Revised as of
14 Feb 2023
I can understand how the different rules for the apostrophe “s” can get confusing. I generally find myself pausing to examine the context to ensure I’m using the correct ‘s or s’s or pronoun.
‘s is Never Plural
Plural versus Possessive
Too often a writer uses an ‘s when the word is clearly intended to be plural. I must confess this whole issue is mind boggling. And the number of times I encounter the conflict within the novels I read scares me to death.
A plural word indicates “many”, more than one of that word. A horse is one, horses are more than one or plural. A possessive word means that the word owns something, usually whatever word that follows the possessive. A horse’s ass indicates, in the literal sense, that the ass belongs to the horse. It’s the apostrophe that indicates the word is possessing that object. Yes an ‘s can also be a contraction of horse is or horse has, he has or she is, etc., but we’re talking here about plural versus mine/yours/his/theirs, etc.
That said, there are singular and plural possessives. The apostrophe is placed at the end of the actual word, in other words, if one parent has a car, you would write parent’s car. If you are writing about the car of more than one parent, it becomes parents’ car.
Two Sides of an ‘s
There are two schools of thought on how to properly punctuate/spell a word that ends in an s whether it’s a singular or plural word. One side believes that if a word ends in an s, you don’t need to follow it up with a second s, i.e., Ellis’ car or his parents’ car. The other side believes that the secondary s is still necessary, i.e., Ellis’s car or her parents’s car.
Both are correct. The only real requirement is that whichever you choose, be consistent.
The General Rule
Singular Possessive
The apostrophe in a singular possessive is always followed by an s. Within arm’s length, Mary’s ball, Ted’s hammer.
Plural Possessive
If a word is plural, i.e., planes, trains, or automobiles, follow it with either just the apostrophe or an ‘s (see Two Sides of an ‘s above.)
The exceptions — aren’t there always! — are plural words that do not end in an s, then you must include one after the apostrophe, i.e., oxen’s yoke, women’s rights, children’s toys, etc.
No, there is absolutely nothing that says a writer must have excellent grammar, spelling, or punctuation skills. However, please recognize when you don’t. Get an editor, a copyeditor, or a proofreader. And I am not talking about running a spell- or grammar-check as these will not catch everything. The context may not clue in the software that the grammar is wrong. Spell-check simply indicates that the word is spelled correctly. It does not tell you if the proper word is being used in that particular phrasing.
Please be leery of services that use software to run grammar- and spell-checks. They are only slightly better than a program’s efforts and are still subject to context-abuse.
Grammar Explanations is . . .
. . . an evolving list of the structural rules and principles that determines where words are placed in phrases or sentences as well as how the language is spoken. Sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on an area of grammar with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.
If you found this post on “Feeling Possessive?” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
Possessive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Definition: Relating to a word or a form of a word that shows that something or someone belongs to something or someone else. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rule: Ownership or possession is usually shown by the use of an apostrophe “s” (‘s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Possessives are: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singular Possessive | Rule: Use ‘s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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If one parent has a car, you would write parent’s car | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rule: Show joint ownership | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rule: Show individual ownership | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rule: Show ownership with indefinite pronouns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
anybody’s hats everybody’s hats each’s hats |
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Rule: The of χ Question
Credit to: Lakin |
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Taking it into a more confusing arena . . . | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Plural Possessive | Rule: There are two ways to indicate plural possession . . . whichever you choose, be consistent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Subjective and objective pronouns are not possessive.
Possessive | Subjective | Objective |
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my, mine | I | me |
your, yours | you | you |
his, her, hers, its | he, she, it | him, her, it |
our, ours | we | us |
their, theirs | they | them |
whose | who, whoever | whom, whoever |
one’s | one |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Grammar Explanations by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Feeling Possessive?
Lakin, C.S. “A Friend of Yours?.” Live Write Thrive. 8 June 2012. Web. n.d. <http://livewritethrive.com/2012/06/08/a-friend-of-yours/>.
Guide to Grammar & Writing. Capital Community College. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/>.
Pinterest Photo Credits
Daniel Dancer by Richard Cooper, Jr., is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.