or an apostrophe -s (James’s). In fact, both are acceptable, but some people prefer one form over the other.

Example	Explanation
James’ house	The house belongs to James.
James’s house	The house belongs to James. (alternative form)

Possessive ‘s Exercises

EXERCISE: The Possessive ‘s

Rewrite each sentence to use the genitive case. Be careful with exceptions (e.g., plural nouns ending in -s and irregular possessive forms).

Example: The house of Mr. and Mrs. Jones is very big.

Answer: Mr. and Mrs. Jones’ house is very big.

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