Possessive 's

There's a short way to say that something belongs to someone, without using an of phrase: instead of the book of Anna, English usually says Anna's book. Adding 's straight onto a name or noun is called the possessive 's — a quick way to show who something belongs to.

Quick shortcut: for one owner, add 's — Anna's book. For a plural noun that already ends in -s, just add an apostrophe — the students' books.

Adding 's to a singular noun or name

For one person, animal, or name, add 's right after it:

• Anna → Anna's book
• the dog → the dog's bone
• my sister → my sister's phone
• Tom → Tom's car

The 's attaches to the owner, not to the thing owned — Anna's book means the book that belongs to Anna.

Names that already end in -s

For a name that already ends in -s, like Chris or James, the most common style is still to add 's:

• Chris → Chris's bag
• James → James's car

You'll sometimes see just an apostrophe with no extra s (Chris' bag), especially in older or more formal writing — both are accepted, but adding 's is the safer everyday choice. This also works with ordinary singular nouns ending in -s, not just names: my boss's office, the bus's door.

Plural nouns: usually just an apostrophe

When the owners are a regular plural noun — one that already ends in -s — you don't add another s. You just add an apostrophe after the existing -s:

• the students → the students' books
• my parents → my parents' house
• the girls → the girls' bikes

Irregular plurals still take 's

Some plural nouns don't end in -s at all — see Plural nouns for more examples, like child → children or person → people. Because these plurals don't already have an -s to build on, they take 's exactly like a singular noun does:

• the children → the children's toys
• the people → the people's bags
• the men → the men's coats

✅ the children's toys, never ❌ the childrens' toys or ❌ the childrens toys.

Possessive 's vs. possessive adjectives

The possessive 's attaches directly to a noun or name (Anna's book). Possessive adjectives — my, your, his, her, its, our, their — do a similar job but are separate words that go before a noun: her book, my phone, their house. See Possessive adjectives for the full set.

• ✅ Anna's book / ✅ her book — both correct if her clearly means Anna.
• ❌ Anna's her book. — these two forms aren't used together in the same phrase.

Mostly for people, animals, and places

The possessive 's is most natural with people, animals, names, and places: Anna's book, the dog's bone, London's parks, my school's website. For parts of an object, English more often uses a compound noun, or sometimes of:

• more natural: a table leg, a car door
• also possible: the leg of the table

This isn't a strict rule — you'll meet exceptions later — but at this stage, a good habit is: living things, names, and places take 's; parts of objects usually don't.

Careful: 's can also mean "is"

The letters 's don't always show possession. In Anna's book, 's shows who owns the book. But in Anna's happy, 's is short for is (= Anna is happy). Look at what comes next: a noun after 's usually means possession (Anna's book); an adjective or -ing verb usually means is (Anna's happy, Anna's coming).

Common mistakes

• ❌ This is Anna book. → ✅ This is Anna's book. (the apostrophe + s is needed here)
• ❌ This is the boys's ball. → ✅ This is the boys' ball. (a regular plural already ending in -s takes only an apostrophe, not another s)
• ❌ The dogs bone is here. → ✅ The dog's bone is here. (without the apostrophe, dogs just looks like a plural, not a possessive)
• ❌ The childrens' toys are here. → ✅ The children's toys are here. (children is already plural — it doesn't end in -s, so it takes 's, not an apostrophe alone)
• ❌ Anna's her book. → ✅ Anna's book. / ✅ Her book. (these two forms aren't used together)

Quick check

Find the correct possessive form:

1. This is (Anna's / Anna) car.
2. These are the (student's / students') notebooks. (talking about a whole class)
3. That is the (dog's / dogs) bowl.
4. Those are the (children's / childrens') shoes.
5. Is that (James's / James) phone?

Key takeaways

• Add 's to a singular noun or name to show possession: Anna's book, the dog's bone.
• For a regular plural noun that already ends in -s, add just an apostrophe: the students' books.
• Irregular plurals like children and people don't end in -s, so they still take 's: the children's toys.
• The possessive 's and possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) both show belonging, but they aren't combined in the same phrase.
• Watch out: 's can also be a short form of is (Anna's happy), not only the possessive.
• The possessive 's is most natural with people, animals, names, and places; parts of objects usually use a compound noun instead.