Nouns: possession

 

 

Possessive ’s – with People

 

We can use ’s to show possession. We can use it to describe relationships between people – or people and objects.

• Tony is Ann’s (=her) husband. (NOT: Tony is the husband of Ann.)

• Ann is Tony’s (=his) wife.
• Ann is Mark’s (=his) mother.
• Tony is Mark’s (=his) father.
• This is Martin’s camera. (NOT: This is the camera of Martin.)
• We spent the day at my sister’s house.
• These are my boyfriend’s socks.
• Mr Lewis’s house is for sale.

 

In the following examples, just use one ‘’s’:

• Mark is Ann and Tony’s (=their) son. (NOT: Mark is Ann’s and Tony’s son.)

• Ann and Tony are Sarah and Julia’s parents. (NOT: Ann and Tony are Sarah’s and Julia’s parents.)

 

When the noun is plural, write the apostrophe after the ‘s’:

• Mark’s sisters’ names are Ann and Julia. (NOT: Mark’s sister’s names are…’)

(‘Mark’ is singular but ‘sisters’ is plural.)

• Mark’s parents’ names are Ann and Tony.

 

If the plural is irregular, use ’s as normal:

• Ann is the children’s mother.
• This shop only sells women’s clothes.

 

Possessive ’s – with Animals

 

• This is the dog’s food.
• One of the cat’s feet is black.

 

Using ‘of’ with Objects

 

We usually use ‘of’ with objects:

• The windows of that house are dirty. (NOT: That house’s windows are dirty.)

• What is the name of this village? (NOT: What is this village’s name?)

• We didn’t see the first part of the movie. (NOT: We didn’t see this movie’s first part.)