Possessive Nouns

Possessive Nouns

by Brendan Corbett

​Important Skills needed for this Lesson

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Qualities of nouns (Number)

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Number shows whether a noun refers to one person or thing (singular) or more than one (plural)

​Possessive Case

A noun that expresses possession or ownership is in the possessive case

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Ex. Bill’s voice announced the winners.

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The voice that announced the winners belonged to or was possessed by Bill. The word Bill’s, therefore, is in the possessive case. The sign of the possessive case is the apostrophe s (‘s)​

​Rule #1: Singular Possessive

The singular possessive is formed by adding ‘s to the singular form of the noun

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• The robin’s egg is in the nest.

• Listen to the comedian’s joke.​

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Multiple Choice

Idenity the noun in the possessive case in the following sentence:

The knight's armor gleamed in the sunlight.

• knight's

• armor

• gleamed

• sunlight

​Rule #2: Plural Possessive

The plural possessive of plural nouns ending in s is formed by adding the apostrophe only.

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• The robins’ eggs are blue.

• Listen to the comedians’ jokes.​

Multiple Choice

Identify the PLURAL possessive noun in the following sentence:

The racers' cars were not damaged.

• cars

• racers'

• damaged

• the

​Rule #3: Proper Names

Proper names ending in s usually form the possessive case by adding ‘s

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• James’s bicycle has just been repaired.

• Dickens’s novels are widely read.​

Multiple Choice

Identify the possesive proper name in the following sentence:

Leon's shoes are lying in the middle of the hallway again.

• Leon's

• shoes

• middle

• hallway

Rule #4: Compound Nouns​

​In compound nouns the ‘s is added to the end of the word.

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