GrammarBook.com

Your #1 Source for Grammar and Punctuation

Plural Possessive (Nouns)

A plural possessive noun is a plural noun that indicates ownership of something.

Example

The dog's food is in the bag on the floor. (singular possessive: one dog)

The dogs' food is in the bag on the floor. (plural possessive: multiple dogs)


In the two sentences, the nouns dog and dogs are neither the subjects nor the objects. Rather, both words are nouns that identify the owner of the subject (food).

The first sentence includes a singular possessive (dog's): The food belongs to one dog. The second sentence tells us that the food belongs to more than one dog by means of a plural possessive noun, dogs'.

Forming a Plural Possessive Noun

To make a plural possessive noun, first form the plural of the singular noun. Many singular nouns can be made plural by adding -s or -es to the end of the noun: string > strings, car > cars, church > churches, glass > glasses.

Some nouns are irregular, so they form the plural in ways other than by adding -s or -es: loaf > loaves, mouse > mice, man > men, foot > feet.

After you have formed the plural of the noun, add an apostrophe (') if the plural noun ends in -s or -es: strings', cars', churches', loaves'. If the plural noun does not end in -s, add an apostrophe and an s: mice's, men's, feet's.

Let's look at more examples of both regular and irregular plural possessive nouns:

I really like the string's sound on that guitar. (singular possessive)
I really like the strings' sound on that guitar. (plural possessive)

The glass's fragments left a glittering trail on the floor. (singular possessive)
The glasses' fragments left a glittering trail on the floor. (plural possessive)

Have you seen the church's stained-glass windows? (singular possessive)
Have you seen the churches' stained-glass windows?(plural possessive)

What is the foot's purpose for that table? (singular possessive)
What is the feet's purpose for that table? (plural possessive)


Note that some irregular plural nouns are the same as their singular forms (e.g., aircraft, deer, sheep, furniture). In these cases, we would apply the same principles for forming the plural possessive for a noun that does not end in -s.

Examples

Both aircraft's engines have been checked.

The three deer's hoof tracks are all in the same spot.

The furniture's prices appear on their tags.


Some animal nouns also might form the plural by either maintaining the singular or adding -s or -es: shrimp > shrimp or shrimps, fish > fish or fishes. Once again we would treat the plural possessive form according to the word's ending as we've discussed:

You can put the shrimp's tails in that bowl.
You can put the shrimps' tails in that bowl.


We could see the fish's eyes as their school swam past us.
We could see the fishes' eyes as their school swam past us.


Plural Possessive: Multiple Nouns

If two or more nouns have ownership of another noun together, we would express that ownership by making only the last noun of the group possessive.

Jack, Jill, and Jerry's water pail is at the top of the hill. (The pail belongs to all of them.)

The lawyers are reviewing the players and managers' contract. (The contract belongs to the players and managers jointly.)


If two or more nouns each have their own separate possession of one or more nouns, we would make each noun of ownership possessive.

Jack's, Jill's, and Jerry's water pails are at the top of the hill. (They all have their own pails.)

The lawyers are reviewing the players' and managers' contracts. (The players and managers have their own contracts.)


Plural Possessive: Hyphenated and Compound Nouns

Some plural nouns are formed by making the first word in the phrase plural: sisters-in-law, passers-by, attorneys at large. In these cases, we would form the plural possessive by making the last word in the phrase possessive: sisters-in-law's, passers-by's, attorneys at large's.

The sisters-in-law's relationships with one another are healthy and strong.

The passers-by's testimonies about the incident will be included in the investigation.


Related Topics

Possessive Pronouns
Apostrophes and Proper Nouns

View and comment on this
article on our website.

Happy Holidays

All of us at GrammarBook.com wish all of you and your families a very happy holiday season.

We will take a two-week break before resuming our weekly e-newsletters on January 5, 2022, with a 2021 Year-in-Review Quiz. Once again, we sincerely hope you have learned from and enjoyed our grammar tips this past year. We have certainly enjoyed bringing them to you.

Click here to watch our video on
Dashes

Pop Quiz

Provide the plural possessive noun for each singular noun in parentheses.

1. The (truck) tires need to be changed.

2. You will find that scarf in the (woman) department.

3. I can see the (mouse) crumbs on the floor.

4. (Robin and Jolene) TV is still in the box.

5. We still have to ask about the (father-in-law) opinions.

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation


by Lester Kaufman and Jane Straus

The Authority on English Grammar! Twelfth Edition Now Available

An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders.

Available in print AND as an e-Book! Over 2,000 copies are purchased every month!

To order the book, simply click the link to order the book from the GrammarBook.com website.

Order Your Copy Today!
 

Get Even More Useful Grammar Tips

In addition to our weekly newsletter, we post new entries about American English grammar on Mondays and Fridays. The following are three of our recent articles. Bookmark our GrammarBook blog and be sure to check it often.

What Is a Phrase?

What Is an Idiom? (With Examples and Usage)

What Are Participles? (Including Examples and Usage)

Free BONUS Quiz for You!

[[firstname]], because you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you get access to one of the Subscribers-Only Quizzes. Click here to take an Adjectives and Adverbs Quiz and get your scores and explanations instantly!

We will be adding many more quizzes this year to our already substantial list of them. If you have suggestions for topics we have not yet covered, please send us a message at help@grammarbook.com.

Hundreds of Additional Quizzes
at Your Fingertips

Subscribe now to receive hundreds of additional English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!


Teachers and Employers

Save hours of valuable time! You may assign quizzes to your students and employees and have their scores tallied, organized, and reported to you! Let GrammarBook.com take the hassle out of teaching English!

"Fun to test my skills."

"The explanations really help ... thanks!"

"I can select the quizzes to assign to my students, and then the results are reported to me automatically!"

Find out more about our
subscription packages

99¢

QUIZZES

Don't need all the quizzes?

You can now purchase the same quizzes individually for ONLY 99¢ each.

Purchase yours here.

If you think you have found an error in a quiz, please email us at help@grammarbook.com

Wordplay





Pop Quiz Answers

1. The trucks' tires need to be changed.

2. You will find that scarf in the women's department.

3. I can see the mice's crumbs on the floor.

4. Robin and Jolene's TV is still in the box.

5. We still have to ask about the fathers-in-law's opinions.

English In A Snap:
68 One-Minute English Usage Videos FREE

Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Share them with your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends as well! Click here to watch.

Forward this e-newsletter to your friends and colleagues.

If you received this FREE weekly e-newsletter from a friend, click here to have it sent to you each week.

Look for more grammar tips or writing advice from GrammarBook.com next week.

Miss a recent newsletter? Click here to view past editions.