's - Apostrophe, genitive -s, possessive -s - theory and practice. Exercises

's - Apostrophe, genitive -s, possessive -s

Exercise - Apostrophe 's

English:	German:
Ronny's brother	Ronnys Bruder and Ronny's Bruder (since spelling reform)

Singular:

Add 's:

Examples:
Mandy's brother John plays football.
My teacher's name is ...

---

Plural:

Add the apostrophe ' to regular plural forms:

Examples:
The girls' room is very nice.
The Smiths' car is black.

Add 's to irregular plural forms:

Examples:
The children's books are over there.
Men's clothes are on the third floor.

Singular names ending in -s

Although it is not considered to be good English, you may add only the apostrophe words ending on unpronounced -s

Charles's dog – Charles' dog

Illinois's capital – Illinois' capital

Words ending in -x and -z follow the same rules.

Felix's car – Felix' car

But there are situations where only 's is the best choice to make the meaning clear.

NOTE:

If there are multiple nouns that refer to one person/thing – add an 's to the last noun.
Peter and John's mother is a teacher.

If there are multiple nouns that refer to more persons/things – add 's to both nouns.
Susan's and Steve's bags are black.

Thanks to Karin and Robert.

's (Apostrophe 's, genitive 's, possessive's) - Exercise 1

Explanation: Apostrophe 's

Write the correct form of the possessives into the gaps (apostrophe 's). Toggle example 1) This is  book. (Peter) 2) Let's go to the . (Smiths) 3) The  room is upstairs. (children) 4)  sister is twelve years old. (John) 5)  and  school is old. (Susan - Steve) 6)  shoes are on the second floor. (men) 7) My  car was not expensive. (parents) 8)  CD player is new. (Charles) 9) This is the  bike. (boy) 10) These are the  pencils. (boys)

Practise the 's-genitive. Read the following sentences. Then decide what you need:

• the possessive 's;
• a plural s' with an apostrophe;
• only an apostrophe '.

 

 

 

 

1. Johnny and Julia sleep in the same room. Johnny points to a bed: "This is my sister
   ---'ss'
     bed."
    
2. The car belongs to Andreas. So it is Andreas
   ---'s'
     car.
    
3. A friend wants to ride Thomas
   ---''s
     bike.
    
4. These bikes belong to the girls. The boys
   ---'s'
     bikes are over there.
    
5. Her father is called John and her mother
   ---'s'
     name is Jennifer.
    
6. "My Mum and Dad sleep here. This is my parent
   ---s''s
     room."
    

 

 

 

 

 

Practise the 's-genitive. Decide what you need:

• the possessive 's;
• a plural s' with an apostrophe;
• only the apostrophe '.

Look at the example: The book of Anna 

 Anna's 

book

 

 

 

 

1. The house of her parents.  Her parent
   ---'ss'
     house.
    
2. The words of Jesus.  Jesus
   ---'s'
     words.
    
3. The phone of the brother.  The brother
   ---s''s
     phone.
    
4. The dresses of the stewardesses.  The stewardesses
   ---''s
     dresses.
    
5. The friend of Thomas.  Thomas
   ---'s'
     friend.
    
6. The football of John.  John
   ---''s
     football.
    

 

 

 

 

 

 

TALKING ABOUT POSSESSION

Rewrite the sentences as shown in the example. Use a possessive relation.

 Example:Julia has a new sweatshirt.  Julia's 

new sweatshirt

 

 

 

 

1. Anna has a beautiful ring.   
    
2. Mr. Smith has a red car.   
    
3. The kids have a great teacher.   
    
4. Andreas has a big house.   
    
5. Thomas has an old football.   
    
6. Johnny has a new bike.