Whether it
belongs to you or me, owning it can sometimes cause confusion when it comes to
the written word. Possessive pronouns like my,
your, his, her, its, our, their, whose are simple when used with the object;
when used alone though they become mine,
yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, whose.
·
This
is my car ~ This car is mine.
·
This
is your book. ~ This book is yours.
·
This
is his phone. ~ This phone is his.
·
This
is her money. ~ This money is hers.
·
The
pillow lost its fluff.
·
This
is our spot. ~ This spot is ours.
·
This
is their table.~ This table is theirs.
·
Whose dog is this?
There’s a
rule to remember about possessive pronouns,
there are NO apostrophes used
(incorrect: her’s/correct: hers).
Also don’t confuse the possessive pronouns with contractions such as its (possessive) vs. it’s (it is),
or whose (possessive) vs. who’s (who is).
When you are
assigning possession to a proper name or a singular noun you add an apostrophe-S
(‘s). The book belongs to Alice becomes Alice’s book; The red car
belongs to Richard becomes The red
car is Richard’s; Johnny lives in
that house becomes That’s Johnny’s
house.
There are a
few different styles preferences when the noun or name ends with the letter S.
One of the prescribed techniques is to add an apostrophe-S to nouns and just an
apostrophe to a name: the class’s
assignment, Jonas’ wallet; take care
when using names, you would write Mrs. Adam’s (for Mrs. Adam) and Mrs. Adams’ (for
Mrs. Adams) — be sure to keep the name accurate. Whatever technique you choose keep
it consistent throughout your writing.
If you are
adding possession to the plural of a noun which ends in S or ES add the
apostrophe after the final S: The girls’
bathroom (all the girls) vs. the girl’s
bathroom (an individual’s bathroom such as in a private bedroom).
When a noun
becomes plural without the S or ES at the end, use apostrophe-S after the word
such as the children’s room or the men’s clothing department.
Writing Exercise: Choose any 20 people, use the
name you commonly know each one by (use your Facebook list, or an address book,
etc.) On paper assign 20 objects from the room you are currently in, one object
per person (1) by name, (2) by simple pronoun, and (3) by stand-alone pronoun.
[for example: This is Melissa’s clock;
This is her clock; The clock is hers.]
Writing Prompt: List 10 possessions that you would
want to take with you if you suddenly had to pack your bag to take shelter in
an emergency.
Challenge Assignment: Do a 15-minute free write
session about the most memorable toy you had as a child.
