possessive apostrophe
Tips for ESL Students - Destroy Your Fear of the Possessive Apostrophe
Apostrophes are not intended to be the nightmare of ESL students or anyone else for that matter. Here we destroy your fear of the possessive apostrophe by showing you how easy it is to understand.
What is the difference between the two sentences in the following three sets of statements?
1. The girl’s papers are on the table, and
The girls’ papers are on the table
2. The book’s pages are damaged, and
The books’ pages are damaged
3. What you see there is the dog’s food, and
What you see there is the dogs’ food
The possessive apostrophe is always used, as its name states, to denote possession of something. It is normal for those taking ESL lessons, to feel confused by the position of such an apostrophe in a noun; however, it is truly very simple to understand.
The trick, if you want to see it as such, is for the ESL student to define if the possessive noun, or the owner of the thing, which can be a person or a thing, is singular or plural, and whether or not it ends in –s in its written form.
These are the rules:
1. When the possessive noun is singular, always add an apostrophe (’) + an -s. For example:
- The cat’s litter
- Laura’s house
- The baby’s crib
2. When the possessive noun doesn’t end in –s in its written form, always add an apostrophe (’) + an –s. For example:
- Mary’s children
- The dog’s food
- The house’s roof
3. When the possessive noun is plural and ends in –s, which includes most plural nouns, just add an apostrophe (’). For example:
- The cats’ tails
- The foods’ flavors
- The texts’ meaning
This is why you see sentences with things like the following:
- Charles’s car (Note that ‘Charles’ is singular)
- The children’s toys (Note that ‘children’ is plural, but it doesn’t end in –s)
- The boss’s office (Note that ‘boss’ is singular)
And this is also why you don’t know if something belongs to one person or to several until it is written down.
In fact, you basically have to remember the third rule; if this one doesn’t apply, always add an apostrophe (’) and an –s.
Now you’re ready to go out and impress everyone at your ESL class, but remember to spread the joy. Let your classmates into the big secret you just learned and release their fear too!
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.englishlci.com as the original source).
Search
Categories
Archives
