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The class' soccer teamPossessive Nouns

Indicating possession 

 

 

 

Possessives for common nouns
SINGULAR PLURAL

apostrophe SAfter a singular noun add an apostrophe + s.    See notes below regarding final s.

S apostropheAfter a plural personal noun add an apostrophe after the s.

Our school's soccer team won several games.

The schools' soccer teams won several games.

The state's soccer team won several games.

The states' soccer teams won several games.

The country's soccer team won several games.  
 

The countries' soccer teams won several games.   

SINGULAR COMMON NOUNS FOLLOWED BY -S

The class's soccer team (MLA 3.2.7e)  (CMOS 7.18)
The class's teamnot followed by a word starting with s (AP 323)
BUT:  The class' soccer team  followed by a word starting with s (AP 323)
 

PLURAL COMMON NOUNS FOLLOWED BY -S

The classes' soccer teams

OTHER

A day's journey / a twenty minutes's delay.
Today's news / tomorrow's weather / Sunday's newspaper days and time
A pound's worth of peanuts / a dollar's worth of gas  a quantify worth
My daughter-in-law's profession in-law expressions (CMOS 7.25)
1968's music was great.  a specific year 
   

 

EXCEPTIONS:  NOUNS PLURAL IN FORM BUT SINGULAR IN MEANING

Economics' contribution
Mathematics' rules
Linguistics' explanation
The series'  first game

for righteousness' sake
for goodness' sake '
for Jesus' sake

 

  EXCEPTION: NOUNS SINGULAR IN FORM BUT PLURAL IN MEANING

The children's / men's / women's soccer team irregular plural forms 
The people's vote
The sheep's / deer's / moose's / oxen's eyes
The alumni's contributions

 

For more detail, see Apostrophes.

 

 

Possessive for proper nouns
SINGULAR PLURAL

apostrophe SAfter singular proper noun add an apostrophe + s (even if the proper noun ends in -s)

S apostropheAfter most proper nouns, first create the plural, then add an apostrophe.  (Note that the plural form for words ending in -s, -z or -x adds -es.)

Jason's ball went over the fence. 

The Wagners' house  (sing. – Wagner; pl. Wagners)

Charles's ball went over the fence. (MLA 3.2.7e)  (CMOS 7.18)
Charles' ball went over the fence.  (AP 323) 
James's hat blew away. (MLA 3.2.7e)  (CMOS 7.18)
James' hat blew away.  (AP 323) 

The Burnses' field (sing. – Burns; pl. Burnses)
The Martinezes' yard  (sing. – Martinez; pl. Martinezes)
The Marxes' car
The Hawaiian Islands' soccer teams
 

OTHER

Coach Burns's soccer team won several games.  two-word nouns)
Andy and Manuel's team is staying late for practice. double nouns
FDR's policies / JFK's assassination initials
Yahoo!'s chief executive officer  keyboard symbols
 

EXCEPTION:  SINGULAR: ORGANIZATIONS, GROUPS, UNIONS

The United States' soccer team     (CMOS 7.19)
The Boy Scouts' soccer team
The National Academy of Sciences' new building
The Red Fox Hills' neighborhood soccer team

 

A proper noun is a name for a person, organization, group or country.
For more detail, see Apostrophes.

 

 

Sources for Rules

CMOS, MLA  & APA    

The traditional rule, as found in the Chicago Manual of Style, MLA Hanbook and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association:

A singular noun, common and proper, ending in s forms the possessive by adding 's: house/house's, boss/boss's, Davis/Davis's, Charles/Charles's. This adds an additional syllable to the original word: /ɪs/ or /ɪz/, depending upon the previous consonant. Exceptions to this rule are ancient names: Jesus', Moses, Socrates', Euripides'.

Plural nouns ending in s form the possessive by adding an apostrophe: parents' love, friends' support, the Williamses' house  Joneses' car. Exceptions to the rule are plural nouns with irregular forms: children's toys, women's fashions.

AP Stylebook  

A more modern approach can be found in the AP Stylebook, which specifies the guidelines for newspapers:

Singular common nouns ending in s: add 's unless the next word begins with s: the hostess's invitation, the hostess' seat; the witness's answer; the witness' story.

Singular proper nouns ending in s: add an apostrophe: Williams' plays, Dickens' novels, Hercules' labors, Jesus' life (but not St. James's Palace).

Plural nouns ending in s add only an apostrophe: the girls' toys, the horses' tail, the states' rights, the boss' office.


 

 

Bibliography
  1. AP Stylebook. The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. 42nd ed. New York: Basic Books, 2007. Print. (p. 192-194, 323) 
  2. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. NewYork: Modern Language Association of America. 2009. Print. (3.2.7)
  3. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th ed. Washington, D.C:  American Psycological Association, 2010. Print. (4.12)
  4. University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. Print.  (7.18-26)

 

 

 

 

 

Broken goal postPossessive Nouns

Inanimate – "Things"

 

 

 

 

Possessive Forms for Things
APOSTROPHE + S THE X OF __ 

Using the apostrophe + s  form for "things" is informal.

Using of for "things" is more acceptable in academic and business English.  Of is also used to clarify meaning.  See examples below.

The goalpost's leg was broken.

The leg of the goal post was broken.

I dropped my keys at the bed's foot.  (awkward sounding)

I dropped my keys at the foot of the bed.   (maintain an expression)

My my brother's best-friend's soccer team won. (confusing)

The soccer team of my brother's best-friend won. (simplify a series of possessives)

The wet, slippery field's grass prevented us from playing.  (awkward sounding)

The wet, slippery grass of the field prevented us from playing. (improve modifier placement)
 

Also see Apostrophes  the X of  and  / The-Countries  / The-Landmarks

 

 

 

Possessives

champagneDays and Holidays

 

 

 

Possessives for Days & Holidays
SINGULAR PLURAL

The apostrophe is placed before the S in singular-noun holidays.

The apostrophe is placed after S in plural-noun holidays.  

Today's date is December 31.

I was paid well for thirty days' work.

This year's movies were excellent.

The last few years' best movies have all used CGI.  (computer generated images)

We are going out on New Year's Eve.

We play jokes on people on April Fools' Day.

More chocolate is sold on Valentine's Day than any other day.

All Saints' Day  is celebrated on November 1.

I'll send a card to my mother on Mother's Day.

* Veterans Day is the day we honor those who have fought in past wars.

The kids make breakfast for their father on Father's Day.

* Presidents Day is the day we honor those who have fought in past wars.

Everyone wears green on Saint Patrick's Day.
 

 *Neither Veterans Day nor Presidents Day occurs with an apostrophe.

Mother's Day and Father's Day are creations of Anne Jarvis who chose to make the noun form singular so that each mother or father would be specially honored. 
CGI (n.) - an acronym meaning computer generated images

 

 

 

Possessives

Numbers and Letters

 

 

Singular v. Plural Numbers and Letters
SINGULAR PLURAL

An apostrophe is placed after a singualr number, letter or keyboard character.

The apostrophe is placed after S in plural-noun holidays.  

As I remember, 1964's earthquake was relatively small.  (in the year1964)

The 1960s' music was influenced by the Beatles.  (in the decade 1960)

JFK's assassination was shocking.  (President John Fitzgerald Kennedy)

The initial IPOs' values were higher than now. (initial public offerings of stock)

Yahoo!'s chief executive is making an announcement.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practice

People and Groups 

 

 

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