Possessive/genitive case

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

Form

‘s
  • used with singular verbs
  • 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 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 things the leg of the table
the address of the couple we met in Thailand last year
‘ / ‘s / of other vehicles the train‘s brakes / the brakes of the train
organisations the government‘s policy / the policy of the government

Exercises

Possessives: ‘s or 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 or 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’, ‘ )
  • 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

More useful pages