Grammar Awareness

The Possessive Case (’s)



The Possessive Case is used to show ownership. The possessive pattern (’s) is generally used when indicates a relation of ownership or association with a person, rather than a thing. There are, as ever, exceptions to this rule.



The main rules are:

  1. For a singular noun, use ’s:
The girl’s mother.
The world’s highest tower.
Brazilian’s climate.


  1. For a plural noun which does not end in -s, use ’s:
Children’s right.
The men’s room.
An old people’s home.


  1. For a plural noun which ends in -s, use s’:
My parents’ car.
Your brothers’ ideas.
His classmates’ books.


  1. You sometimes just add an apostrophe to names ending in -s, especially with singular literary or classical names:
Dickens’ novels.
Socrates’ works.
Keats’ poetry.


We often pronounce a possessive ’s even when it is not written /siz/.


  1. An apostrophe ’s can be added to first names ending in -s:
Cris’s motorcycle.
Carlos’s computer.
Marcos’s Iphone.


  1. If the thing possessed belongs to more than one person, we add the ’s only to the last one:
Paul and Mary’s daughter.
Bob and Brad’s toys.
Rick and Susan’s apartment.


  1. However, if each person has their own object, we add the ’s to each one:
Mark’s and Sharon’s cell phones. (each one of them has a cell phone)
Greg’s and Carol’s bicycles.
They're Dennis's and Carlos's mugs.

Adapted from Gems of Wisdom

Spelling Rules

American English vs British English – Part I



AE = American English
BE = British English

-ae (encyclopaedia, mediaeval)
AE usually deletes the a from the diphthong ae (encyclopedia, medieval), however, it is retained in such words as aesthetic.

-ed (fitted, forecasted, knitted)
AE usually drops the past-tense ending in these words (fit, forecast, knit).

-ed [irregular] (lighted, strived)
AE prefers forms such as lit and strove.

-ement (acknowledgement, arguement, judgement)
AE omits the first e from the suffix (acknowledgment, argument, judgment)

-ence (defence, licence, offence)
AE spells these words with an s in place of a c (defense, license, offense).

-ise/-yse (analyse, criticise, memorise, realise)
AE favors -ize/-yze endings (analyze, criticize, memorize, realize).

 -l (enrol, fulfil, skilful)
AE doubles the l that is not part of -ful/ful- (enroll, fulfill, skillful)

-lled/-lling (cancelled/cancelling, levelled/levelling, travelled/travelling)
AE omits one l in this form (canceled/canceling, leveled/leveling, traveled/traveling)

-mme (diagramme, programme, telegramme)
AE omits the second m and the e at the end of these words (diagram, program, telegram)

-ogue (analogue, catalogue, dialogue, epilogue)
AE omits the diphthong ue (analog, catalog, dialog, epilog), though the full form is preferred for all its analogues.

-our (colour, favour, honour, labour)
AE omits the u in most words with -our (color, favor, honor, labor)

-oeuvre (manoeuvre)
AE simplifies this ending to -euver (maneuver).

-que (banque, checque)
AE replaces the -que by -k (bank, check).

-re (centre, litre, metre, theatre)
In AE, the letters in the -re ending are reversed (center, liter, meter, theater).

-st (amidst, amongst)
In AE, amid and among are preferred.

-t (dreamt, leapt, learnt)
AE replaces -t with -ed (dreamed, leaped, learned)

-wards (backwards, inwards, upwards)
AE omits the -s (backward, inward, upward)

Adapted from DailyWritingTips