Hey, everyone, welcome to another English grammar lesson. Today we're going to be covering
plural possessive nouns.
So, in our last video, we talked about singular possessive nouns.
So, if you haven't seen that, you probably should. And then come right on back for this
one. Okay, so the difference between singular possessive nouns and plural possessive nouns
is that with a singular possessive, you have one thing owning some stuff, and with a plural
possessive, you have multiple things owning some stuff. So, what would that look like,
exactly? Well, what if we had multiple boys—let's say two—who shared a bedroom? So, if it
were singular possessive—as in one boy had that room—it would be the boy’s room:
“boy-apostrophe-s.” But now we have multiple boys owning that same room. So, instead of
starting with the singular form and adding “apostrophe-s,” we have to start with
the plural form—because, you know, we're talking about more than one boy. So, once
we have the plural form, all we need to do to make it possessive is add an apostrophe
at the very end. So, we could say something like "The boys' room is messy." Write the
standard plural form: “boys” (b-o-y-s), and then just add an apostrophe. Let's try
another… What if we had a bunch of girls—maybe ten or twenty—and they all shared a locker
room? Now, remember, it's about the number of girls, not the number of locker rooms.
So, since we have multiple girls, we would start with the word “girls” (g-i-r-l-s),
which is the regular plural form, and then to make it possessive we'd just add an apostrophe
at the end. So, we could say something like "The girls' locker room is really big." One
more… What if we had several players, and all of their shoes were the same color? Well,
we'd start with “players,” which is the regular plural form of that word, and we'd
just an apostrophe to the end. So, I don't know, something like "The players' shoes were
all the same color." So that's it. Pretty simple, right? If you've got one dog that
has a bone, it would be the "dog's bone" (d-o-g-apostrophe-s). And if you had multiple dogs that shared a
bone, it would be the "dogs' bone" (d-o-g-s-apostrophe). And as long as you make sure that the possessive
noun and the thing that it owns are right next to each other in the sentence, you're
all good. Except hold on. What if our plural word doesn’t end with “s”? What if we
have multiple people who have—I don't know—very big houses? Well, here's the rule. You already
know that to make a noun singular possessive, you just write the singular form and add “apostrophe-s,”
in all situations: “Cat” becomes “cat's”; “boy” becomes “boy's”; “shoe”
becomes “shoe's.” And you now know that to make a plural possessive noun, you just
write the plural form of the word and add an apostrophe at the end: “Cats” becomes
“cats'”; “boys” becomes “boys'”; “shoes” becomes “shoes'.” But if you
have a plural word that does not end with “s,” and you want to make it possessive,
you're actually going to use the singular rule and add “apostrophe-s.” So, let’s
go to the one I said earlier: "The people's houses are very big." Notice, “people”
is plural, but it doesn't end with an “s” like most other plural words, so we can't
just add an apostrophe at the end and call it good. Instead, we've gotta do “apostrophe-s.”
How about this? "The men's section is quite nice." Again, “men” is plural, but it
doesn't end with an “s” like most other plural words, so we can't just add an apostrophe
at the end. We've got to do “apostrophe- s.” This one: "The women's clothes aren't
very cool." Again, “women” is plural, but it doesn't end with an “s” like most
other plural words, so we cannot just add an apostrophe; we've gotta add “apostrophe-s.”
Okay, so here are your rules: If you want to make a singular possessive noun, you just
take the singular—one—form of that noun, and add “apostrophe-s”—all the time,
in all cases, no matter what. It doesn't matter what letter the word ends with. If it's singular
possessive, it has “apostrophe-s.” If you want to make a plural possessive noun,
and the plural form of that noun naturally ends with an “s,” just write the plural
form out, and add an apostrophe at the end. But if you want to make a plural possessive
noun, and the plural form of that noun doesn’t end with an “s,” you would write the plural
form, and add “apostrophe-s.” And remember, no matter what type of possessive noun you
are using, the possessive noun and the thing that that noun possesses must be right next
to each other in the sentence; that might actually be the most important thing about
all of this. Okay, let's try something: I'm going to give you a word, and you're going
to come up with the different forms of that word. We're going to start with “cat.”
All I want is the singular version of the word “cat.” Not singular possessive. Just
singular. There should be no apostrophe. Just singular. Answer is...? It's not rocket science.
“Cat.” Just “cat.” Don’t overthink it. That's the basic singular form. Now, what
would be the singular possessive form of “cat”? What if I had one cat, and it owned or possessed
something? How would I write that form? Answer is... “cat-apostrophe-s.” Now, what if
I wanted the plural form of the word “cat”? Not possessive. No ownership. No apostrophe.
Just the basic plural version of the word. Just more than one cat. Should be... “cats”
(c-a-t-s). And finally, what if I wanted the plural possessive form of “cat”? Multiple
cats, and they own something. That would be... “c-a-t-s-apostrophe.” Let's pick up the
pace: What is the basic singular form of the word “kid”? Singular, not possessive.
Should be "kid." Now, what would be the singular possessive form of “kid”? That one kid
owns something. That’s right: “k-i-d-apostrophe-s.” Now, how about the regular plural form of
“kid”? Regular plural. Not possessive. Good, “k-i-d-s.” And finally, the plural
possessive form of kid. Multiple kids, and they all own some stuff together. Give yourself
a point if you said “k-i-d-s-apostrophe.” Good. Last one: “child.” What is the basic
singular form of the word “child”? Good, just “child.” What about the singular
possessive form? That one child owns something? Right, “child-apostrophe-s,” good. And
now, what about the basic plural form of “child”? Regular plural—not possessive. Good, “children.”
Now, how about the plural possessive form of “child”? Now watch out—be careful
here. We've got a plural word that doesn't end with an “s.” So, for our plural possessive,
we can't just add an apostrophe to the end because there's no “s.” So what do we
do instead? Can you remember? Well, we've got to roll with the singular rule and add
“apostrophe-s,” so "children's," like this. Okay, so a final reminder—sounding
like a broken record here. To make a singular noun possessive, simply add “apostrophe-s”—all
the time, in all cases, no matter what. To make a plural noun possessive, start with
the basic plural form. If that form already has an “s” on it, simply tag an apostrophe
at the end. And if that plural noun does not end with an “s,” simply add “apostrophe-s,”
like you would with your singular possessives. Anyway, 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 problems down in the description, and—uh—we’ll see
you next time. Thanks.