What are possessive apostrophes?
The apostrophe can be used to show who things belong to. If an item belongs to something, the apostrophe shows us who, by sitting at the end of the noun. If that noun doesn't end in s, the apostrophe brings one with it.
This shows the crown belongs to the magpie.
Usually if the noun already ends in s, then the apostrophe just brings itself. This shows that Mittens thinks the magpie belongs to her.
Plural nouns work in a similar way. Like when the whole pack of dogs are trying to 'own' Mittens.
And when two people own something… one apostrophe after the second name is enough to show they both own it.
How to use a possessive apostrophe
An apostrophe can be used to show that one thing belongs to or is connected to something. This is called a possessive apostrophe.
Let's take a look at some examples.
The cat's tail was fluffy.
Cat is a singular noun so you need to add an apostrophe and "s" to show that the tail belongs to the cat.
Charles' cat was naughty.
Charles is a singular noun that ends in an "s", so you need to add an apostrophe to show that the cat belongs to Charles.
The brothers' feet were muddy.
Brothers is a plural noun that ends in an "s" so you don't add another "s" after your apostrophe. You can just add an apostrophe to show the feet belong to the brothers.
The children's toys were broken
Children is a plural noun but it doesn't end with an "s" so you need to add an apostrophe and "s" to show that the toys belong to the children.
More on Punctuation
Find out more by working through a topic
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- count6 of 8
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