Possession In Case Of Nouns Explained Clearly

Possessive Case Definition

To understand what is possessive noun let us understand what is the possessive case in general. Possessives show that you own something. They demonstrate what belongs to who. The possessive noun is something that demonstrates belonging to someone. To put it another way, they "own" something. For instance, if we want to demonstrate that a book belongs to the boy, we would say the boy's book. The possessive case of noun here is a boy and the possession example is a book. 

Possessive Nouns

Possessive Case Rules

The possessive noun rules hold true to all the rules for the possessive forms.

1. Add an apostrophe and the letter s ('s) to construct the possessive of a single noun.

• A noun is a name for someone, somewhere, or anything.

• When there is just one possession, it is referred to as "singular." When there are multiple possessions, it is referred to as "plural." 

• If the single noun "cat" possesses a brush, for example, the possessive form is: 

The cat's brush.

Cat

2. Add simply an apostrophe (') to a plural noun ending in s.

Let us look at other plurals' possessive noun list that ends with an s.

Girls, pencils, mats, cats, pens, kids, phones etc.

Let's pretend that one of the boys owns a cat. The boy's cat is how it's written.

What if he has two brothers and the cat is shared by all three?

• The plural of a boy is, boys.

This demonstrates that there is more than one boy. Now we must establish that they all own the cat by correctly placing the apostrophe. Let’s look at possessive noun examples.

Boys’ Cat

The cat is owned by boys.

Correct: The boys' cat.

Incorrect: The boy’s cat.

Sharing book

Three girls share a book.

Correct: The three girls’ book.

Incorrect: The three girls’ book.

Two Young Men

Bill and George share a car.

Correct: Bill and George’s car.

Incorrect: Bill’s and George’s car.

3. Add an apostrophe and s ('s) to a plural noun that does not finish in s.

Let us look at the possessive noun list that ends without an s.

Gentlemen, men, women, children, mice, fish, businessmen, feet etc.

This demonstrates that there are multiple men. Now we need to establish that they all own the cat by using this to place the apostrophe and s in the proper places.

The car of the men.

Correct: The men’s car.

Incorrect: The men's car.

Car

4. ‘It’ does not require an apostrophe + s to show possession

Swing

Its ropes are strong. (It here refers to the swing)

Incorrect: Its ropes are strong.

Practice Exercise

1. The piggy bank belongs to Amit.

Piggy Bank

Ans: Amit’s piggy bank.

2. The bone belongs to the dogs.

Dogs

Ans: The dogs’ bone.

3. The children own the toys.

Children

Ans: The children’s toys.

Do it Yourself

1. The textbook that belonged to the teacher was missing.

Teacher

2. Kids share a bicycle.

Bicycle

3. This umbrella belongs to Shallon.

Umbrella