Being able to discuss ownership in English over a person, place, or thing is quite key when it comes to developing your grammar proficiency. In order to do that, you must be able to understand, use, and master possessive nouns. The function of possessive nouns is to essentially demonstrate ownership or some similar relationship over something else. Plural nouns indicate more than one person, place or thing. Listed below is a key hint about how to create the possessive noun as well as the five key rules that you can utilize in order to figure out if there is ownership of an object or not.
When you’re unsure of how to find the ‘possessive noun’ you have to look for the Apostrophe! Possessive nouns typically include an apostrophe.
Examples:
· Jennifer’s imagination ran wild as she pictured the horrible car accident.
· The kitten’s toy is a stuffed mouse, which she plays with every day.
You should be able to think of the apostrophe mark as a ‘hook’ reaching out to take possession of the object or person involved. Without the little hook or hand grabbing onto the ‘s’ or the next word, the noun is in its’ plural form simply but not actually possessive of anything or anyone.
In addition to looking out for the apostrophe to indicate that the noun is possessive, there are five major grammar rules for possessive nouns to understand and use.
Grammar Rules for Possessive Nouns
There are five basic grammar rules that cover the majority of times where writers encounter possessive nouns.
Rule #1: Making singular nouns possessive
You must add an apostrophe (‘) + s to most singular nouns and to plural nouns that do not end in the letter -s.
You’ll use this rule the most, so pay particular attention to it. English has some words that are plural but do not add the letter ‘s’. Words like children, sheep, women and men are examples of some plural words that do not end with an ‘s.’ These plural words are treated as if they were singular words when making the noun possessive.
Examples:
· Singular nouns: kitten’s toy, Joe’s car, MLB’s ruling
· Plurals not ending in s: women’s dresses, sheep’s pasture, children’s toys
Rule #2: Making plural nouns possessive
-Add an apostrophe only to plural nouns that already end in the letter -s. You don’t need to add an extra ‘s’ to plural nouns that already end with the letter ‘s’. You only need to put the apostrophe onto the end of the word to indicate that the plural noun is now a plural possessive noun as well.
Examples:
· Companies’ workers
· Horses’ stalls
· Countries’ armies
Rule #3: Making hyphenated nouns and compound nouns plural
-Compound words can be tricky for the average grammar student. However, you’ll need to add the apostrophe (‘) + ‘s’ to the end of the compound word or the last word in a hyphenated noun.
Examples:
· My father-in-law’s recipe for meatloaf is my husband’s favorite.
· The United States Post Office’s stamps are available for purchase in rolls or packets.
Rule #4: Indicating possession when two nouns are joined together
You may be writing about two people or two places, or two things that share possession of an object. If two nouns share ownership of the object or the person in question, indicate the possession of that noun only once, and on the second noun itself. Add the apostrophe (‘) + ‘s’ to the second noun only.
Examples:
· Jack and Jill’s pail of water is a common nursery rhyme.
· Abbot and Costello’s comedy skit “Who’s On First” is a classic comedy sketch.
Rule #5: Indicating possession when the two nouns are joined, yet ownership remains separate
This is the trickiest rule of them all, but luckily you’ll only need to use this rule infrequently. When two nouns indicate ownership, but the ownership is separate, each noun gets the apostrophe (‘) + ‘s’. The written examples below may help you to understand exactly what this rule means.
Examples:
· Lucy’s and Ricky’s dressing rooms were painted pink and blue.
Explanation - (Each person owns his or her own dressing room, and they are different rooms).
· President Obama’s and Secretary Clinton’s educations are outstanding.
Explanation - (Each government official owns his or her education, but they attained separate educations).
Possessive nouns is a tricky grammar topic but by understanding the need to use the apostrophe in the correct place and studying the rules surrounding its’ usage, you’ll be going in the right direction. Nouns can be singular, plural, compound, hyphenated, etc. so that is why you must be aware that the formation of the possessive will change depending upon how the noun is formed. These rules, examples, and explanations for possessive nouns will help you develop your English grammar proficiency especially for this particular topic. However, you as the student must take the time to create your own sentences, study these examples and review this blog post in order to master the subject of possessive nouns.