Many users of English are not quite sure about the proper use of 'possessive case'. In today's world of online communication (especially if you are part of Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace etc.) you need to make sure that you use the possessive case without causing confusion to your readers.
Here are a few guidelines regarding the correct use of 'possessive case' (to show the 'possession' or 'ownership').
(I) Normally, add 's to singular subjects to make the possessive case: e.g.
Jacob's blog
My brother's wife
For our daughter's future
Sam's parents
(II) Likewise, if the subject is plural, just add an apostrophe at the end of the word: e.g.
Girls' hostel (hostel for girls)
(If you write Girl's here, it would mean 'hostel for ONE girl')
Boys' school (school for boys)
(If you write Boy's here, it would mean 'school for ONE boy')
Your brothers' property (property of your brothers)
(If you write brother's here, it would mean 'property of ONE brother')
Parents' guidance (guidance of parents)
(If you write parent's here, it would mean 'guidance of ONE parent')
My friends' email (email of my friends)
(If you write Friend's here, it would mean 'email of ONE friend')
Remember again, in all the previous sentences, we are talking about plural subjects; but if they were singular subjects, we would use girl's, boy's, brother's, friend's, parent's etc. (carefully check the position of the apostrophe['])
(III) But in the case of irregular plurals, we must add both an apostrophe and s (....'s)
e.g.
Women's hostel (
Children's activities (
Men's shaving cream (
The second part of this lesson will be posted tomorrow. Don't forget to leave your comments &suggestions!
Take care
Jacob (Nova English Campus)
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