Forming possessives of nouns
Add s to the singular form of the word (even if it ends in -s):
The owners car; Jamess hat
Add s to the plural forms that do not end in -s:
The childrens game; the geeses honking
Add to the end of plural nouns that end in -s:
Houses roofs; friends letters
Add s to the end of compound words:
My brother-in-laws money
Add s to the last noun to show joint possession of an object:
Todd and Annes apartment
Owl On-Line Writing Lab
If it doesnt translate to it is, then use its instead of its.
The team celebrated its victory.
Its a victory for the team.
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PUNCTUATION PRODUCTS
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Forming plurals of lowercase letters
Apostrophes are used to form plurals of letters that appear in lowercase. The rule appears to be more typographical than grammatical, e.g. three ps versus three ps. To form the plural of a lowercase letter, place s after the letter.
There is no need for apostrophes indicating a plural on capitalized letters, numbers, and symbols (though some editors, teachers, and professors still prefer them).
- ps and qs = a phrase indicating politeness.
- There are two Macintosh G4s currently being used.
- The 1960s = the years in a decade from 1960 to 1969.
Owl On-Line Writing Lab
Plurals
FIGURES: Add s: The custom began in the 1920s (20s). The airline has two 747s. Temperatures will be in the low 20s. There were five size 7s.
SINGLE LETTERS: Use s: He brought home a report card with four As and two Bs.
MULTIPLE LETTERS: Add s: She knows her ABCs. I gave him five IOUs. Four VIPs were there.
The Associated Press Stylebook
For information about usage of the apostrophe, click here
to consult one of the many style books listed on the Resources page
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