Page 83 - Improve_Your_Written_English [Marion_Field]
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L O O K IN G A T A PO ST RO PH ES A ND A BBR EVIATIO NS / 69
However, in some cases the extra ‘s’ can be omitted as in the
following examples:
James’ book was missing.
He damaged his Achilles’ tendon.
Making plural nouns possessive
Most nouns add an ‘s’ to make a plural. In this case the
apostrophe goes after the ‘s’ if it is possessive:
The thundering of the horses’ hooves broke the silence.
The ladies’ gowns were beautiful.
Some nouns do not add an ‘s’ to become a plural. In this
case, if they are possessive, they are treated like singular
nouns. The apostrophe is added after the word and an ‘s’ is
then added. Some of these words are: children, feet, geese,
men, mice, sheep, teeth, women.
The children’s playground was vandalised.
Kate watched the mice’s tails disappearing round the
corner.
The men’s club room was being redecorated.
The sale of women’s coats was postponed.
Using possessive pronouns
When using the possessive form of a pronoun, apostrophes
are not used when there is an ‘s’ at the end. The possessive
pronouns are: mine, hers, his, its, ours, yours and theirs.
