Hey, everyone, welcome to another English grammar lesson. Today we're going to be covering
singular possessive nouns.
So, what exactly is a singular possessive noun? Well, let's
break it down. The word "singular" means “one,” so a singular noun—all by itself—not possessive—would
be something like “dog” or “tree” or “girl”—just one of something. And
that’s pretty simple. Singular. Single. One. But what about the “possessive” part?
Well, to possess something just means to own it or to have it or control it. So, when you
think “possess,” think “to own.” So, what if that one dog has a bone? Well, it
would be the dog’s bone. But how do write that? Well, just like this: If there’s just
one dog—it's not about the number of bones; it's about the number of dogs. If we have
just one dog, we would write "That is the dog's bone." So, I took my singular word "dog"
and added an apostrophe and then the letter “s.” And then, right after that, I put
the thing that the dog possesses: the bone. And what if that one tree's leaves are falling
off? Well, as long as there's just one tree… It’s not about the number of leaves. As
long as there's just one tree, we could write, "The tree's leaves are falling off." One tree,
so I add “apostrophe-s,” and then I put the thing that the tree possesses right after
that. And what if that one girl had a pretty dress? Well, again, if it's just one girl,
we could write, "That girl's dress is pretty." One girl, so we add “apostrophe-s,” and
then we put the thing the girl possesses right after that. And this rule applies to every
singular noun—even ones that already end with an "s," like, say, "boss." If you have
one boss, and that one boss possesses something—I don’t know, maybe a stapler or something—you
would still add “apostrophe-s" to make the word “boss” possessive. So, your sentence
would, in fact, say, "The boss's stapler is missing”—“b-o-s-s-apostrophe-s.” It
doesn’t matter if the word “boss” already has an “s” on it. If it is a singular
noun, you always add “apostrophe-s” to make it possessive. Singular noun, always
add “apostrophe-s” to make it possessive. Now, the thing you really need to make sure
of, though, when you use this stuff, is that the noun you pick—dog, tree, girl, boss,
whatever—is right next to the thing it owns in the sentence. They have to be right next
to each other. "The dog's bone.” “The tree's leaves.” “The girl's dress.”
“The boss's stapler." Notice how, in every single example, the possessive noun and the
thing that it possesses are right next to each other. If they’re separate for some
reason, then you're either doing it wrong, or you may not actually need a possessive
noun there in the first place. There are very few cases where the possessive noun and the
thing it possesses aren't right next to each other, but they're so rare that for the purpose
of this lesson, we’re not even going to worry about that. Okay, so let's try to make
some sentences… How would we talk about the claws that belong to a cat—one cat?
Maybe "The cat's claws are sharp." One cat that possesses something. So “apostrophe-s”
to make it possessive. And since the “claws” are the things being possessed, the word “claws”
is right next to the word “cat's.” Okay... then how might we talk about shoes that belong
to a man? How about "The man's shoes are expensive." One man who possesses something, so “apostrophe-s.”
And the man owns the shoes, so the word “shoes” is right next to the word “man’s.” One
more: How could we talk about the grades that belong to a student? Well, "The student's
grades are pretty good." One student who possesses something, so “apostrophe-s.” And since
the grades are the things that the student technically owns or possesses here, the word
“grades” should be right next to the word “student’s.” Okay, so... to recap: In
order to turn a singular noun into a singular possessive noun, simply add apostrophe s—that’s
it, always, all the time—no matter what the word is and no matter what letter that
word ends with. If you want to create a singular possessive noun, simply add “apostrophe-s.”
And then make sure—and you have to do this—that the thing that that possessive noun owns is
right next to the possessive noun itself; they must be right next to each other. Anyway,
whew… whether you came here for a refresher or are just now learning this stuff for the
first time, I hope this video helped. Be sure to check out the free practice down in the
description, and—uh—we’ll see you next time. Thanks.