All you have to do is remember that if there’s ownership or possession, then the word should take apostrophe -s. If there are many (the word is plural), then just an “s” will do. If a word is both plural and possessed, it gets an s followed by an apostrophe.
Full Answer
How to write plural possessive?
How to Identify Plural Possessive Nouns
- Identify any plural nouns in the sentence.
- Read the word after the plural noun and determine if it is another noun.
- Ask yourself if the first noun is in possession of the second noun. ...
- Since there is more than one teacher attending the meeting, the apostrophe belongs after the -s, not before.
What is the plural possession of traditions?
The noun tradition can be countable or uncountable.. In more general, commonly used, contexts, the plural form will also be tradition.. However, in more specific contexts, the plural form can also be traditions e.g. in reference to various types of traditions or a collection of traditions.
What are examples of the plural possessive case?
Singular & Plural Possessive Pronouns
- That is mine.
- My car runs great.
- His work is good.
- Her diet is working
- The bag is hers.
- The house is ours.
- I see your coat. (singular)
- It is all yours. (plural)
- Their smiles are welcome. (singular)
- The fault is theirs. (plural)
What is plural possessive?
Plural possessive nouns are nouns that refer to two or more objects and that have a possessive role in a sentence. They are an important but sometimes challenging part of writing in English. Most words take an 'S' in the plural and an 'S' followed by an apostrophe in the plural possessive.
Where does apostrophe go for plural possessive?
PossessivesIn singular possessive terms, place the apostrophe before the "s." This will indicate ownership by one person or thing. ... In plural possessive terms, place the apostrophe after the "s." This will indicate to the reader that more than one person or thing owns the thing possessed.More items...
What is an example of a plural possession?
Plural possessive nouns: Plural possessive nouns add an apostrophe and the suffix “s” to a word to indicate possession. Examples of plural possessive nouns include “the Smiths' house” and “horses' hooves.” 4. Singular possessive nouns: A singular possessive noun indicates the ownership of one person, place, or thing.
How do you show possession with a plural that ends in s?
To show possession using an apostrophe, add 's for individuals (“Smith's car”) and just the apostrophe after the s for plurals (“the Smiths' car”). If a family name ends with an s or z, you can choose to use just the apostrophe (“the Williams' dog”) or 's (“the Williams's dog”).
Is a correct example of the plural possessive case?
To show possession with regular plural nouns that end with "s," simply add an apostrophe at the end. Examples of this type of plural possessive noun include: Airplanes' wings. Alarms' ringing.
How do you make a word possessive that ends in s?
Only when the word is plural and possessive do you place the apostrophe outside the "s." But many students and many lawyers I teach do not follow this rule. Their practice is that any time a words ends in "s," you put an apostrophe after the "s" to make it possessive.
Do I add apostrophe S after S?
Use an apostrophe when showing possession If the plural of the word is formed by adding an "s" (for example, cats), place the apostrophe after the "s" (see guideline #3 below). If the plural of the word is formed without adding an "s" (for example, children), add apostrophe "s" ('s) as you would to the singular form.
Do you do S's or S?
With a plural noun ending in -s, you only need to add an apostrophe to the end of the word to make it possessive. Below are some examples of plural possessives with only an apostrophe. If a noun is plural and it does not end in -s you need to add -s after the apostrophe.
Is it Jones or Jones's?
According to English style guides, singular possessives are formed with –'s and plurals with just an apostrophe, so the possessive of the singular Jones is Jones's and of the plural Joneses is Joneses'.
What does a plural possessive noun mean?
A plural possessive noun is a plural noun that indicates ownership of something. Example. The dog's food is in the bag on the floor. ( singular possessive: one dog)
What are plural nouns examples?
Plural Noun ExamplesPlural noun of child – children.Plural noun of fox – foxes.Plural noun of loaf – loaves.Plural noun of ship – ships.Plural noun of school – schools.Plural noun of door – doors.Plural noun of sister-in-law – sisters-in-law.Plural form of baby – babies.
Is possession plural or singular?
Grammar Rules for Possessive NounsRule 1: SingularAdd an apostrophe + "s" to the end of nounRule 2: PluralAdd an apostrophe to the end of plural nounRule 3: ItNo apostrophe is required to make its possessiveRule 4: Hyphenated/CompoundAdd the apostrophe + "s" to the end or the last word2 more rows
What is the plural possessive of wife?
Wives' is the plural possessive form of wives. When the noun already ends in “s” and we want to make the word possessive, we need to put the apostrophe after the “s”.
How to make a plural noun possessive?
Most English plurals end in S. If that's the case, to make the plural noun possessive, simply add an apostrophe. Going back to the cats' beds, we start with the singular noun cat, then pluralize it to cats, then make it possessive as cats'. Here are a few more examples:
What Is a Plural Possessive Noun?
A plural possessive noun is exactly what it sounds like: a plural noun with a possessive ending to show ownership.
What is a noun in English?
A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. In English, nouns are most often used as the subject of a sentence (which does the action) and/or the object (which receives the action).
How to make a hyphenated noun plural?
