Pay close attention to that apostrophe: in English, we also add s to the end of words to make them plural.

the Empire State Building -> the Empire State Building ’s.

Almost any noun can become possessive, even abstract nouns. Typically, singular possessive nouns use an apostrophe ( ’ ) and the letter s at the end of the word to take the possessive form. Possessive nouns are nouns that show ownership or a direct connection.

We thought it’d be helpful to include them here just for comparison. In this guide we focus specifically on possessive nouns, so we won’t talk much about these possessive adjectives. This is especially pertinent for the possessive adjective its, which is notoriously confused with the contraction it’s, meaning it is. Unlike the possessive nouns below, possessive adjectives do not use apostrophes. Īdditionally, the possessive adjective whose acts as the possessive form of the relative pronoun who, and it can introduce relative phrases and clauses.

Possessive adjectives correspond to the English pronouns, matching person, gender, and number. Like possessive nouns, possessive adjectives also show ownership or direct connection. The possessive noun Tony’s, which is identified by the ’s at the end, shows that the car belongs to Tony.

The possessive adjective his, which reflects Aiguo, shows ownership of the hat. There are two possessives in this sentence. Let’s look at some examples in an actual sentence. The possessive case is used to show ownership of something ( Sanjay’s phone ) or a direct connection to something ( Sanjay’s sister ). Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly What is possessive form?īefore we get into the specifics of possessive nouns, let’s define possessive in general when it comes to grammar.

What are plural