Possessive Nouns with Apostrophes

Using possessive nouns with apostrophes can be a little bit tricky to work out.

Sometimes words appear to be in the possessive case but there is no real ownership, such as:

  1. a month’s pay  [“month” is singular, so apostrophe comes before the “s”]
  2. two days’ washing [“days” is plural, so apostrophe comes after the “s”]
  3. yesterday’s appointments [“yesterday” is singular, so apostrophe comes before the “s”]
  4. last year’s bank statements  [“year” is singular, so apostrophe comes before the “s”]
  5. two years’ receipts [“years” is plural, so apostrophe comes after the “s”]
  6. girls’ underwear [“girls” is plural, so apostrophe comes after the “s”]

Although it looks like there is ownership, it is really called “False Possessive”, and yes an apostrophe IS required in these instances.

NOTE:

  • You put the apostrophe after the *s* when the word is plural, as in examples above – Items 2, 5 + 6.

Just remember, not everyone knows how to do this apostrophe thing … even I have to stop and think sometimes, to make sure I get it right. There’s nothing wrong with looking it up online … don’t forget to come to the Humble Apostrophe if you’re not sure where to put your apostrophe, punctuation or parts of speech!  :-)

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