An ownership phrase names the owner before the thing or relationship. The apostrophe's position helps show whether the owner is singular or plural.

The idea

Add 's to a singular owner: my sister's bicycle. For a regular plural ending in s, add only an apostrophe: my parents' garden. An irregular plural takes 's: the children's coats.

Examples

  • My sister's bicycle has a red basket.
  • The teacher's desk is beside the window.
  • My parents' garden has a pear tree.
  • The children's coats are on the hooks.
  • Our neighbours' cat sleeps on the wall.
  • The dog's bowl is empty.

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Watch out

Choose the ending from the owner's number, not the number of objects. One teacher can own many books: the teacher's books. A simple plural such as teachers has no ownership apostrophe.

Try it yourself

  1. The desk belongs to one teacher. Complete: the ___ desk. (teacher's / teachers')

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    teacher's

    teacher's refers to the one teacher named in the prompt; teachers' would indicate more than one.

  2. Two parents share a garden. Complete: my ___ garden. (parent's / parents')

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    parents'

    parents' starts from the plural parents and adds the apostrophe after its final s.

  3. The coats belong to several children. Complete: the ___ coats. (children's / childrens')

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    children's

    children's adds 's to the irregular plural children, which does not already end in s.

Use it today

Describe one thing belonging to one person, one shared by two people and one belonging to children. Make the owners' numbers clear.