1. An apostrophe and the letter "s" are often used to show possession. For example: "the boy's house".
Examples:
 Take the girl's hand and place it on the cushion.
(hand belonging to the girl)
I had to remove Jane's label and replace it.
(label belonging to Jane)
Leave the mouse's dinner alone.
2. In the examples above, each apostrophe appears before the letter "s". However, it is possible for the apostrophe to appear after the letter "s". This happens when more than one person (or thing) owns the object (or objects).
Examples:
The horses' hay is damp.
(hay belonging to the horses)
(Note: more than one horse - apostrophe after the s)
The ladies' toilets are out of bounds.
(toilets belonging to the ladies)
(Note: more than one lady - apostrophe after the s)
The fairies' wings glistened in the moonlight.
3. Mistakes with apostrophes are very common. One reason for this is the number of exceptions to the rules above. For example, plural words which do not end in the letter "s" (e.g. "men", "people" and "children") have the apostrophe before the "s" when showing possession.
Examples:
He is the people's poet.
Leave the
childrens' presents in the hall until they have gone to bed. 
[correct the example]
(apostrophe should be
before the s to show possession with plural words not ending in s)
My watch was stolen from the
men's changing room.
4. To make things even more complicated, singular words which end in "s" (e.g. "Charles", "Wales", "Paris" and "Dickens") can end in just an apostrophe or 's when showing possession.
Examples:
It is Charles' birthday.
It is Charles's birthday.
(both correct)
Charles' or Charles's pal (both correct)
I have not seen Wales' new stadium.
(or Wales's )
Les' or Les's
wife (both versions correct)
5. Both "Charles' birthday" and "Charles's birthday" are grammatically correct. However, as a guideline, you should use the version which best matches how you would pronounce it. In other words, use Charles's if you pronounce it "Charlesiz", but use Charles' if you pronounce it "Charles".
More examples:
Dr Evans' report
(for those who pronounce it "Dr Evans report")
Dr Evans's report
(for those who pronounce it "Dr Evansiz report")
Miss Williams' victory
(for those who pronounce it "Miss Williams victory")
Miss Williams's victory
(for those who pronounce it "Miss Williamsiz victory")
IT Solutions' conference
(for those who pronounce it "IT Solutions conference") (where "IT Solutions" is considered as singular)
IT Solutions's conference
(for those who pronounce it "IT Solutionsiz conference")
6. Here is another quirk. Some compound nouns (e.g. sister-in-law) do not form their plurals by adding s to the end (e.g. sisters-in-law). With a noun like this, the possessive form is created by adding 's to the end, regardless of whether it is singular or plural.
| Singular |
Plural |
sister-in-law's pond
colonel-in-chief's arrival
maid of honour's bouquet |
sisters-in-law's husbands
colonels-in-chief's meeting
maids of honour's dresses |
7. Finally, joint ownership is shown by making the last word in the series possessive; whereas, individual ownership is shown by making both (or all) parts possessive.
Example:
Andrew and Jacob's
factory (joint ownership)
(note: only the last part is possessive)
Andrew's and Jacob's
factories
(individual ownership)
(note: both parts are possessive)
(Without context, it will be assumed that Andrew has one factory and Jacob has
one factory. Another construction is required if this is not the case: "Andrew's
factories and Jacob's factories" is one option.)
India and Pakistan's
problems
(common to both)
India's and Pakistan's
problems
(separate problems)
|
GENERALLY, IT'S:
BEFORE FOR SINGULAR
AFTER FOR PLURAL
To show singular possession - apostrophe before the "s"
 the cat's dinner
(one cat)
the cat's dinners
(one cat)
To show plural possession - apostrophe after the "s"
the cats' dinner
(more than one cat)
the cats' dinners
(more than one cat)
|
THE RULES ARE COMPLEX, BUT NEVER PUT AN APOSTROPHE IN THE WORD ITSELF
An apostrophe that shows possession never appears inside the word
itself.
 Dicken's novel
(the word is "Dickens")
The ladie's coats
(the word is "ladies")
the cat's dinner
(when referring to
"cats") (For one "cat", this would be correct.)
IT'S HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POSSESSION
"It's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it
has". This is a 100% rule. It has nothing to do with
possession. The word " its" (without an apostrophe) is
used for possession.
I
know its name. I saw its nametag.
(its used for possession)
I
know it's coming soon.
(it's expands to "it is")
It
was it's maiden voyage.
(its is not used for possession)
(should be: its)
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