5. Tip: Telling if a Noun is Possessive
• If you can rewrite the phrase using
“of,” the noun is possessive.
• E.g.: the journey’s end the end
of the journey
6. Why is indicating possession
important?
• Those things over there
are my husband’s.
• Those things over there
are my husbands’.
• Those things over there
are my husbands.
Those things over there
belong to my husband.
Those things over there
belong to several
husbands of mine.
I'm married to those
men over there.
7. Winterfell has a godswood
=
Winterfell’s godswood
Ownership
John Snow has a direwolf
=
John Snow’s direwolf
12. Singular Nouns
Add an apostrophe followed by an “s”
The food belonging to one cat
=
the cat's food
13. Singular Nouns Ending in “s”
• Add an apostrophe followed by an “s”
• OR add an apostrophe
The pipe belonging to the rhinoceros
=
the rhinoceros’s pipe.
The pipe belonging to the rhinoceros
=
the rhinoceros’ pipe.
14. Plural Nouns
Add an apostrophe
followed by an “s”:
The school the children
attend
=
The children's school.
15. Plural Nouns Ending in “s”
Add an apostrophe.
The food belonging to many cats = the
cats' food.
16. Compound Possession
What is the difference between “Mary and Paul's
beliefs” and “Mary's and Paul's beliefs”?
In the first example, Mary and Paul share the same
beliefs in common; in the second example, they
each have their own set of beliefs.