Noun Spellings

Number & Possession

Three Rules of Noun Forms:

  1. Sometimes add "s" for plural.
  2. Always add "s" and ' (apostrophe) for possessive.
  3. Only add one "s".

So, only add only ' (apostrophe) if the ending "s" was added to make it plural.

Singular Plural Singular
Possessive		 Plural
Possessive
[NOUN] [NOUN] +s [NOUN] +'s [NOUN] +s'
apple apples apple's apples'
Mark Marks Mark's Marks'
Johnson Johnsons Johnson's Johnsons'
[NOUN] {}
{s ss sh ch x o} 		[NOUN] {} +es
{s ss sh ch x o}		 [NOUN] {} +'s
{s ss sh ch x o}		 [NOUN] {} +es'
{s ss sh ch x o}
atlas atlases atlas's atlases'
boss bosses boss's bosses'
marsh marshes marsh's marshes'
stitch stitches stitch's stitches'
fox foxes fox's foxes'
potato potatoes potato's potatoes'
Jones Joneses Jones's Jonses'
[NOUN] y [NOUN] y→i +es [NOUN] y +'s [NOUN] y→i +es'
puppy puppies puppy's puppies'
pinky pinkies pinky's pinkies'
lady ladies lady's ladies'
city cities city's cities'
[NOUN] {}
{ay ey oy uy}		 [NOUN] {} +s
{ay ey oy uy}		 [NOUN] {} +'s
{ay ey oy uy}		 [NOUN] {} +s'
{ay ey oy uy}
bay bays bay's bays'
key keys key's keys'
boy boys boy's boys'
guy guys guy's guys'
[NOUN] f(e) [NOUN] f(e)→ve +s [NOUN] f(e) +'s [NOUN] f(e)→ve+s'
wolf wolves wolf's wolves'
loaf loaves loaf's loaves'
knife knives knife's knives'
life lives life's lives'
[NOUN]
(irregular)		 [NOUN]
(irregular)		 [NOUN]+'s
(irregular)		 [NOUN]+'s
(irregular)
child children child's children's
mouse mice mouse's mice's
person people person's people's
a people many peoples a people's many peoples'
money monies
moneys (pre 1970)		 money's monies'
moneys' (pre 1970)
it they its
(no apostrophe)		 their