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00:04look at these three short sentences John's toll John's studied and John's car what do they have
00:17in common apart from the name John of course they all have an apostrophe s at the end of
00:27John what does an apostrophe s mean the apostrophe plus s has three different meanings in English
00:41when an apostrophe s is followed by an adjective like in the first example John's tall then the
00:52apostrophe s is a contraction of is John's tall is a short way of saying John is tall
01:06when an apostrophe s is followed by a past participle like in the second example John's studied
01:16then the apostrophe s is a contraction of has John's studied is a short way of saying John has studied
01:31remember that regular past participles end in ed a sentence with has plus past participle is in the
01:43present perfect tense when an apostrophe s is followed by a noun like in the last example
01:53John's car then the apostrophe s is used to show possession or that something belongs to someone
02:04or something we don't say the car of John as you do in some languages no in English we use
02:15the apostrophe s so
02:17we say John's car which means that the car belongs to John John's with an apostrophe s is called a
02:30possessive
02:31noun in this lesson we are going to look at possessive nouns and how to use the apostrophe s a
02:44possessive noun which
02:46contains an apostrophe s is used to show possession or that there is a relationship between two things or that
02:57something belongs to someone or something look at the example Paul's house is very big instead of saying the
03:11house of Paul in English we use the apostrophe s to show that the house belongs to Paul Paul's house
03:21is very big
03:24here are some more examples where is Julie's book the book belongs to Julie Julie is the owner of the
03:37book we don't say the book of Julie no we say Julie's book
03:47do you want to go to Mike's party it is the party that Mike is having
03:55I'm going to meet Susan's parents tonight Susan obviously does not own her parents the apostrophe s can show a
04:07relationship between different people or things
04:10here Susan's here Susan's parents refers to the parents of Susan Paul's Julie's Mike's and Susan's are all possessive nouns
04:27now there are some simple rules about how to use the apostrophe s we're going to see those now
04:38when we have a singular noun we just add an apostrophe s like we have already seen for example we
04:50went to
04:51Ange's house last night Ange is a singular noun the name of a person so we just add an apostrophe
05:03s to the
05:04end of her name Ange's Ange's house this means the house belongs to Ange is that your friend's bike we're
05:22talking about one friend friend is a singular noun and his or her bike the bike that belongs to your
05:33friend
05:33your friend your friend's bike where is the dog's bone dog is a singular noun so we just put apostrophe
05:48s after it it refers to one dog owning or having one bone
05:59the dog's bone let's look at this example where are the dog's bones dog is a singular noun so we
06:11just add apostrophe s to the end the word that comes next tells us what belongs to the dog in
06:20this case bones the dog's bones means
06:26means the bones of the dog dog dog is singular but what happens if there is more than one dog
06:38there are two dogs we say where are the dog's bones
06:49we only have an apostrophe after the yes in dogs because dogs is a plural noun ending in s we
07:02cannot say where are the dog's bones no this is not correct we don't add an extra s after dogs
07:12because dogs is a plural noun ending in s
07:17dog's dog's bones with only apostrophe after the yes means the bones of the dog dog's bones with only apostrophe
07:38after the yes means the bones of the dogs dog's bones is plural
07:47bones. Now listen to the pronunciation of these two examples again. Example 1,
07:57where are the dog's bones? Example 2, where are the dog's bones? There is no
08:06difference in pronunciation. So when someone is speaking, how do we know if
08:14they are talking about one dog or two dogs? Well, it depends on the context.
08:23Let's look at another example. This is my friend's house. This refers to the house
08:33of my friend, one friend. How can we write that my two friends have a house?
08:46You would write, this is my friend's house. This refers to the house of my
08:55friends, my two friends. Friends is a plural noun ending in S. So we just add an
09:06apostrophe to the end. We don't say friend's house, no. This is not correct. So
09:17the rule is plural nouns ending in S. We only add the apostrophe to the end and not an
09:29extra S. The example we have already seen, where are the dog's bones? This is the same as saying,
09:40the bones of the dogs. Dogs is plural.
09:49You need your parents' permission. This is the same as saying, permission from your parents.
09:58Both parents, both parents, not just one parent. Fortunately, the girl's toilet was open. This
10:08is the same as saying, the toilet of the girls. Or in some countries, it is called the bathroom
10:16or restroom instead of toilet. Since dogs, parents and girls are all plural nouns that end in S, we only
10:29add an apostrophe to the end. Now, not all plural nouns end in S. For example, child is a singular
10:44noun.
10:45We can say, the child's toys are on the floor. This refers to the toys of one child. How can
10:59we say the same
11:00thing, but referring to more than one child? The plural of child is children. So our sentence is now,
11:14the children's toys are on the floor. Yes, children is a plural noun, but it does not end in S.
11:26So we
11:27can just add an apostrophe S to the end. Children's toys means the toys of the children. Remember, the plural
11:39of child is
11:41children is children, not children's. So we add apostrophe S to the end. So the rule is plural nouns not
11:55ending in S. We add apostrophe S. Our examples. The children's camping trip. This refers to the camping trip of
12:09the children.
12:10Children. Child is singular. The plural of child is children.
12:17He always corrects people's grammar. This refers to the grammar of different people.
12:25People. Person is singular. Person is singular. The plural of person is people.
