The apostrophe shows that something belongs to someone (the ‘possessor’), for example: The boy’s book is missing. (The book that belongs to the boy is missing.) The possessive apostrophe also shows that something belongs to something else (e.g. the car’s windows).

There are different rules about where the possessive apostrophe must go:

  • If the possessor is a singular noun (there is just one owner), then add an apostrophe and ‘s’, for example: The school Jonathan goes to = Jonathan’s school; The walking stick of the uncle = the uncle’s walking stick.
  • If the possessor is a singular noun that ends in ‘s’, then usually we add an apostrophe and ‘s’, for example: the desk that belongs to the boss = the boss’s desk; the car that Jonas bought = Jonas’s car. BUT sometimes people just add the apostrophe and leave the ‘s’, especially for proper nouns, for example: Mr Thomas’ suitcase is over there.
  • If the possessor is a plural noun (there is more than one owner), and it doesn’t end in ‘s’, then add an apostrophe and ‘s’, for example: the games of the children = the children’s games; the rules of the people = the people’s rules.
  • If the possessor is a plural noun and it does end in ‘s’, then just add the possessive apostrophe, for example: That’s the boys’ soccer team, and this is the girls’ soccer team.

Pronouns and apostrophes ‘s’:

  • Some pronouns take a possessive apostrophe, for example: Is it somebody’s birthday today? Can I borrow anyone’s hat?
  • Possessive pronouns do not take a possessive apostrophe: his, hers, its, yours, ours, theirs. For example: That dress is hers. That is its wheel.

So the ONLY meaning of ‘it’s’ is ‘it is’. It NEVER shows possession. (It’s hot so the dog drank its water.)

Remember, do NOT add a possessive apostrophe:

  • to abbreviations that are in their plural form, for example: There are many VIPs (Very Important Persons). Have you all written your CVs? (Notice: no apostrophes!)
  • to plural dates, for example: He was born in the 1980s. In the 1990s we didn’t own cell phones. (Notice: no apostrophes!)