FORMING AND USING BASIC POSSESSIVE CASE
In this module, you will learn to determine if the possessive
case is required and form the possessive case for
 Possession
 Authorship
 Description
 The doer of an action
 The receiver of an action.
Introduction
We are going to learn how to determine when and if the possessive case is required. We'll
also learn how to form the possessive case when we need it. But before we get into
forming the possessive case, we should have a look at what functions the possessive
case performs for us in our writing. You may recognize the possessive case by the
apostrophe near or at the end of the word and by the "s" that ends all possessive case
nouns.
Functions
Surprisingly, the possessive case is not restricted to showing possession. The possessive
case operates in 8 different modes (functions) involving a total of 11 variations. In this
module, we will investigate five of those modes. We'll look at five uses of the possessive
case: possession, authorship, description, the doer of an action, and the receiver of an
action.
Possession
Logically, possessive case should show possession. In other words, someone/something
belongs to someone/something.
Example:
"Those are Mary's books."
Do you get the idea of using the possessive case to show possession? Don't worry right
now about the apostrophe (') or the "s." We'll get to the mechanics of forming the
possessive case later in the module.
Authorship
Examples:
"The drama we will study in Lit. 101 is Shakespeare's Othello."
"Michelangelo's paintings have often been compared with those of Rembrandt."
Description
Examples:
"The Children's Library has been closed for renovations."
"At our Surrey plant, this year's output is 30% greater than last year's."
Doer of an Action
Examples:
"Because of the marchers' protests, more police were called out."
"We marvelled at the swiftness of the swallow's flight."
"The Lions' fumbles cost them the game."
Receiver of an Action
Examples:
"We were saddened by the Roughriders' defeat last Saturday."
"No one was surprised by the officer's dismissal."
Summary
I think you can see from the examples of the five different modes above that the actual
concept of possession is a small part played by the possessive case. Despite this small
part, we must consider possession, authorship, description, doer of an action, and receiver
of an action to be, in fact, possession. You'll see why in the next section. The important
thing so far is that we are familiar with and will be able to identify the need for these five
modes of the possessive case.
Possessives
Now that we know five uses for the possessive, it's time we learned how to form the
possessive case. We're going to take a practical approach involving very few rules. We will
develop a procedure we can use to solve all our possessive-case problems. Let's start
with a few assumptions--things we probably already know.
Assumptions
Assumption A:
The possessive case of nouns must contain an apostrophe (').
Examples:
Lady's, ladies'; child's, children's; class', classes'.
Possessive pronouns do NOT take apostrophes (see "Identifying Pronouns").
Assumption B:
The possessive case must end with an "s."
Look at Assumption A for examples.
With these two assumptions behind us--possessives must contain an apostrophe and
must end with an "s"--we can begin to develop our procedure.
Procedure
The procedure for forming the possessive case is really quite easy. All you need to do is
1. Establish that possessive is required.
2. Place an apostrophe in the correct place.
3. Place an "s" (if needed) in the correct place.
But we need to establish a procedure to help us.
Having determined that the possessive is required, you must then assume POSSESSION
for all cases. We need to assume possession in all cases because of the question we
must ask in order to determine the placement of the apostrophe. What we'll do now is
tackle a possessive problem and introduce you to the four steps involved in the procedure.
Practice
Sentence:
"Those are Martha books sitting on the table."
Is the possessive case required?
Yes. We have a case of possession. We apply our procedure.
1. Assume possession.
Ask: To whom/what do the books belong?
2. Answer: The books belong to Martha.
3. Place the apostrophe immediately after the complete answer: Martha'.
4. Place an "s" after the ' if an "s" is needed.
The possessive does not end with an "s," so we place one after the ': Martha's.
"Those are Martha's books sitting on the table."
And that's all there is to it. The possessive case of Martha (Martha's) has been correctly
formed. This procedure will solve every last one of your possessive problems, providing
you do not try to short cut the answer to the question "To whom/what do/does the (object)
belong"?
Let's try another.
Sentence:
"For the next class, please bring Dickens David Copperfield with you."
Is the possessive case required?
Yes. We have a case of authorship. Dickens wrote the novel. We have a possessive-case
problem. We apply our procedure.
1. Assume possession.
Ask: To whom/what does the novel belong?
