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possessives: nouns

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We use a noun with s with a singular noun to show possession:

We are having a party at Johns house.
Michael drove his friends car.

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We use s with a plural noun ending in -s:

English Grammar

This is my parents house.

Those are ladies shoes.

Pronouns
Determiners and quantifiers
Possessives
possessives: nouns
possessives: adjectives
possessives: pronouns
possessives: questions
possessives: reciprocal
pronouns
Adjectives
Adverbials
Nouns
Verbs
Clause, phrase and sentence

But we use s with other plural nouns:

These are mens shoes.
Childrens clothes are very expensive.
We can use a possessive instead of a noun phrase to avoid repeating words:
Is that Johns car?

No, its Marys [car].

>

No, its Marys.

Whose coat is this?

Its my wifes [coat].

>

Its my wifes.

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COMMENTS
pakistan12345678 replied on 27 November, 2014 - 14:56 Pakistan P E RMA LINK

sir,
i not undersand this web site what i can do this website so plzz help me i want to learn english

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Grammar Support
Kirk replied on 28 November, 2014 - 13:32 Spain P E RMA LINK

possessive pronouns (see

possessives:- pronouns)

Hello pakistan12345678,
Welcome to LearnEnglish! My first suggestion would be to explore the site. Use the links at the top of the
page to go to different sections and see what kinds of materials are available. Get a feel for the level of
difficulty of different sections so you can see what will be most useful to you at the moment.
Then start with something that is not too high a level. Many users find the Elementary Podcasts Series
Three a good place to start. Work through the episodes, and remember that you can use the transcript to
help you, or to read and listen to at the same time after you have done the exercises. As you work, it's
important to keep a vocabulary notebook. Organise it by topic ('work', 'family', 'food', etc.) and add words
and phrases to it as you go through the material. Test yourself regularly to see if you remember the
words.

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Finally, practise English every day, even if it's only for 10 minutes. You can study the vocabulary you've
recorded, listen to an Elementary Podcasts episode again, or if you have a friend who is also learning
English, practise speaking with them. You can also practise by yourself, just speaking English when you

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are alone at home or at work. This kind of practice is great for developing fluency in speaking, so that
when you need to use English in the 'real' world you are ready and confident.

Look it up!

Good luck!
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
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shadyar replied on 26 October, 2014 - 09:44 Iran P E RMA LINK

Hello Kirk,
Thank you very much for the clarification about "Have". My other Question is about " 's" . we say ,for
example, David 's friend or my friend's name to show possession. If we have several " 'S " do we use just last 's
? For example which one of these phrases is right? " David friend 's name" or David's friend's name.
Best Regards
Shadyar
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Peter M replied on 26 October, 2014 - 21:38 Poland P E RMA LINK

Hello shadyar,
Both David's friend and my friend's name are grammatically correct.
The correct phrase from your last two is the second: David's friend's name [the name of the friend of
David].
Best wishes,

Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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joe G replied on 13 October, 2014 - 21:48 Fiji P E RMA LINK

Hi everyone......can anybody help me with this.....tel me if it's correct or not.....can i say, (that is a
ladies shoe)
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Kirk replied on 14 October, 2014 - 08:47 Spain P E RMA LINK

Hi joe,
This should probably be ladies' shoe, though after doing a quick search of the internet, I see many
instances where just ladies shoes is used. The rest of the phrase is correct.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
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Knightrider replied on 20 September, 2014 - 12:20 Italy P E RMA LINK

Hi there,
I was thinking that maybe it could be helpful for us learners if you'd specify all the other usages/situations when
the possessive 's is used. I'm talking about countries or cities (London's squares); time expressions/adverbials
(today's match); distance or weigh expressions (a 300 kilometres' journey); shops, restaurants, churches and
colleges (the grocer's, the dentist's, the chemist's, Saint Mary's, Mario's).
An important difference is not illustrated in your examples: Tom and Jane's parents v. Tom's and Jane's
parents.
Thanks for reading this. Regards.
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A Dawg replied on 10 August, 2014 - 01:06 United States of America P E RMA LINK

My question is simple. Can "my wife's" be a contraction for "my wife is" or is it only a possessive?
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Kirk replied on 10 August, 2014 - 06:43 Spain P E RMA LINK

Hello A Dawg,
The apostrophe s in 'my wife's' can be both a contraction for the verb 'is' as well as a possessive form.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish Team
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pipolata replied on 1 August, 2014 - 13:59 United Kingdom (Great Britain) P E RMA LINK

Help needed please. If i am writing SIXTIES BLUES (ie, the blues of the 1960s), should it be SIXTIES'
BLUES?
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