When showing possession, add apostrophe “s” (’s) to the “owner” word. If the plural of the word is formed by adding an "s" (for example, cats), place the apostrophe after the "s" (see guideline #3 below). If the plural of the word is formed without adding an "s" (for example, children), add apostrophe "s" ('s) as you would to the singular form.
Examples:
- one table's(t a b l e apostrophe s)leg or several tables'(t a b l e s apostrophe)legs
- one student's(s t u d e n t apostrophe s)name or several students'(s t u d e n t s apostrophe)names
- one day's(d a y apostrophe s)work or several days'(d a y s apostrophe)work
- one woman's(w o m a n apostrophe s)job or several women's(w o m e n apostrophe s)jobs (note the plural form women does not use an “s”)
The exception to the possessive rule is that pronouns show possession without the use of apostrophes (e.g., my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, their, theirs, its, whose, etc.).
Compare the use of apostrophes here:
- That is my book. That book is mine. (No apostrophe is used for the possessive pronoun “mine”)
- That is Bob's(Bob apostrophe s) book. That book is Bob's(Bob apostrophe s). (Apostrophe is used for the possessive noun “Bob's(Bob apostrophe s).
Compare contractions versus possessive pronouns here:
- They're(t h e y apostrophe r e) hoping to increase their budget.
- You're(y o u apostrophe r e) having trouble with your car.
