14 Tips About Plurals and Possessives

The Very Best of The Grammar Diva…

Apostrophes and s‘s cause lots of problems in writing: plural possessives, possessive pronouns, pluralizing last names etc. Here are some tips:

1. Plural nouns very rarely have apostrophes. Very, very rarely. The only ones I can think of offhand are the letters a, e, and u because without an apostrophe they make other words (as, is, us), and it would confuse the reader.
2. Possessive nouns have apostrophes (these are singular possessives): Susie’s toy, the girl’s book, the dog’s bone
3. Possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes: ours, hers theirs, its (it’s is a contraction, and all contractions have apostrophes.)
4. Plural possessives are usually the plural word followed by an apostrophe. The girls’ books are on the bottom shelf; The dogs’ barking is driving me crazy
5. If the plural doesn’t end with an s, the possessive is made by adding ‘s: The children’s toys are all over the house.
6. For singular nouns ending in s and ss, you still add ‘s for the possessive: I looked under all the bus’s seats; My boss’s coffee cup is always full; The princess’s slipper fit her perfectly.
7. The plurals in #6 are buses, bosses, and princesses.
8. The plural possessive of the nouns in #6 are buses’, bosses’, princesses’. We don’t add another s because of the way we pronounce them. We pronounce the singular possessives, plurals, and the plural possessives the same way, but we spell them differently (compare #6 and #7): The princess’s slipper fits perfectly. The princesses are in the front float of the parade. The princesses’ dresses are hand made.
9. When a person’s first name (or last name) ends in s, we usually add ‘s to make it possessive, but generally we go by the pronunciation: Frederick Douglass’s biography is in the school library. James’s backpack is on the table. Myles’ backpack is on the table could also be Myles’s backpack is on the table. It depends if you want to pronounce it with one or two syllables. (Myles’ has one syllable; Myles’s has two.)
10. Last names are made plural the same way any other nouns are: Jefferson = the Jeffersons; Garcia = the Garcias; Jones = the Joneses; Glass= the Glasses.
11. What about last name possessives? That is Mrs. Jefferson’s car. That is the Jeffersons’ house; That is Mrs. Garcia’s car. That is the Garcias’ car. That is Mrs. Jones’s car. That is the Joneses’ house (pronounce with two syllables). That is Mrs. Glass’s car. That is the Glasses’ house.
12. If you get a house sign, it should probably say The O’Haras, NOT The O’Hara’s.
13. An exception is Jesus, the possessive of which is Jesus’.
14. Another exception are words that end in es that sounds like ez. These words or names have only an apostrophe in the possessive: Xerses’, Socrates’

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