Grammar Lesson: Possession, Part 1

OK, this lesson has multiple parts because it's a complicated one. However, I'm SURE everyone can catch on with a little attention and thought. One of the many uses of the apostrophe is to show possession. By possession I mean ownership. For example: the dog's tail (tail belongs to the dog); the chair's cushion (cushion belongs to or is part of the chair); Landen's dress (dress belongs to Landen). You get the point, right? 


Here's the lesson -


1. If you have a singular (one) object/person/animal/entity/etc owning or possessing something, you use an 's to show that ownership.

• Example: The dog's fur was short.

2. If you have a plural (more than one) group of objects/people/animals/entities/etc owning or possessing something, you add an apostrophe after the s.

• Example: The dogs' tails were wagging. (Here we have multiple dogs, so the s has already been added in order to make it plural. In order to show possession, we have to add the apostrophe after.)
• Note: This rule is for "regular" plural words. By regular I mean words that you add an s to in order to make them plural...dogs, toys, chairs. Irregular plural words are handled differently (ex. children, women, etc.) We'll get to the irregular ones later.

3. If there is no ownership or possession and you are ONLY talking about multiple/plural objects/people/animals/entities/etc, then PLEASE do not use an apostrophe.

• Example: The dogs ate Kibbles 'n Bits for dinner. (Here we're just talking about multiple dogs. They aren't owning anything. So adding an apostrophe here (dog's or dogs') would be incorrect not to mention drive me crazy.)

Let's make sure we're using those apostrophes correctly, then we'll move on to more complicated situations.... :)