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Possessives: noun + ’s (forms)

Forms like John’s, parents’, children’s are generally called ‘possessive’, although they express other ideas as well as possession.

Spelling​

RulesExamples
singular noun + ’smy father’s car
plural noun + ’my parents’ house
irregular plural + ’sthe children’s room, men’s clothes, women’s rights, an old people’s home

We sometimes just add an apostrophe (’) to a singular noun ending in -s, especially in literary and classical references.

  • Socrates’ ideas
  • Dickens’ novels

But ’s is more common.

  • Mr Lewis’s dog

We can add ’s or ’ to a whole phrase.

  • the man next door’s wife
  • Henry the Eighth’s six wives
  • the Smiths’ new house

Note the difference between, for example:

  • Joe and Anna’s children (one lot of children: Joe and Anna are their parents)
  • Joe’s and Anna’s children (two separate lots of children: Joe’s and Anna’s)

Pronunciation​

The ending ’s is pronounced just like a plural ending (see here).

  • doctor’s /ˈdɒktəz/
  • dog’s /dɒgz/
  • president’s /ˈprezɪdənts/
  • Jack’s /dʒæks/
  • Alice’s /ˈælɪsɪz/
  • Madge’s /ˈmædʒɪz/
  • James’s /ˈdʒeɪmzɪz/

The apostrophe in a word like parents’ does not change the pronunciation at all. But with singular classical (ancient Greek and Roman) names ending in s’, we often pronounce a possessive ’s even when it is not written.

  • Socrates’ /ˈsɒkrətiːzɪz/ ideas.