Possessive Form of Nouns, Singular and Plural



Possessives: Singular and Plural Nouns

• Ownership is shown by using the possessive form of the noun. The following rules should be followed when writing a noun's possessive form:

Rule 1: Add 's to form the possessive to a noun that does not end in s.

Example: a girl's dress

Rule 2: Add an 's to form the possessive of a noun that ends in s.

Example: Chris's house

Rule 3: When something is possessed jointly by singular nouns joined by and, place an

apostrophe on the last name only.

Example: Bill and Susan's house (The house is owned by two people)

Bill's and Susan's cars are in the shop (Each person has a car)

*** Guidelines for forming plurals: When forming the possessives of plural nouns, the following rules must be remembered.

Rule 4: Add an s to the ending of singular nouns ending in o proceeded by a vowel to form

the plural.

Example: Oreo, Oreos

Rule 5: Add es to the ending of singular nouns ending in o proceeded by a consonant

to form the plural.

Example: hero, heroes

Rule 6: Singular nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel add s to form the plural.

Example: monkey, monkeys

Rule 7: Change the y to i and add es to singular nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant

to form the plural.

Example: fly, flies

Rule 8: Add es to form the plural of singular nouns ending in s, x, ch, or sh.

Example: class, classes

ax, axes

church, churches

wish, wishes

Rule 9: Add s to the end of singular nouns ending in ful to form the plural.

Example: cupful, cupfuls

Rule 10: Change the f or fe to ves to some singular nouns ending in f or fe to form the plural.

Examples: thief, thieves

scarf, scarves

Attention: There are some exceptions to this rule (i.e., sheriffs, chiefs, roofs).

Rule 11: In a hyphenated noun, add an s to the first word to form the plural.

Example: son-in-law, sons-in-law

Rule 12: Some nouns must be spelled differently to form the plural.

Examples: cactus, cacti

mouse, mice

ox, oxen

syllabus, syllabi

tooth, teeth

woman, women

child, children

axis, axes

goose, geese

octopus, octopi (or octopuses)

datum, data

foot, feet

locus, loci

man, men

Rule 13: A few nouns do not change to form the plural.

Example sheep, sheep

moose, moose

deer, deer

fish, fish

Rule 14: Some nouns are always written in the plural form. These will always take

a plural verb when used as a subject.

Examples: eyeglasses, news, scissors, suds, tidings,

trousers, clothes, pants, pliers, thanks

Rule 15: Proper nouns ending in s ad es to form the plural. Proper nouns not ending in s form

the plural by adding s.

Examples: Mr. and Mrs. Ross, the Rosses

the Johnson family, the Johnsons

********** Follow these rules when forming the plural possessive of any noun:

a. Make certain the plural form is spelled correctly, according to the above

rules.

b. Add 's to form the possessive when the plural form does not end in s.

c. Add ' to form the possessive when the plural form ends in s.

Singular Singular Possessive Plural Plural Possessive

home home's homes homes'

Oreo Oreo's Oreos Oreos'

brother-in-law brother-in-law's brothers-in-law brothers-in-law's

couch couch's couches couches'

foot foot feet feet's

child child's children children's

Exercise A: For each of the following, write the singular and plural possessive forms.

Singular Possessive Plural Possessive

1. the foot of the ox ____ox’s foot _____ __oxen’s feet____

2. the shoe of the woman ___woman’s shoe__ __women’s shoes_

3. the wrapper of the candy __candy’s wrapper_ candies’ wrappers

4. the dress of the lady ___lady’s dress____ __ladies’ dresses__

5. the filling of the tooth __tooth’s filling____ __teeth’s fillings__

6. home of the son-in-law son-in-law’s home sons-in-law’s homes

7. the hem of the scarf __scarf’s hem______ __scarves’ hems___

8. the label of the box __box’s label_______ __boxes’ labels____

9. the track of the deer __deer’s track______ __deer’s tracks_____

10. the blade of the scissors __scissor’s blade____ __scissors’ blades__

Exercise B: Write the correct form of the possessive noun in the blanks. If the correct form is used, write C in the blank.

1. It is his' - his

2. the boys's gym__(plural) - the boys’ gym

3. that girls' car_(singular) - that girl’s car

4. Its mine - Its mine

5. the goat's milk_(singular) - Correct

6. knifes's blade_(singular) - knife’s blade

7. fishes's food_(plural) - fish’s food

8. childrens' toys - Correct

9. tooths' enamel_(singular) - tooth’s enamel

10. the Bakers' house__(plural) - Correct

11. the cities' streets__(plural) - Correct

12. a man's hope - Correct

13. leaves' color_(plural) - Correct

14. It is somebody's else - It is somebody else’s

15. soldiers' rations_(plural) - Correct

16. it's new collar - its new collar

17. the house is theirs - Correct

18. couches' cushion (singular) - couch’s cushion

19. The President's plane - Correct

20. a horses' saddle (singular) - a horse’s saddle

Exercise C: Rewrite the phrases below using possessive nouns.

Example: visit of mother-in-law

mother-in-law's visit

1. boat of Tyler and Tommy - Tyler and Tommy’s boat

2. soft fur of puppies - puppies’ soft fur

3. homes of my sisters-in-law - sisters-in-law’s homes

4. song of nightingales - nightingale’s song

5. vacation of one week - one week’s vacation

6. store of Mike and Anna - Mike and Anna’s store

7. salary of thirty thousand dollars - thirty thousand dollars’ salary

8. contract of agency - agency’s contract

9. singing of the choir - choir’s singing

10. plans of the football team - football team’s plans

11. strings of the violin - violin’s strings

12. horses of Lynn and Bill - Lynn and Bill’s horses

13. delay of two months - two month’s delay

14. signatures of teachers and parents - teachers’ and parents’ signatures

15. doghouse of Rollo - Rollo’s doghouse

16. top of it - its top

17. flooding of the stream - stream’s flooding

18. testimony of someone else - someone else’s testimony

19. dishes of grandmother - grandmother’s dishes

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