To make a hyphenated or compound noun plural, you'll have to make a few changes. Generally, adding an -s or -es to the first word in the phrase will make it plural. To make it possessive, you'll need to add an apostrophe followed by an "s" to the last word, or just an apostrophe if the last word already ends in "s." For example, if you have had more than one father-in-law and they've all had bad attitudes, you could say "my fathers-in-law's attitudes."
When referencing two or more nouns that are acting together, then the plural possessive form requires adding an?
When referencing two or more nouns that are acting together, then the plural possessive form requires adding an apostrophe followed by an "s" to only the last noun. For example, Mary and Kelley are college roommates who share a dorm room. You'd say Mary and Kelley's room to refer to their place of residence. They're acting together because the room belongs to both of them.
What are common nouns?
Common nouns are your run-of-the-mill nouns. Everyday things go in this group, like: cat, moon, daisy, boys, forest, and power. Countable and uncountable nouns are pretty easy to figure out. Countable nouns can be counted, like books, trees, miles, girls, and buildings.
What are some examples of nouns?
There are different ways to categorize them, and many nouns will fit into several categories. For example, "dog" is a common, countable, concrete noun. Continue on for an explanation of these and other kinds of nouns.
How to show possession with regular plural nouns that end with "s"?
To show possession with regular plural nouns that end with "s," simply add an apostrophe at the end.
What are some examples of possessive nouns?
Examples of Plural Possessive Nouns. A noun is a part of speech that names a person, place, thing, action, feeling or ideal. Possessive nouns show ownership. Plural nouns show a quantity of more than one. Plural possessive nouns incorporate the concepts of ownership and "more than one.". Fairies on a leaf as plural possessice nouns example.
What to do if plural does not end with "s"?
If the plural form does not end with "s," add "s" and an apostrophe. Examples are:
How to show possessive form?
There is a simple rule that governs how to show the possessive, and in most cases, it is through the possessive apostrophe (’). When a noun is singular, we show the possessive by adding an apostrophe “s” (‘s) onto the end of the noun ( source ).
How to make plurals in English?
The most common way to create plurals in English is to add “s” onto the end of the singular noun ( source ). These examples will help you remember what this looks like:
What does "s" mean in plural?
Plural nouns usually end with an “s.”. This applies to plurals from most of the groups we discussed above, including the most common plurals formed by adding “s” or “es” to the end of a word. But it also applies to the irregular pattern plurals we discussed above ( source ).
Why do we add an apostrophe and an s in a sentence?
In this case, we add the apostrophe and the “s” to indicate possession, almost as if the noun were singular. This sounds very confusing, but these examples may make it easier to understand:
What is the meaning of the word "peoples"?
Individuals use it to refer to indigenous or pre-colonial populations defined by culture, ethnicity, or language ( source ). For example: Indigenous peoples have close connections to their ancestral lands and traditions.
When do we add es to the singular?
When the singular ends with – s, – ss, – z, – ch or -x, we add -es onto the end.
Is "peoples" a plural?
So, technically, peoples is the plural of the word people, making it a type of plural on a plural. Don’t worry too much about the details.
Why is the plural possessive more challenging than the singular possessive?
The plural possessive is more challenging than the singular possessive because it is dependent on the noun in question and whether it is a regular or irregular noun. Plurals in the English language are usually constructed by simply adding an -s to the word’s end.
What is a singular possessive?
Although singular possessives are relatively straightforward, there are some exceptions, but we’ll get to that later. The tricky bit comes into play when we’re talking about the plural possessive. The plural possessive is when something belongs to an entire group.
How are plurals constructed?
Plurals in the English language are usually constructed by simply adding an -s to the word’s end. The nouns for which this is possible are called regular nouns.
Does possessive form alter?
The critical thing we must remember here is that the possessive form’s formation will alter depending on whether the plural noun is regular or irregular.
Who wrote the possessive form?
Written by Kallen Anluan in Academics, School. Individuals attempting to learn the English language will often find themselves at their wits’ end as one of the most complex languages to navigate, mostly due to grammatical structure. When it comes to the possessive form, a brand-new challenge presents itself in the form of the plural possessive, ...
Can "client" be plural?
Here it is essential to remember that we can make “client” plural by adding an -s, “clients,” but that the possessive form of “client’s” is the singular possessive, and therefore it gets an apostrophe-s.
Do you put an apostrophe in a client?
For most singular nouns, like the word “client,” we simply add an apostrophe-s to make it possessive. An apostrophe-s looks like this — ʼs. This easy way of changing whether you’re talking about one thing or many things works for words that don’t already end in -s ( source ).
Is plural possessive difficult to understand?
Plural possessives can be extremely difficult to gain an understanding of. There are some authors who continue to struggle even after they’ve been writing for several years. It is a tricky concept, especially when it comes to names.
Do you add an apostrophe to a name?
Other style guides, such as The Microsoft Manual of Style and The Chicago Manual of Style, recommend that singular nouns, like a name, show possession by adding an apostrophe and an S, even if the name or noun ends with S.
Does a name end with an S have an apostrophe?
The Associated Press Stylebook has rules that state any plural noun, including names that end with an S, only get an apostrophe to symbolize possession. If you are required to follow AP style in your writing, this is the correct way.
