Possessives

Possessives

Add an apostrophe and an s after a singular noun. [ a boy's, a bus's, Harry's ]
If a plural noun ends with s, add only an apostrophe. [ boys', buses' ]
If a plural noun doesn't end with s, add an apostrophe and an s. [ children's, people's, men's ]

Exception: Possessive Before Sake:

When there is a singular noun before 'sake' that ends with s, add only an apostrophe.

For goodness' sake, turn off the music!

Shared and Individual Possessive:

If there is more than one owner of a noun, do not put an apostrophe after each noun; just make the last noun possessive.

This is Leonard and Penny's house.  [there is only one house and it belongs to both Leonard and Penny]

Make each noun possessive if each noun is the owner of individual things.

A police checked Leonard's and Penny's driving licenses. [they have individual licenses]

We are having dinner at Leonard and Penny's.