Cases of Nouns: Possessive (Genitive) Case

Possessive (Genitive)

is a word of, relating to, or constituting a word, a word group, or a grammatical case that denotes ownership or a relation analogous or similar to ownership.

Possession is simply the state of having or owning something.

A noun is in possessive case if it shows ownership or possession. Nouns or pronouns in possessive case are usually guided by the noun that follows it. Possessive case are marked with an apostrophe and 's' at the end of the word or with the 'of' phrase.

Observe this chart contrasting the apostrophe and 's' and the the 'of' phrase:

There are also certain rules in forming the possessive case of nouns, especially with words ending in 's'. Take a look at this chart for the possessive rules:

Now, take a look at these examples showing nouns in possessive case in a sentence.

             That is Jayson's science workbook.
             I just lost my week's wage because of my sickness.
             Those are the students' test papers.
             She brought James' skates.

There is also a simplified rule presented by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White from their book "The Elements of Style."

*Take note that consistency is the key here. Whichever ruling you use is grammatically correct, but you must stick to one. You should avoid mixing the rules: if you chose to add only an apostrophe (') to words ending in 's,' 'z,' and 'x,' do this until the end of your composition. Like wise if you choose to use the simplified rule; apply it until the end and avoid mixing it with the other.

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