2. Answer: The novel belongs to Dickens.
3. Place the apostrophe immediately after the complete answer: Dickens'.
4. Place an "s" after the ' if an "s" is needed.
The nonpossessive (Dickens) already ends with an "s," so we do NOT place an "s" after
the '.
"For the next class, please bring Dickens' David Copperfield with you."
The possessive case of Dickens (Dickens') has been correctly formed.
NOTE: Some texts/authorities put forward complex rules prescribing the placement of an
additional "s" when the nonpossessive ends with an "s." Business and industry now
discourage additional "s" placements.
We'll try one more, but this time, we'll streamline the procedure. If you have trouble with
the new approach, refer to the two previous patterns.
Sentence:
"You may take your coats to the gentlemen cloakroom."
Is the possessive case required?
Yes. We have description. We apply our procedure.
1. Ask: To whom/what does the cloakroom belong?
2. The cloakroom belongs to the gentlemen.
3. Place the apostrophe immediately after gentlemen'.
4. Place an "s" after the ' in gentlemen's.
The possessive case of gentlemen's cloakroom has been correctly formed.
Prepositional Phrases
Let's try some rapid-fire questions. We'll convert prepositional phrases showing
possession into the possessive case.
The antlers of one deer
To what do the antlers belong?
The antlers belong to one deer.
Place the ' : one deer' antlers.
Need an "s"? Yes, so ONE DEER'S ANTLERS.
The antlers of four deer
To what do the antlers belong?
The antlers belong to four deer.
Place the ' : four deer' antlers.
Need an "s"? Yes, so FOUR DEER'S ANTLERS.
NOTE that there is no change in the formation of the possessive (singular to plural) for
"deer" because "deer" is an irregular noun whose plural form is the same as its singular.
The car of the criminal
To whom does the car belong?
The car belongs to the criminal.
Place the ' : the criminal' car.
Need an "s"? Yes, so THE CRIMINAL'S CAR.
The cars of the six criminals
To whom do the cars belong?
The cars belong to the six criminals.
Place the ' : the six criminals' cars.
Need an "s"? No, so THE SIX CRIMINALS' CARS.
The notebook of the girl
To whom does the notebook belong?
The notebook belongs to the girl.
Place the ': the girl' notebook.
Need an "s"? Yes, so THE GIRL'S NOTEBOOK.
The notebooks of the girls
To whom do the notebooks belong?
The notebooks belong to the girls.
Place the ': the girls' notebooks.
Need an "s"? No, so THE GIRLS' NOTEBOOKS.
The homework of us
To whom does the homework belong?
The homework belongs to us.
Use a possessive pronoun.
So OUR HOMEWORK.
The bicycles of them
To whom do the bicycles belong?
The bicycles belong to them.
Use a possessive pronoun.
So THEIR BICYCLES.
Exercises
For the first five questions, construct the possessive case for the phrases; then enter the
possessive phrase into the blank. The answers appear after the last question.
1. Phrase:
the car of my daughter Susan
Answer:
2. Phrase:
the department for children
Answer:
3. Phrase:
the home of the two boys
Answer:
4. Phrase:
the harvest of last year
Answer:
5. Phrase:
the schedules of us
Answer:
For the last five questions, select the answer that uses the possessive case correctly.
6.
1. We read Sues article in yesterday's paper.
B. We read Sue's article in yesterdays paper.
C. We read Sue's article in yesterday's paper.
7.
1. The chairperson's decision was not without it's faults.
B. The chairperson's decision was not without its faults.
C. The chairpersons' decision was not without its' faults.
8.
1. The criminal's escape resulted in the guards reprimand.
B. The criminals' escape resulted in the guards reprimand.
C. The criminal's escape resulted in the guard's reprimand.
9.
1. The Oiler's victory did not sit well with the Maple Leafs'.
B. The Oilers' victory did not sit well with the Maple Leaf 's.
C. The Oilers' victory did not sit well with the Maple Leafs.
10.
1. This desk is Manny's; that one is yours.
B. This desk is Manny's; that one is your's.
C. This desk is Mannys'; that one is your's.
Answers
1, my daughter Susan's car. 2, the Children's Department or Children's Department. 3, the two boys' home or the two boys'
homes. 4, last year's harvest or the last year's harvest. 5, our schedules. 6, C. 7, B. 8, C. 9, C. 10, A.