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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