Learning the rules of the English Language: Possessive Nouns and Pronouns

Many of us struggle with mastering the English language and this is completely understandable given the vast amount of rules and conventions that have been developed over time. Possessive nouns and pronouns are one such area of English grammar that can be difficult to understand.

To show possession, the use of an apostrophe and the letter s is the convention in English. Possessive nouns and pronouns show ownership or the relationship that the possessor has to something else, most often this can include people and things. For example, the possessive pronoun “his” shows that the possessor belongs to a male.

Knowing how to form possessive nouns and pronouns correctly is an important element of displaying proficiency in the English language. To understand this concept, it is easier to differentiate possessive nouns from possessive pronouns. Possessive nouns are generally followed by an apostrophe and an s. For example, John’s car. Possessive pronouns, on the other hand, do not need the addition of an apostrophe and an s as they already end in an s. For example, it is his car.

In some cases, possessive pronouns do need to be accompanied by an apostrophe and an s to differentiate them from contractions. For instance, it’s is the contraction of it is whereas its shows possession.

In addition, when making possessive nouns plural, it is important to remember that the apostrophe is placed after the s and not before. For example, the cars of the Smiths. It is also important to be aware of the irregular plural forms of some nouns, such as mice and men. In this case, the possessive form must maintain the plural form. Therefore, it would be mice’s and men’s.

In conclusion, understanding how to correctly use possessive nouns and pronouns correctly is an important rule of the English language and understanding when and where to place the apostrophe and s can be a difficult task to master. Familiarise yourself with the various rules and conventions to ensure that all possessives are used correctly.