To show possession using an apostrophe, add ’s for individuals (“Smith’s car”) and just the apostrophe after the s for plurals (“the Smiths’ car,” “the Martinezes’ dog”). By convention, names from classical mythology and the Bible ending in s show possession with the apostrophe only (“Jesus’ teachings”).

Rules for the formation of the possessive -’s (apostrophe -s) and -s’ (-s apostrophe) are as follows: most singular nouns add an apostrophe + -s. a girl’s ring a cat’s face most plural nouns add an apostrophe after the plural form -s. the boys’ football five young girls’ faces

The possessive is formed in plural nouns by adding “-’s” to the end of words that do not end in “s”, and an apostrophe to the end of words that do end in “s”. Examples: The children ’s toys; The student s’ books The apostrophe, or the “-’s” ending, never indicates that the word is plural.

The apostrophe has three uses: 1) to form possessive nouns; 2) to show the omission of letters; and 3) to indicate plurals of letters, numbers, and symbols. Do not use apostrophes to form possessive pronouns (i.e. his/her computer) or noun plurals that are not possessives.