Plural vs. Possessive An apostrophe or not to be?

Plural Plural means more than one More than one cat More than one fish More than one sister-in-law More than one child

Plural Plural means more than one More than one cat CATS More than one fish FISH or FISHES More than one sister-in-law SISTERS- IN-LAW More than one child CHILDREN

Plural Let’s deal with the plurals that end with an s. We call them regular plurals. Ex. Cats, birds, trees

Plural I have fifteen cats. Notice that cats just has an s on the end, nothing else. Many people feel the urge to put cat’s. Cat’s is a word, but it doesn’t mean the same thing as the plural cats.

Possessive So what does cat’s mean? It means that the cat owns something. I could say, “The cat’s bed is covered with hair.”

Possessive What if all my fifteen cats own something? Then I would say, “The cats’ beds are covered with hair.” Two things: I put the apostrophe (‘) after the s because that shows that the word is plural and possessive. Also, I say beds, because all fifteen cats are probably not sharing one bed. Unless it’s my own king-sized mattress It’s not.

OTHER RULES FOR POSSESSION Have you ever wondered what the deal is with making a person’s name that ends with an s, such as Chris, possessive? For example, Chris might have a dog, and he owns it. I would say, “Chris’ dog ate one of my fifteen cats, so now I have fourteen.” It is also correct to say, “Chris’s dog ate one of my fifteen cats, so now I have fourteen,” but that just looks weird. Stick with the first option.

NOW YOU TRY For each of the sentences: Write the sentence down completely. Fix the punctuation if necessary. Highlight what you fixed. Label each correction as plural, possessive, or PP (both). 1. I went to Gatsbys mansion nightly for a party, whether I was invited or not.

NOW YOU TRY For each of the sentences: Write the sentence down completely. Fix the punctuation if necessary. Highlight what you fixed. Label each correction as plural, possessive, or PP (both). 2. All the house’s on West Egg were owned by people with new money.

NOW YOU TRY For each of the sentences: Write the sentence down completely. Fix the punctuation if necessary. Highlight what you fixed. Label each correction as plural, possessive, or PP (both). 3. The Buchanans house was the biggest of all, and it was where the Buchanans’ lived.

CHALLENGE By Friday, take a picture of someone using a plural or possessive incorrectly. Show me to redeem one Gatsby chapter quiz. kuucSWVWw kuucSWVWw