Possessive 's

Possessive 's

Do you know how to use possessive 's? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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

Grammar test 1: Possessive 's

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

Grammar test 2: Possessive 's

Language level

Average: 4 (148 votes)
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Submitted by Deepz on Fri, 18/10/2024 - 01:13

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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

Submitted by Sefika on Sat, 17/08/2024 - 16:51

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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

Submitted by boboyogo on Mon, 29/07/2024 - 17:39

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Dear teacher, 

Please kindly advise which of the following is correct and why:

  1. I am 7 years old and my school name is ABC.
  2. 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

Profile picture for user Inass Kamal

Submitted by Inass Kamal on Fri, 07/06/2024 - 12:26

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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

Submitted by emmio on Thu, 23/05/2024 - 21:36

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Is it grammatically correct to indicate possession in the following manner:
"Lauren her studies are going well."
"Did you follow doctor Smith his orders?"
"My mum her house is old."

My friend keeps on using sentences like this and I am wondering is it perhaps something from older English or simply incorrect?

Hello emmio,

No, those sentences are not correct. Your friend should use a possessive 's:

Lauren's studies are going well.

Did you follow Doctor Smith's orders?

My mum's house is old.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team