Possessive Nouns

Quick English Lesson 1

Making nouns possessive.

1. To show someone owns something = add apostrophe and an 's';

Examples:
The nose of Adam = Adam's nose
The car of Richard = Richard's car

2. To show two people have the same thing = add aposthrophe and an 's' for only the second person;

Examples:
Shima and Mimi's marriage (they share one marriage)
Kate and Megan's father (they share one father)

3. To show two people don't own the same thing = add aposthrophe and an 's' for both people

Examples:
Shima's and Mimi's marriage
Kate's and Megan's father

4. To show possession when noun is PLURAL = Plural ends in 's' (for example, boys) just add an aposthrophe. If the Plural doesn't end in 's' (for example, women) add an aposthrophe and an 's';

Examples:
The boys' jackets (plural noun, more than one items)
The women's dresses (plural noun, more than one items)

Caution - Major Mistake Territory!

Proper nouns (people's names) that end in 's' can scramble your brain!

Here's the key:

# Mr. and Mrs. Jones have a new car
# The Jones have a new car
# Mr. Jones's car is new
# The Joneses' car is new

Conclusion

Check this out!

The kid's bike = one kid, one bike
The kids' bike = two or more kids, sharing the same bike
The kids' bikes = two or more kids with different bikes