English--Not Anguish

POSSESSIVES

Nouns and Pronouns

The last unit was on plural nouns--not exactly a news flash, is it? In this unit we will form the possessive case of singular nouns, plural nouns, and pronouns.

NOTE: FORMING THE PLURAL IS ONE PROCEDURE; FORMING THE POSSESSIVE IS AN ENTIRELY SEPARATE PROCEDURE. Remembering this is crucial.

(YOU MAY OR MAY NOT CHANGE A SINGULAR NOUN TO A PLURAL NOUN.) It depends upon the sentence.

The man bought his ticket and boarded the plane. The word his tells us to keep the noun man singular.

Five man bought their tickets and boarded the plane. The words five and their indicate that we must change the singular man to the plural men.

Each student will be assigned his/her locker. The words each and his/her are singular and show that student should remain singular.

All student will be assigned their lockers. The plural words all and their indicate that singular student must be changed to the plural students.

The sentences listed above illustrate nouns--singular and plural. There is no possession shown; consequently, no apostrophes are used.

Now we are going to begin with possessives and apostrophes.

NOTE: A NOUN IS POSSESSIVE IF IT IS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER NOUN. THE FIRST NOUN SHOWS THE POSSESSION AND USES THE APOSTROPHE. THE SECOND NOUN IS THE "THING" POSSESSED. (There may be an adjective between the nouns; e.g. The doctor’s {professional} treatment resulted in success.)

Use this as your criterion to decide whether or not a noun is possessive. If it is not followed by another noun (or noun form/noun understood), it is not possessive.

Take the sentences listed above and change them to make the nouns show possession.

The man helpful assistant bought his ticket. Man is a noun and assistant is a noun. The first one is possessive and uses the apostrophe--man's. "Helpful" is an adjective and does not influence the possessive.

Five men assistants bought their tickets. Men is a noun and assistants is a noun. The first one is possessive and uses the apostrophe--men's. Plural possessive

Possessives/16

Each student friend will be assigned a locker. Student is a noun and friend is a noun. The first one is possessive--student's. Singular possessive

All students close friends will be assigned lockers. Students is a noun and friends is a noun. The first one is possessive--students'. Plural possessive "close" adjective

Now we know how to determine two conditions:

Whether or not the noun should remain singular or should be made plural to fit the sentence. (Perform this procedure first.)

Whether or not the noun should be made possessive (noun followed by a noun). (Perform this procedure second.)

Let's make those determinations on some sample sentences AND ALSO LEARN WHERE TO PLACE THE APOSTROPHE IN A POSSESSIVE WORD.

A child played in the park.

1. Should the noun child be made plural? No, "a" says singular.

Is there a noun following the noun child? No! There is no possessive (and, of no apostrophe). The sentence is correct as it stands.

A child toy was lost in the park.

1. Should the noun child be made plural? No, again "a" says singular.

2. Is there a noun following the noun child? Yes, (toy), so we make the first noun possessive--child's toy. Singular possessive

FIRST APOSTROPHE PLACEMENT RULE: TO MAKE ANY SINGULAR NOUN POSSESSIVE, ADD APOSTROPHE AND THEN S. (It makes no difference with what letter the singular noun ends.)

Examples

Each singular noun is followed by another noun; that makes the first noun possessive. To make any singular noun possessive, add 's.

Four child played in the park.

1. Should the noun child be made plural? Yes, the word four indicates that.

Change child to children.

2. Is there another noun following children? No. There is no possession shown and no apostrophe.

Four children played in the park.

Possessives/17

1. Four child bikes were stolen.

Should the noun child be changed to the plural. Yes, the word four indicates that. Change child to children.

Is there another noun following children? Yes. Make children possessive – Children’s bikes

Four children's bikes were stolen.

SECOND APOSTROPHE PLACEMENT RULE: TO MAKE ANY PLURAL NOUN THAT DOES NOT END IN S POSSESSIVE, ADD APOSTROPHE AND THEN S. (THE PLURAL POSSESSIVE CAN END IN ANY OTHER LETTER OF THE ALPHABET--JUST NOT S). (You will notice that the placement of the apostrophe for the singular noun made possessive is the same as the placement of the apostrophe for the possessive plural noun that does not end in s.)

Note: These plurals do not end in "s."

IF A NOUN IS TO BE MADE PLURAL AND POSSESSIVE, IT MUST BE MADE PLURAL FIRST (SO YOU CAN DETERMINE WHETHER THE LAST LETTER IS "S" AND, CONSEQUENTLY, WHERE TO PLACE THE APOSTROPHE).

Examples

There is a lady department at the Target store.

Would there be a department for just one lady? No, it is for multiple ladies.

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