Possessive nouns

Possessive nouns

Lesson goals

• Understand and apply the use of 's/ '/of to express possession in English

What do you remember about possessive nouns?

Instructions

A possessive noun is used to indicate possession (owning or having) by using an apostrophe with or without and 's' or 'of'.

• The girl's earring
• That's my room, and this one is Sarah's
• The windows of the house are dirty

Instructions 's

You use an apostrophe followed by s when:

• using a singular noun (a child's toy, the bird's feathers)
• using a plural noun that doesn't end with an "s" (the men's boat, the geese's eggs 

Instructions '

An apostrophe is used to express possession for plural nouns ending in -s

One parent -> two parents -> My parents' car was very expensive

One cat -> two cats -> The cats' bowls are empty

Instructions of

Of is used between two nouns to show possession. Usually to talk about position or to way which part of something we are referring to.

• The battery of my phone is empty
• It's in the back of the car

 

Possession

's 

s'

of

Dingen, landen, plekken

Personen

Woorden die in het meervoud eindigen op -s

Singular or plural?

We can't find our cat's toy.

1. Singular
2. Plural

The teachers' copy machine never works

1. Singular
2. Plural

Singular or plural?

The girls' ball went over the fence.

1. Singular
2. Plural

Which answer is correct?

1. Politics' importance
2. The importance of politics
3. Politic's importance

Which answer is correct?

1. The head of the family
2. The family's head
3. The families' head

This is my ___ (van mijn broer) car

____ (van zijn moeder) coffee.

Possession / bezit

's 

s'

of

things, places

people, animals

plural 

Lesson goals

• Understand and apply the use of 's/ '/of to express possession in English