Rules for using possessive ’sWe use ’s after a singular noun and ’ after a plural noun.
Comparesingular noun + ’s
plural noun + ’
The girl’s bedroom
(The bedroom belongs to one girl.)
The girls’ bedroom.
(The bedroom belongs to more than one girl.)
We use ’s with irregular plural nouns (e.g. children, men, people, women):
The children’s parents decided which university they would go to.
They have no respect for other people’s property.
The rules for the pronunciation of a noun with ’s are the same as the rules for pronunciation of plural forms of nouns.
Comparenoun + ’s or ’
plural noun
pronunciation
The cat’s dinner is in the fridge.
The cats were running around the garden.
/s/
The kids’ uncle gave them all some money.
The kids are getting impatient.
/z/
George’s brother was there.
There are three Georges in my family.
/ɪz/
When a first or second name ends in -s, we can either add ’ or ’s. It is more common to use ’ than ’s. When we speak, we usually pronounce the final part of the word as /zɪz/ or /sɪz/:
Is that James’ car? (or Is that James’s car?) (both usually pronounced /ˈdʒeɪmzɪz/)
I love Keats’ poetry. (or I love Keats’s poetry.) (both usually pronounced /ˈki:tsɪz/)
With compound nouns, we add ’s to the final noun:
My sister-in-law’s friend came with us.
Not: My sister’s-in-law friend
We don’t usually use the possessive ’s with things:
the door handle
Not: the door’s handle
the shop window
Not: the shop’s window
the kitchen table
Not: the kitchen’s table
Spoken English: When we talk about places which are familiar to the speaker and the listener, we sometimes don’t use the noun after possessive ’s:
the hairdresser’s salon – the hairdresser’s
the doctor’s surgery – the doctor’s
We had to take our cat to the vet’s twice last month. (the same as: We had to take our cat to the vet’s clinic twice last month.)
Do you shop in Marks and Spencer’s?
We decided to go to John’s after the cinema. (the same as: We decided to go to John’s house after the cinema.)
In short answers, we can omit the noun if it is not necessary to repeat it:
A:Is that your coat?
B:No, it’s Sandra’s.
We use possessive ’s with words such as one, anyone, someone, anybody, somebody:
It’s important to know one’s rights as a tenant.
Is this someone’s coat here?
When we use else with these words, the ’s is added to else:
Why didn’t you come? Everyone else’s husband was there.
Warning: The pronoun other has the same forms as nouns. We add ’s to the singular form, and we add an apostrophe after the plural -s ending in the plural form:
They took each other’s hand and started walking.
All of our luggage arrived but the others’ cases didn’t. The airline promise they will be here this evening.
Warning: We don’t use ’s with possessive pronouns:
Is that dog yours?
Not: Is that dog your’s?
I think that car is theirs.
Not: I think that car is theirs’
We don’t use ’s with the possessive determiner its. It’s means ‘it is’:
The city is proud of its parks.
Not: The city is proud of it’s parks.