

When we visited Rome, the hotel room balcony had a great view of the ancient ruins. I think my sister new dress is very fancy. Three squirrels ran around crazily in our backyard. Part 1 Directions: Decide whether the underlined noun should be possessive or not. If you want more information on this topic, you can look at Pronouns, Lesson 2 and Modifiers: Adjectives and Adverbs, Lesson 2. These nouns modify the nouns that follow them. Note: Possessive nouns act as adjectives in sentences. Some people prefer to use only the apostrophe, but because we usually pronounce the extra s, adding 's is correct as well. Jesus's parables were instructional stories.

Jesus' parables were instructional stories.

However, some names, such as Jesus, Moses, Achilles, and Charles Dickens (historical names that end in a z sound), can end with either an apostrophe or 's. You may find that certain names ending in s add only an apostrophe. Laurie's and Megan's nails are painted the same color. If two people own two separate things, add 's to each name. If two people own something together, use an 's after the second person only. Hint: Look at the ending in front of the apostrophe to see if the word is singular or plural. Just like singular possessives, plural possessives that don't end in s add 's. In that case, add only the apostrophe to the end of the word. If you have added an s to make a word plural (for example, cat ⇒ cats), adding 's will sound ridiculous (cats's). If a singular word ends in s, it is still necessary to add 's. Singular PossessivesĪdd 's to singular words to show possession. Possessive comes from the same root as possession, something you own. Definition: Possessive nouns show ownership.
