Possessive Nouns
In the possessive case, a noun or pronoun changes its form to show that it owns or is closely related to something else. Usually, nouns become possessive by adding a combination of an apostrophe and the letter “s.”
You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that does not end in “s” by adding an apostrophe and “s,” as in the following sentences:
The brown briefcase is Bill's.
The only luggage that was lost was the pilot's.
The man was woken up by the alarm clock's bell.
The mechanic's hands were covered in grease.
You can also form the possessive case of a singular noun that ends in “s” by adding an apostrophe alone or by adding an apostrophe and “s,” as in the following examples:
The office's hard plastic seats are very uncomfortable.
The office' seats are very uncomfortable.
The fox ate the chicken's eggs.
The fox ate the chickens' eggs.
George Lucas's films made more money than Jerry Bruckheimer's.
George Lucas' films made more money than Jerry Bruckheimer's.
You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not end in “s” by adding an apostrophe and an “s,” as in the following examples:
The children's toys were scattered on the floor of the room.
The baby's crib was cleaned every day.
The team waited in anticipation for the referee's decision.
The men's basketball team will be play as soon as the women's team is finished.
The hunter followed the moose's trail all morning but lost it in the afternoon.
You can also form the possessive case of a plural noun that does end in “s” by adding an apostrophe:
The sermon was interrupted by the phones' ringing, the cars' honking, and the babies' crying.
The captains' stateroom is up the ladder and to the left.
We spent many hours on our trip trying to locate the eagles' nest.
The carpenter finally finished repairing the walls' damages.
Politics is usually the subject of my roommates' many late night debates.
Using Possessive Nouns
In the following sentences, please notice that a noun in the possessive case frequently functions as an adjective modifying another noun:
The mechanic's face was covered in grease.
Here the possessive noun “mechanic's” is used to modify the noun “face” and together with the article “the,” they make up the noun phrase that is the sentence's subject.
The sermon was interrupted by the phones' ringing, the cars' honking, and the babies'crying.
In the above sentence, each possessive noun modifies a gerund. The possessive noun “phones” modifies “ringing,” “cars” modifies “honking,” and “babies” modifies “crying.”
The fox ate the chicken's eggs.
In this example the possessive noun “chicken's” modifies the noun “eggs” and the noun phrase “the chicken's eggs” is the direct object of the verb “ate.”
We spent many hours on our trip trying to locate the eagles'nest.
In the sentence above, the possessive noun “eagles” is used to modify the noun “nest” and the noun phrase “the eagles' nest” is the object of the infinitive phrase “to locate.”
In the possessive case, a noun or pronoun changes its form to show that it owns or is closely related to something else. Usually, nouns become possessive by adding a combination of an apostrophe and the letter “s.”
You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that does not end in “s” by adding an apostrophe and “s,” as in the following sentences:
The brown briefcase is Bill's.
The only luggage that was lost was the pilot's.
The man was woken up by the alarm clock's bell.
The mechanic's hands were covered in grease.
You can also form the possessive case of a singular noun that ends in “s” by adding an apostrophe alone or by adding an apostrophe and “s,” as in the following examples:
The office's hard plastic seats are very uncomfortable.
The office' seats are very uncomfortable.
The fox ate the chicken's eggs.
The fox ate the chickens' eggs.
George Lucas's films made more money than Jerry Bruckheimer's.
George Lucas' films made more money than Jerry Bruckheimer's.
You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not end in “s” by adding an apostrophe and an “s,” as in the following examples:
The children's toys were scattered on the floor of the room.
The baby's crib was cleaned every day.
The team waited in anticipation for the referee's decision.
The men's basketball team will be play as soon as the women's team is finished.
The hunter followed the moose's trail all morning but lost it in the afternoon.
You can also form the possessive case of a plural noun that does end in “s” by adding an apostrophe:
The sermon was interrupted by the phones' ringing, the cars' honking, and the babies' crying.
The captains' stateroom is up the ladder and to the left.
We spent many hours on our trip trying to locate the eagles' nest.
The carpenter finally finished repairing the walls' damages.
Politics is usually the subject of my roommates' many late night debates.
Using Possessive Nouns
In the following sentences, please notice that a noun in the possessive case frequently functions as an adjective modifying another noun:
The mechanic's face was covered in grease.
Here the possessive noun “mechanic's” is used to modify the noun “face” and together with the article “the,” they make up the noun phrase that is the sentence's subject.
The sermon was interrupted by the phones' ringing, the cars' honking, and the babies'crying.
In the above sentence, each possessive noun modifies a gerund. The possessive noun “phones” modifies “ringing,” “cars” modifies “honking,” and “babies” modifies “crying.”
The fox ate the chicken's eggs.
In this example the possessive noun “chicken's” modifies the noun “eggs” and the noun phrase “the chicken's eggs” is the direct object of the verb “ate.”
We spent many hours on our trip trying to locate the eagles'nest.
In the sentence above, the possessive noun “eagles” is used to modify the noun “nest” and the noun phrase “the eagles' nest” is the object of the infinitive phrase “to locate.”
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