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Plural vs. Possessive "S"

Most nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es. For example, boat becomes boats, or hat becomes hats.

A noun ending with a consonant and the letter y forms the plural by adding -ies. For instance, city becomes cities, and baby becomes babies.

This is not true for all nouns. There are many irregular plural nouns, such as woman (women), potato (potatoes), or tooth (teeth), and some nouns are the same in both the singular and plural forms (such as sheep and fish), but most nouns are made plural by adding -s, -es or -ies.

When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we usually add 's to a singular noun, and an apostrophe ' to a plural noun. For example, the boy's ball (one boy) or the boys' ball (two boys). The number of balls doesn't matter, only the number of possessors (in this case, boys).

We often use possessive 's with proper nouns (names): Mary's car, Sarah's son, or Robert's book. If the name ends in s, like Charles, we usually treat it like a singular noun and add 's: Charles's friend. However, it is also correct to just add the apostrophe: Charles' friend.

Plural vs. Possessive "S" Grammar Quiz

  1. truck broke down on the side of the road and he needs a lift.

  2. The is depressing lately.

  3. bakery that she just opened has the best bread I've ever tasted.

  4. Are you eating my gummy ?

  5. At the beginning of every school term, Professor Reeves explains all the .

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Plural vs. Possessive "S" Lessons:

Flight of the Conchords

Apple Pie a la Mode

Terrible Twos

9

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Party Vocab with Municipal Waste

Siblings

Timbaland

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Comments

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edwinston

United States

Useful knowledge. I’m trying to improve my English by writing blog and find some website to learn English. And I think this website is a good one. Very happy that I found it. Thanks for the post, I will try to practice it.

02:19 PM Mar 07 2017 |

babaknowledge

Senegal

thank

06:57 PM Feb 08 2014 |

suphiaa

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Thanks,

04:34 PM Nov 16 2012 |

kimmilinlein

Mexico

This is a little confusse :S 

06:46 PM Jan 26 2012 |

Nicky955

Nicky955

Germany

Thanx to you Wink

01:04 PM Oct 19 2011 |

nardjes

Algeria

thank you it's a great lesson

09:18 AM Dec 25 2010 |

law35

law35

Ghana

thanks for the lesson…i didn't know that the singualar for species is the same.

10:31 AM Oct 01 2010 |

foz12

foz12

Saudi Arabia

a lots of words are new for me

thanks alot 

09:36 AM Jul 22 2010 |

Holmes Ericson

Malawi

when u are talking with sameone you must becarefull becz some words changle from singular to plural for example;
singular plural
i, me we, us
you you
he, she, him they, them
POSSESSIVE PRONOUN
show possession or ownership.exmp..mine, yours,ours,his,theirs,hers.
Examples:2
1. That book is mine.
2. That pen is his.
3. This hat is hers.
Wish you all the best..wise up!

07:39 PM Jul 14 2010 |

Holmes Ericson

Malawi

when ur talking with sameone you must becarefull becz some words changle from singular to plural for example;
singular plural
i, me we, us
you you
he, she, him they, them
POSSESSIVE PRONOUN
show possession or ownership.exmp..mine, yours,ours,his,theirs,hers.
Examples:2
1. That book is mine.
2. That pen is his.
3. This hat is hers.
Wish you all the best..wise up!

07:38 PM Jul 14 2010 |