📘 Possessive 's — Use & Form

'S — Use
POSSESSION	My brother’s phone, the cat’s bed, Lisa’s backpack (NOT the backpack of Lisa)
RELATIONSHIP	Emma’s best friend, David’s sister, Mark’s parents (NOT the sister of David)
SHOPS AND HOUSES	I’m at Olivia’s (= at Olivia’s house) I’m going to the butcher’s (= the butcher’s shop)
OF — Use
THINGS	The top of the mountain, the cover of the book, the name of the song (NOT the mountain’s top)
NOUN + NOUN — Common Combinations
COMMONLY USED TOGETHER	The bus stop (= the stop for buses) The house keys (= the keys for the house)
'S — Form
Singular noun + ’s	My mom’s bag, the bird’s wings, the doctor’s office
Irregular plural not ending in -s + ’s	A children’s game, the women’s team, people’s opinions
Regular plural ending in -s + ’	The girls’ room, the drivers’ licenses, customers’ orders
Singular noun ending in -s: ’s or just ’	James’s (or James’) bike, Lucas’s phone, Charles’s apartment
's after last of two or more nouns	Sara and Mike’s dog (= they have one dog)
's after each of two or more nouns	Sara’s and Mike’s bikes (= Sara has one bike and Mike has one bike)

📘 Possessive 's – Use

We use ’s to show that something belongs to a person or pet, or to talk about relationships between people.

• This is Anna’s sister.
• This is the sister of Anna.
• Ben and Nora’s apartment is on the 5th floor.
• My dog’s tail is very fluffy.

We also use the possessive ’s to talk about shops and houses:

• I am at Daniel’s. (= at Daniel’s house)
• I need to go to the florist’s. (= the florist’s shop)

🛠️ Possessive 's – Form

• Singular noun + ’s: Mia’s jacket, Tom’s laptop, the manager’s office
• Plural noun ending in -s + ’: The girls’ bags, the players’ shoes, the students’ projects
• Irregular plural (not ending in -s) + ’s: The children’s books, the men’s jackets, the women’s team
• Shared ownership: Kate and Leo’s car (one car)
• Separate ownership: Kate’s and Leo’s cars (two cars)

📍 Possessive “of”

We use of instead of ’s when talking about things rather than people or pets:

• The door of the house ✅
• The house’s door ❌
• A photo of the city ✅
• The city’s photo ❌
• The roof of the building ✅
• The building’s roof ❌

🔗 Compound Nouns – No 's or of

Some nouns are often used together. In these cases, we don’t use 's or of:

• A coffee shop
• The train station
• The hotel key

❓ Whose

Whose is used to ask about possession.

• Whose + noun: Whose jacket is this? Whose phones are those?
• Whose (without noun): Whose is this jacket? Whose are those phones?

We can answer using ’s + noun or ’s alone:

• Whose is this jacket? – It’s Emma’s jacket / It’s Emma’s.

⚠️ Whose vs Who’s

• Whose = possession (of who) → Whose phone is this?
• Who’s = who is → Who’s that woman at the door?
• WRONG: Who’s phone is this? / Whose that woman at the door?