One of the most common errors in new college writers is how to use possessives correctly. One of the confusing elements here is that both plurals and possessives are usually signified by using an “s” at the end of a word. Most students get plurals correct:
- books – more than one book (this is a standard plural; just add the “s”)
- plays – more than one play (a word that ends with a vowel plus a “y” just adds an “s”)
- studio – more than one studio (don’t let the final “o” confuse you; this is another standard plural as are most words that end with an “o”; some will end in an “es,” like “potatoes” or “heroes”)
- lunches – more than one lunch (words that end with a hissing sound will add an “es,” like “foxes” or “wishes”)
- policies – more than one policy (here, the “y” is changed to an “ie” before adding the final “s”; this happens for words that end in a consonant plus a “y”)
- lives – more than one life (words that end with “fe” are changed to “ves” when made possessive)
Your spell checker can help with many of these. If you’re unsure about how to make a singular word a plural, most dictionaries will give you correct plural forms.
Possessives are not much trickier than plurals. The first thing you must remember is that they are not the same. You must mechanically differentiate a possessive from a plural. As you saw from the examples above, the usual way to show a plural is with an “s.” Likewise, the usual way to show a possessive is with an apostrophe-s: ‘s.
Like the name implies, possessives show possession or ownership. If John owns a book, it is “John’s book.” You can be sure it’s a possessive by turning the phrase around: it is the book of John. Therefore, it is a possessive.
There are two types of possessives: singular (one person or thing has ownership) and plural (more than one person or thing has ownership):
- singular possessive – just add an ‘s
- the cat’s toy (the toy of the cat)
- my family’s car (the car of the family)
- the student’s essay
- Giles’ web site (if the singular noun ends with an “s,” then just add an apostrophe)
- plural possessive – make the word a plural, then add an apostrophe (if the plural form does not end with an “s,” then add an ‘s to make it possessive
- the streets’ reconstruction (the reconstruction of the streets)
- the states’ problems (the problems of the states)
- the children’s toys
- James and Brenda’s marriage (this is a plural possessive, but the ‘s is added only after the second noun)
You cannot just omit the apostrophe when making a possessive. This is the most common errors that I see in students’ writing. By thinking carefully and proofreading, plurals and possessives should never be a problem.
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