A1/A2 · Grammar
Possessive 's
After this page you can say who things belong to with 's and s' (Anna's car, my parents' house, the children's room) and ask about the owner with Whose.
Rules
1.
One owner: name or noun + 's
- This is Tom's bag.
- Priya's sister lives in Leeds.
- My brother's flat is very small.
For one owner, add 's to the name or to the noun. First the owner, then the thing.
Owner + 's + thing
- Anna → Anna's car
- my sister → my sister's job
- the teacher → the teacher's desk
There is no the before a name: Anna's car, not the Anna's car.
owner + 's + thing: Ben's phone
No the before a name + 's.
2.
Plural owners in -s: s'
- My parents' house is in Cardiff.
- The students' books are on the table.
- Our neighbours' dog is very loud.
When the owner is a plural noun with -s, add only an apostrophe after the s: s'.
One or more owners?
- one sister → my sister's room
- two sisters → my sisters' room
- my parents → my parents' car
You hear no difference: sister's and sisters' sound the same. The situation tells you.
one owner → 's · plural owners in -s → s'
my parents' flat, not my parents's flat
3.
children's, men's, women's, people's
- The children's room is upstairs.
- Where are the men's toilets?
- Lucy plays in a women's football team.
Some plural nouns have no -s: children, men, women, people. They take 's, like one owner.
Plural without -s → 's
- the children → the children's toys
- the men → the men's coats
- the women → the women's team
- other people → other people's emails
plural with no -s → 's: the children's toys
Not childrens' or mens'.
4.
Whose …? – It's Tom's.
- Whose phone is this? – It's Tom's.
- Whose keys are these? – They're Lucy's.
- Whose coat is that? – It's my brother's.
Ask about the owner with Whose + noun. In the answer, you can leave out the thing: It's Tom's = It's Tom's phone.
Questions with whose
- Whose + noun + is + this/that? → It's Anna's.
- Whose + plural noun + are + these/those? → They're Anna's.
Whose and who's sound the same. who's = who is: Who's that man?
Whose bag is this? – It's Anna's.
whose = which owner? · who's = who is
5.
Things: of or two nouns
- What's the name of the street?
- The kitchen window is open.
- I don't like the end of the film.
Use 's for people and animals. For things, people do not use 's in most cases. They use of, or they put two nouns together.
Person or thing?
- people and animals: Anna's car · my dog's bed
- things: the door of the car or the car door
person or animal → 's · thing → of or noun + noun
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