Showing possession through nouns - Easy Learning Grammar

Possession can be shown in two ways:

The man was mending his car.

The car was being mended by a man.

by adding -’s to a singular noun, or an irregular plural noun that does not end in -s.

by adding -’ to a plural noun.

There is also the of possessive (a phrase with of followed by a noun).

The of possessive is not just a different way of saying the same thing as the -’s possessive.

The -’s possessive is generally used only with nouns referring to animate items (e.g. people and animals) and in time phrases.

The of possessive is generally used with nouns referring to inanimate things (i.e. objects) and abstract ideas.

The function of the possessive form in English is to:

show possession.

show a relationship, with a person either as the originator or the user of the thing named.

indicate that a place is where someone works or lives.

show that something is a part of a whole.

add a descriptive element which premodifies a noun. It is a type of determiner. See also Determiners.

Rules for the formation of the possessive -’s (apostrophe -s) and -s’ (-s apostrophe) are as follows:

most singular nouns add an apostrophe + -s.

most plural nouns add an apostrophe after the plural form -s.

There are exceptions for the following:

common nouns that end in -s in the singular. When these are made plural the choice of -’s or a simple apostrophe is optional.

plural nouns not ending in -s, for example those that that have a plural ending in -en. In this case, add an apostrophe + s.

proper nouns and common nouns that end in -s. These usually add -’s in the singular unless the final sound of the basic word is [-iz], in which case, a simple apostrophe is sufficient.

Compound nouns (see Compound nouns) put the -’s or the simple apostrophe at the end of the complete compound.

Noun phrases that are descriptive of someone’s role or profession put the -’s on the headword of the phrase.

a stock market analyst’s annual income

the senior hospital consultant’s weekly visit

If they use an of construction the -’s or simple apostrophe usually goes on the last noun.

the President of Austria’s official car

the director of marketing’s personal assistant