Look at these examples to see how we use possessive 's.
Mohammed is my brother's son.
My grandpa's beard is white.
This is my grandparents' house.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We can use possessive 's to talk about the relationship between people or to say who owns something. Possessive 's always comes after a noun or a name.
We often use possessive 's or s' when we talk about family and friends.
Grandma and Grandpa are my mum's parents.
Maria's best friend is Juanita.
My cousins' birthdays are both in January.
We can also use it to say that something belongs to someone.
That's Roberto's flat. He's got a flat in the city centre.
Kim's hair is very long. She's got long, black hair.
My parents' garden is beautiful. They grow a lot of flowers.
When it is one person who owns something, we usually use 's.
Our friend's car is red. She loves it.
Simon's phone is new. He bought it yesterday.
Can you see Amira's keys? She can't find them.
It is possible to use more than one possessive in a phrase.
We had lunch at my friend's father's house.
If a name or noun ends in s, we can add either ' or 's. The pronunciation can be /zɪz/ or /sɪz/.
Is that James' bag?
That's my boss's office.
If the thing belongs to more than one person, we usually add ' after the s of the plural noun.
Our friends' house is in the mountains. They moved there last year.
My grandparents' dog is called Bertie.
The twins' school is closed today.
If the plural noun is irregular and doesn't end in s, we add 's.
This is our children's school.
The women's clothes are on the second floor.
A lot of people's eyes are brown.
If something belongs to more than one person, and we give a list of names, the 's comes after the last name in the list.
Liam is Anne and Gary's son.
Remember that s at the end of a word without an apostrophe (') can make it plural, but this doesn't show possession.
I've got two brothers.
Are those your keys?
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Possesssive 's can only be used with people not things, e.g. my "school's name" isn't ccorrect. It's my "school name" is correct as the word school here plays the role of an adjective.
What do you think?
Hello Bulbul,
It's perfectly fine to use 's to denote possession with things as well as people.You can say my school's name (possession) or my school name (a compound noun); the choice is one of style in this case.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Is it princess' or princess's?
Hello Deepz,
Generally we add 's to singular words ending in s:
James's coat
the princess's tiara
The s follows the apostrophe when the word is plural:
both boys' coats
six princesses' tiaras
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello.
What I would like to know is how you pronounce the dresses' in the phrase dresses' hems. Do you add an /ız/ to it because it is in the possessive case?
Thanks.
Hello Sefika,
The pronunciation of the possessive form is the same as the plural form: /dresız/.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear teacher,
Please kindly advise which of the following is correct and why:
I am 7 years old and my school's name is ABC.
Thank you very much!
Hello boboyogo,
The second sentence is correct. We use a possessive form (here: 's) when we are talking about something belonging to another thing. Here, the name belongs to the school, so we say 'my school's name'. Another way to say this is 'the name of my school'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello
What about :
Our friends' flat is very big. They have five bedrooms!
Why did we use s' instead of 's ?
Hello Inass Kamal,
We use s' when the noun is plural, so here it means that the flat belongs to more than one friend.
our friend's flat - the flat belongs to one friend
our friends' flat - the flat belongs to/is shared by more than one friend
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team