Is Chris a plural name?
Chris is a popular name, and since it ends with an S, it follows plural possessives along with other plural nouns. This means that it should be Chris’, right? You would think so, but it still depends on another factor.
Examples of possess in a Sentence
What would possess seemingly sane people to treat concrete walls like trampolines? — Alice Park, Time, 16 Apr.
History and Etymology for possess
Middle English, from Middle French possesser to have possession of, take possession of, from Latin possessus, past participle of possidēre, from potis able, having the power + sedēre to sit — more at potent, sit
What is it called when you can't distinguish between possessives and plurals?
There is even a disorder doctors call aphasia, where individuals have exceptional difficulty distinguishing between plurals and possessives ( source ).
What is a possessive noun?
Possessive nouns like “company’s” are nouns that convey ownership. Possessive nouns describe our belongings and other nouns related to us. In this sense, ownership and belongings can be either physical or abstract. Physical belongings are things you can interact with using the five senses — sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing.
What type of noun ends with a s?
There are essentially two types of nouns in English that end in -s: possessive nouns and plural nou ns. If you use the wrong type of noun, you can confuse your readers or unintentionally alter your point. A great example of this dilemma for business writers is learning to differentiate between “company’s” and “companies.”.
How to make a noun plural?
Plural nouns like “companies” are nouns that describe more than one thing. In English, we make most nouns plural by adding the letter “s” to the end. For example, one chair becomes multiple chairs, and one thought becomes multiple thoughts.
What are physical belongings?
Physical belongings are things you can interact with using the five senses — sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing.
Can possessive nouns be plural?
Like the things that belong to them, possessive nouns can be either singular or plural. For example, we’ve already described the possessive form of “company,” but there is also a possessive form of “companies.”. If you wish to describe something that belongs to multiple companies, you don’t have to change the spelling.
Is "belonging" singular or plural?
Belongings can also be both singular and plural. A singular belonging is a single item, while a plural belonging is more than one item. For example, look at the following sentence: The dog belongs to Meg. You could use the possessive form of Meg ( Meg’s) to replace the words “belongs to.”.
Why is there confusion between possessive and plural?
Confusion sometimes arises between plural and possessive forms because they can seem similar. However, if you are clear on the rules that govern these two grammatical terms, then it becomes easier to know which is which and where to place your apostrophe. This is certainly the case with “employee’s” vs. “employees’.”
What is possessive form?
The possessive form of English nouns demonstrates ownership of something. It is relatively simple to master because it follows very specific rules.
What is a count noun?
As you will know, nouns are naming words for people, places, or things. Most English nouns are “count nouns,” meaning we can count them, and they have singular and plural forms ( source ).
What does "employees" mean in a sentence?
“Employees’,” on the other hand, refers to something that belongs to more than one employee. Here, there could be multiple items — in this example, books — or it could be one thing that two or more employees own together, such as “the employees’ house.”
Why do we use apostrophes?
The only other time that we use apostrophes is to show the omission of letters or numbers. We do this in two ways: firstly, to show that we’ve left out letters to form a contraction and, secondly, to show letters or numbers that we’ve omitted when spelling out words as someone spoke them.
What do people use instead of swear words?
Instead of typing swear words, people often use *’s and &’s.
Do possessive forms use apostrophes?
The possessive forms both make use of an apostrophe, either before or after the “s,” which is where most confusion lies. Let’s delve into the apostrophe and examine the rules that govern its use.
Is Thomas a possessive name?
Thomas is a popular name, and since it ends with an S, it can be tricky to make it possessive. Whether you use Thomas’s or Thomas’ depends on the style guide that you follow. Both Thomas’s or Thomas’ are correct.
Do you add an apostrophe to a name?
Other style guides, such as The Microsoft Manual of Style and The Chicago Manual of Style, recommend that singular nouns, like a name, show possession by adding an apostrophe and an S, even if the name or noun ends with S.
Does a name end with an S have an apostrophe?
The Associated Press Stylebook has rules that state any plural noun, including names that end with an S, only get an apostrophe to symbolize possession. If you are required to follow AP style in your writing, this is the correct way.
The Confusion of Plurals
The Possessive Apostrophe
- In English, the possessive form is a way of showing ownership. There is a simple rule that governs how to show the possessive, and in most cases, it is through the possessive apostrophe (’). When a noun is singular, we show the possessive by adding an apostrophe “s” (‘s) onto the end of the noun (source). Consider these examples: The bat belongs to...
OK, So What About People’s and Peoples’?
- Now that you understand how the plural and possessive forms work, you can apply this logic to the difference between people’s and peoples’. Remember that the word people is the plural of the word person. As we’ve already seen, when the word person is in the possessive form, we add an apostrophe “s” (‘s) to the end of the word as follows: The dog belongs to this person. → This per…
Final Thoughts
- Navigating the complexities of English grammar can be like trying to find your way through a minefield. However, the rules are different when it comes to the very irregular plurals that are completely different from their singular forms. But becoming familiar with some of the general patterns that govern language forms like the plural and the possessive does help you to make e…