‘s / ‘ / of are used to denote possession in English.

Form

‘s
  • used with singular nouns
  • used with plural nouns not ending in -s
  • used with compounds, the apostrophe comes after the last word
  • the girl’s earring, a child’s toy
  • women’s clothing, a children’s hospital
  • his mother-in-law’s house
‘ used with plural nouns ending in –s ladies‘ shoes, a students‘ union
‘ / ‘s used with names ending in –s Mrs Jones‘ car / Mrs Jones ‘s car

Use

‘ / ‘s for people, animals John‘s phone, the dog‘s bone
  ships, boats the ship‘s surgeon
  time expressions yesterday‘s paper, in four years‘ time
  places of business or residence (without the second noun) the butcher‘s, Claridge‘s, Ann‘s
of for things the leg of the table
  for people when it involves a long sentence the address of the couple we met in Thailand last year
‘ / ‘s / of other vehicles the train‘s brakes / the brakes of the train
  organizations the government‘s policy / the policy of the government

Exercises

Possessives: ‘s of s’

  • exercise 1: fill in s-genitive (‘s)
  • exercise 2: fill in the correct form of the possessives (‘s or s’)
  • exercise 3: fill in the correct form of the possessives (‘s or s’)
  • exercise 4: choose the correct form of the possessives ( ‘s or s’)
  • exercise 5: fill in s-genitive (‘s)
  • exercise 6: fill in the correct form of the possessives ( ‘s on s’)
  • exercise 7: drag and drop exercise ( ‘s)
  • exercise 8: various exercises for practising the possessives ( ‘s or s’)

Possessives: ‘s / s’ / ‘ / of

  • exercise 1: fill in the correct form of the possessives (‘s, s’, ‘)
  • exercise 2: choose the correct form of the possessives (‘s, s’, of)
  • exercise 3: choose ‘s or of
  • exercise 4: make phrases with ‘s or of

Useful pages

  • exercises for practising possessive pronouns (my/ mine/ of mine etc.)
  • exercises for practising countable and uncountable nouns / singular and plural