Possessives

Possessives are grammatical forms used to show ownership or a close relationship between nouns. In English, the system includes possessive determiners (also called possessive adjectives) such as my, your, his, her, its, our, and their; possessive pronouns such as mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs; and noun forms created with an apostrophe plus s.

To form a possessive of a singular noun, add ’s (the cat’s whiskers). For plural nouns ending in s, add only an apostrophe after the s (the cats’ whiskers). Irregular plurals that do not end in s take ’s (the children’s books). For singular proper nouns ending in s, style guides vary: some prefer ’s (James’s book); others use only the apostrophe (James’ book). Possessive determiners do not use an apostrophe when they precede a noun (my book, your car, his opinion).

Pronoun possessives differ from contractions: the possessive pronouns themselves do not take an apostrophe (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs). A common confusion involves its and it's: its is the possessive determiner, while it's is a contraction of it is or it has.

Uses of possessives include indicating ownership, association, part–whole relationships, or measures and time (e.g., a friend’s car, the city’s streets, a day's work). The "of" construction (the color of the car) can convey the same relationship when the possessive form would be awkward or unclear.

Across languages, possessive forms may rely on case endings, particles, or prepositions, reflecting broader typological differences in expressing ownership and association.