Possessives Quiz
12 multiple-choice questions on English possessives: possessive 's, plural possessives, of-phrases and possessive pronouns. A2–B1 level.
Keep building your knowledge of English possessives.
Possessives — FAQ
For most singular nouns you add an apostrophe followed by the letter s ('s) to show possession: 'the dog's bowl', 'Anna's coat', 'the teacher's desk'. The 's attaches to the owner, not to the thing owned, so it is 'the boy's bicycle', meaning the bicycle belonging to the boy. This is one of the most common ways English shows that something belongs to someone or has a close connection with them, and it works for people, animals and many organisations.
When a plural noun already ends in s, you add just an apostrophe after the s, with no extra letter: 'the girls' team' (a team belonging to several girls) or 'the Smiths' house' (the house belonging to the whole Smith family). Compare 'the girl's team' (one girl) with 'the girls' team' (more than one). The position of the apostrophe tells the reader whether one person or several people own the thing, so it carries real meaning.
'Its' (no apostrophe) is the possessive form meaning 'belonging to it', as in 'the dog wagged its tail' or 'the company changed its name'. 'It's' (with an apostrophe) is a contraction of 'it is' or 'it has', as in 'it's raining' or 'it's been a long day'. A quick test: if you can replace the word with 'it is' or 'it has' and the sentence still makes sense, use 'it's'; otherwise use 'its'. Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe, which is why 'its' has none.
With singular names that end in s, such as James, Charles or Thomas, modern British usage generally adds an apostrophe and another s: 'James's bedroom', 'Charles's idea'. This reflects how we say it, with an extra /iz/ sound. Some style guides allow just an apostrophe ('James' bedroom'), especially for classical or biblical names like 'Jesus' or 'Moses', so both forms appear in print. The key is to be consistent within a single piece of writing and follow any house style you are given.
Possessive pronouns are words that replace a noun and show ownership without naming the thing again. They are mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs. For example, instead of 'that is my book' you can say 'that book is mine'. They stand alone and are not followed by a noun, so we say 'the choice is yours', not 'yours choice'. None of these pronouns is written with an apostrophe, which is a common spelling pitfall for learners.
Possessive determiners — my, your, his, her, its, our, their — come before a noun and modify it: 'my car', 'their house', 'her idea'. Possessive pronouns — mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs — replace the noun entirely and stand alone: 'that car is mine', 'the house is theirs'. So you would say 'this is my coat' (determiner + noun) or 'this coat is mine' (pronoun, no noun). His is the only word that looks the same in both roles.
English tends to use 's for people, animals and groups, and an of-phrase for objects and abstract things. So we say 'the boy's name' but 'the name of the book', and 'the dog's tail' but 'the leg of the table'. Of-phrases are also useful when the owner is described by a long phrase, as in 'the opinion of the people who attended the meeting'. Both forms are correct, but choosing the natural one makes your writing sound more fluent and less awkward.
Some plural nouns do not end in s, such as children, men, women, people and mice. Because they do not already end in s, you treat them like singular nouns and add 's: 'the children's toys', 'the men's changing room', 'the women's team', 'the people's choice'. This is different from regular plurals, where you add only an apostrophe after the final s. Getting these right shows a strong grasp of how the apostrophe really works in English.
When two people own one thing together, you add 's only to the last name: 'Tom and Jerry's house' means the house they share. If they each own a separate thing, you add 's to both names: 'Tom's and Jerry's cars' means they own different cars. So the single apostrophe at the end signals shared ownership, while two apostrophes signal that each person has their own. This small difference can change the meaning of a sentence quite a lot.
Possessive pronouns — mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs — are already possessive in their own right, so they never need an apostrophe to show ownership. Writing 'your's' or 'their's' is always incorrect. The apostrophe in English is used for possession with nouns ('the cat's bowl') and for contractions ('they're' = they are), but the possessive pronouns are a fixed, closed set that simply do not take one. Remembering this rule helps you avoid one of the most frequent written mistakes.