Page 22 - English Grammar - 5

In the above groups of words, the nouns—student, father, teacher, Meera, farmer and

dog—are singular nouns. We use an apostrophe (’) with s to form their possessive.

Use of Apostrophe ( ’ ) with Plural Nouns

We use an apostrophe (’) with s, when a plural noun does not end in s.

the park of children — the children’s park
O
the house of women — the women’s house
O
the meeting of men — the men’s meeting
O
the hoofs of oxen — the oxen’s hoofs
O
the language of people — the people’s language
O
the food of mice — the mice’s food
O
In the above groups of words, children, women, men, oxen, people and mice are plural
nouns, which do not end in -s. We use an apostrophe (’) with s to form their possessive.

Use of apostrophe (’) in plural nouns ending with letter s.

We use an apostrophe (’) without s, when a noun is plural and ends in -s.

the books of the students — the students’ books
O
the school of boys — the boys’ school
O
the hostel of girls — the girls’ hostel
O
the jewels of princesses — the princesses’ jewels
O
the tails of foxes — the foxes’ tails
O
the purses of ladies — the ladies’ purses
O
Nouns: Possession
In the above groups of words, students, boys, girls, princesses, foxes and ladies are
plural nouns. We use an apostrophe (’) only to form their possessives.

Rememberemember
R

Generally, we do not use an apostrophe ( ’) with non-living objects.

Practice Time

A. Rewrite the following groups of words using an apostrophe.

1. the birthday of my cousin ______________________________________

2. the toy of the baby ______________________________________
3. the beaks of the ducks ______________________________________
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