1) What is a possessive noun?
A possessive noun is a noun that possesses something.
Example:
This is the car of John.
This is John’s car. ('John’s' is a possessive noun)
2) How to form a possessive noun
- When we have a singular noun, we just add '’s'.
Example:
The garden of my mother is big.
My mother’s garden is big.
- When we have a plural noun that ends in -s, we only add the apostrophe '’'.
Example:
The room of the girls is pink.
The girls’ room is pink.
- When we have a plural noun that doesn’t end in -s, we add '’s'.
Example:
The toys of the children are on the floor.
The children’s toys are on the floor.
- When we have a name that ends in -s, we can add '’s' or '’'. Both forms are correct.
Example:
The dog of James is hungry.
James’s dog is hungry.
James’ dog is hungry.
- If there are two people that possess the same thing, we only add '’s' to the second person.
Example:
The car of John and Susan is red.
John and Susan’s car is red.
- If there are two people that possess one thing each, we add '’s' to both people.
Example:
The cars of John and Susan are red.
John’s and Susan’s cars are red.
3) Nouns after possessive nouns
❖ Sometimes we can use a possessive noun without another noun.
- When the meaning is clear.
Example:
My car is older than John’s car.
My car is older than John’s.
- For people’s homes.
Example:
We will go to John’s home tomorrow.
We will go to John’s tomorrow.