12:34So our example sentence. The men's toilet is disgusting. This refers to the toilet for the men or the toilet
12:45that is used by men.
12:47Man. Man is singular. The plural of man is men.
12:55The fun part comes when we have singular nouns ending in S. For example,
13:04class is a singular noun ending in S. Even though it ends in S, it is still a singular noun.
13:16So we add an apostrophe S to the end like other singular nouns.
13:22For example, the class is a singular noun ending in S. For example, the class is a singular noun.
13:52Project. Project. This extra syllable is added to singular nouns ending in S when we have added the apostrophe S.
14:04But what happens when we are talking about two classes?
14:10The plural form of class is classes.
14:16How would we write the sentence now if we are talking about the projects of both classes?
14:27We would say the classes, projects. We just add an apostrophe to the end because classes is a plural noun
14:41ending in S.
14:42And this refers to the projects of the classes, the different classes.
14:49Also note that we don't say classes is, no. It is a plural noun that ends in S, so we
14:59just add the apostrophe.
15:03Now listen to the pronunciation of both sentences again.
15:09One. The class is project.
15:13Two. The class is projects.
15:18In both sentences, classes and classes are pronounced the same, but they are written differently.
15:28The context of what we are talking about usually tells us if we are talking about one class or two
15:36classes.
15:39So the rule is singular nouns ending in S.
15:45We add apostrophe S.
15:49Our examples.
15:51The class's teacher is nice.
15:55This refers to the teacher of the class.
15:59The princess's dress.
16:03The princess's dress is pink.
16:05This refers to the dress of the princess.
16:09The final example.
16:12My boss's office is big.
16:15Big.
16:16This refers to the office of my boss.
16:21All of these nouns, class, princess and boss, end in S, but they are singular nouns.
16:29So we just add the apostrophe S at the end.
16:35How about with the names of people that end in S, like James or Lewis or Jones?
16:45Grammarians are divided between adding an apostrophe S or only the apostrophe.
16:53You may see it written in the following ways.
16:59James's dog is hungry with an apostrophe plus S or James's dog is hungry only with an apostrophe.
17:12Both forms are considered correct, though the first one seems more common.
17:19My personal preference is using apostrophe S as in the first example, because in spoken English,
17:28we add the additional syllable of IS at the end, like James is.
17:35James's dog is hungry.
17:40But, with classical or religious names ending in S, we only add an apostrophe.
17:51Sophocles' plays are still performed today.
17:58Hercules' strength seemed unlimited.
18:05When we are talking about two or more people, we add an apostrophe S or only an apostrophe,
18:15depending on the rules we have already seen.
18:20Let's look at Stacy and Steve.
18:24If there are two owners of something, we only add apostrophe S to the final name.
18:34For example, Stacy and Steve's car is old.
18:40Both Stacy and Steve are joint owners of the same car, so we only add apostrophe S to the final
18:51name.
18:52In this case, Steve.
18:55Stacy and Steve's car is old.
19:01But what happens if each person owns a car?
19:06Both Stacy owns a car and Steve owns a car.
19:12Both cars are old.
19:16In this situation, we add apostrophe S to both names.
19:22Stacy's and Steve's cars are old.
19:28This way, we see there are two owners of two different cars.
19:34Notice how the verb is in the plural form because we're talking about more than one car.
19:44Usually, we don't put the noun or object or thing after the apostrophe S to avoid repetition, especially when the
19:55meaning is clear.
19:58My car is older than John's.
20:02This is the same as saying, my car is older than John's car.
20:10The word car at the end is not necessary as it sounds repetitive.
20:16So, when we say, my car is older than John's, the meaning is clear as we already know we're talking
20:25about cars as it was mentioned before.
20:28The same applies when answering a question.
20:34Someone asks, whose umbrella is this?
20:40And another person responds, it is Mary's.
20:45We don't need to say, it is Mary's umbrella.
20:49Because it is obvious we're talking about the same umbrella.
20:54The meaning is clear.
20:56If you hear this, whose umbrella is this?
21:00It is Mary's umbrella.
21:01Saying umbrella again is not necessary and sounds repetitive.
21:06Just say, it is Mary's.
21:11A couple more examples.
21:14Whose are these shoes?
21:17They are my brother's.
21:20This is the same as saying, my brother's shoes, but without sounding repetitive.
21:29That is a beautiful dress.
21:32Is it your sister's?
21:34Means, is it your sister's dress?
21:37Because obviously you don't have any beautiful dresses, so it could only be your sister's dress.
21:43The apostrophe S can also be used with time periods.
21:51Had you seen today's newspaper?
21:56This morning's meeting was boring.
22:01Last year's profits increased significantly.
22:07But be careful.
22:11We do not use an apostrophe with decades or years.
22:18A lot of great music was created in the 80s.
22:23No apostrophe between the number and the S.
22:30The hippie movement began in the 1960s.
22:34Again, there is no apostrophe.
22:39We also do not use an apostrophe S as the plural form of an acronym.
22:48There have been many sightings of UFOs in the area.
22:53There is no apostrophe after UFO and before the S.
23:01He has just sold all of his DVDs.
23:05Again, no apostrophe.
23:09I hope you found this lesson useful.
23:12If you did, remember to click the like button and subscribe to our channel so you know when
23:18I create new videos to help you improve your English.
23:22Have an awesome day!
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