Possessive Nouns | Examples & Plural Forms

A possessive noun is the noun form that is used to show ownership. It indicates the person or thing that possesses something and typically immediately precedes another noun indicating what is possessed (e.g., “Annie’s house”).

To form a possessive singular noun, an apostrophe and the letter “s” are added to the basic form of the noun (e.g., “the dog” becomes “the dog’s bone”). For plural nouns, typically only an apostrophe is added (e.g., “the dogs” becomes “the dogs’ toys”).

Ownership is not always literal in the context of possessive nouns. For example, “Caleb’s dad” does not mean that Caleb owns his dad. In this case, the possessive just indicates a relationship.

Singular and plural possessive noun forms

Possessive nouns are formed through the addition of an apostrophe and “s” or just an apostrophe. The rules for forming possessives are summarized in the table below, and the individual categories are discussed in more detail after that.

Singular possessive nouns (and irregular plurals)

Singular nouns are made possessive by adding an apostrophe and an “s” (e.g., “teacher” becomes “the teacher’s lesson”). Singular nouns that end in “s” follow the same rule (e.g., “the press’s access”).

The same rule is followed for plural nouns that do not end in “s,” compound nouns made up of several words, and abbreviations.

Plural possessive nouns

Since most plural nouns end in “s,” their possessive form is created by adding only an apostrophe (e.g., “the cats’ toys”).

People often make mistakes when forming the plural possessive because it sounds the same as the singular possessive but is written differently. For example, “the teacher’s students” has a different meaning than “the teachers’ students” even though the two phrases sound exactly the same when spoken aloud.

An apostrophe alone (without the additional “s”) is also used for the plural versions of nouns that end in “s” and have the same singular and plural form (e.g., “politics”).

Singular names ending in “s”

You may have come across different rules for names that end in “s,” such as “Charles.” Most sources say that these names should follow the typical rule for singular nouns: add an apostrophe and an “s” (e.g., “Charles’s brother”).

However, some sources say that the addition of an “s” should be based on how the word sounds when said out loud. So, for example, the name “Moses” should become Moses’, but “Charles” should become Charles’s.

We recommend always adding the “s” because of the difficulty of determining which names follow which rule and because this is the approach recommended by style guides like APA, MLA, and Chicago.

Nouns in italics or quotation marks

When a noun is in italics (e.g., the title of a book or movie), the possessive apostrophe and “s” should not be italicized.

When a noun is enclosed in quotation marks (e.g., the title of a poem or song), it is better to rephrase the sentence to avoid an apostrophe, as it is too difficult to distinguish the apostrophe from the quotation marks.

What is a possessive noun?

There are two ways possessive nouns are used in sentences:

• When they are used before another noun, they function the same as possessive adjectives (e.g., “their”) and modify the noun that they precede.
• When they are used independently and do not precede another noun, they function the same as possessive pronouns (e.g., “theirs”). When used this way, they are still connected to a noun that was used earlier or is clear from the context.

Compound possessive

A compound possessive occurs when ownership is expressed for two or more nouns joined by the conjunction “and.” The compound possessive can be written in two different ways depending on the intended meaning:

• Both nouns are written in the possessive form if the two entities possess two different things.
• Only the last noun is written in the possessive form if the different entities possess something collectively.

Possession vs contraction

In addition to showing possession, apostrophes are also used in contractions. For example, “she’s” is a contraction of “she is” or “she has”; the apostrophe represents the letters that have been omitted.

Thus, the possessive forms of singular nouns are the same as the contractions of those nouns with “is” or “has.” For example, “Sam’s” could be the contraction of “Sam is” or “Sam has,” or it could be the possessive form of “Sam.”

The distinction between possession and contraction is usually clear from the context. When the word is followed by another noun, it is most likely a possessive. When it is followed by another part of speech, such as a verb, adverb, or article, it is likely a contraction.

Using “of” to show possession

Aside from the apostrophe, possession can also be shown by using a prepositional phrase beginning with “of.”

If the possessor is a concept or an object (rather than a person or animal), it is typically preferable to use “of” rather than a possessive noun. While not technically incorrect, using a possessive noun often sounds unnatural in these cases.

Double possessives (“of” + possessive noun)

In some situations, “of” is combined with a possessive noun or pronoun to indicate possession. For example, people often say “a book of Margot’s” rather than “a book of Margot” (which does not sound natural).

This double possessive wording is only used if the possessor is a person or animal and if it is assumed that the possessor has more than one of the item that is possessed. The double possessive is frequently used in situations where the “of” phrase alone might have a meaning other than ownership.

It is usually possible (and often preferable) to rephrase sentences to avoid needing the double possessive. However, it is useful to know how to interpret this somewhat unusual construction.

Other alternatives to possessive nouns

Possessive nouns can sometimes be rephrased using prepositions other than “of” (e.g., “by,” “to”) or using adjective clauses with words such as “belong” or “own.”

Frequently asked questions about possessive nouns

When do you use an apostrophe after an s?

An apostrophe is added after an “s” to create the possessive noun form of plural nouns (e.g., “the girls’ shoes”).

An apostrophe is also added after “s” for singular nouns that end in “s” and that have the same singular and plural form (e.g., “ethics’ importance”).

The plural form of other singular nouns that end in “s” is formed by adding an apostrophe and an “s” to the end of the word (e.g., “the princess’s friend”).

Some style guides recommend adding only an apostrophe after certain names ending in “s” (e.g., “Jesus’ followers”). However, adding both an apostrophe and an “s” is recommended by many style guides and reduces inconsistency, so we recommend doing that for all singular names (e.g., “Jesus’s followers,” “Iris’s money”).

What is the possessive form of a name ending in s?

Names ending in “s” can follow the same rules as other singular nouns. The possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe and an “s” (e.g., “Rhys’s book”).

Some style guides, however, recommend adding only an apostrophe after certain names ending in “s” depending on whether an extra syllable sounds natural (e.g., “Jesus’ followers”).

To avoid inconsistency, we recommend adding an apostrophe and an “s” to all names (e.g., “Jesus’s followers,” “Mavis’s car”).

What is a compound possessive?

A compound possessive occurs when possession is expressed for two or more nouns that are joined by the conjunction “and.” The compound possessive can be written in two different ways depending on the intended meaning:

• Both nouns are written in the possessive form if the two entities possess two different things (e.g., “Jayden’s and Tessa’s bicycles”).
• Only the last noun is written in the possessive form if the different entities possess something collectively (e.g., “Lexi and Sam’s kids”).