Possessive 's and Whose

Rules

• Rule 1: One owner → 's

  If the owner is one person or animal, add 's (apostrophe + s).

  Pattern: owner + 's + thing

  Example: My dad's car is blue.

  Example: The dog's name is Karabaş.

• Rule 2: Plural ending in -s → just '

  If there is more than one owner and the word already ends in -s, add only an apostrophe: the girls' room.

  Pattern: plural-s + '

  Example: My parents' bedroom is upstairs.

  Example: The cats' bowls are empty.

• Rule 3: Irregular plurals → 's

  Plurals that don't end in -s (children, men, women, people, mice) take 's.

  Pattern: children's · men's · women's · people's

  Example: The children's books are on the shelf.

  Example: This is the women's team.

• Rule 4: Whose?

  Ask Whose + thing to find the owner. Answer: It's Mert's. Careful: Who's = who is — it doesn't ask about owners!

  Pattern: Whose + thing + is / are …? — It's Ali's.

  Example: Whose socks are these? — They're Can's.

  Example: Who's your best friend? (= Who is)

Common mistakes

• the bag of Ali → Ali's bag

  For people, use 's.

• My sisters's room → My sisters' room

  Plural ending in -s → just '.

• The childrens' toys → The children's toys

  children doesn't end in -s → 's.