Uploaded May 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE! Using the apostrophe incorrectly is a mistake that even native English speakers make frequently, but you shouldn’t make it. Should you write “my parent’s house” or “my parents’ house”? Is it “Barb and Bill’s house” or “Barb’s and Bill’s house”? It is time to clear this up and learn the possessive form once and for all! In this lesson, I will teach you where to place the apostrophe with an S when using the possessive form. First, we will look at the single possessive form, as in “Sue’s book”. Then, we will move on to the plural form. Also, we will clarify the two compound plural forms depending on context: “John’s and Lisa’s” or “John and Lisa’s”. Lastly, I’ll list the possessive forms that don’t use any apostrophe at all. This is an essential lesson that everyone needs to watch, even if you are an advanced English speaker. Be sure to do the quiz at engvid.com/apostrophe-how-to-show-possession after watching so you can solidify what you’ve learned. Never get caught misusing the apostrophe ever again!
TRANSCRIPT
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. Hey, E. I think these are Mr. E's socks or his sock. E, is this yours? Hi. James from engVid. Today I'm going to do a lesson on the apostrophe, specifically about possession. And actually, this sock is mine and I want to thank Giovana, Nathanial, J2 (Joal), and Izis from Brazil because I taught them, and they bought me these beautiful socks. So, give me a second; let me put them on. [Whistles]
Speaking of belonging, I want to go to the board and I want to do... We'll explain a couple of ways we use the apostrophe to show possession in three different cases. Okay? So, the apostrophe is used for many things. Contractions - when we say: "don't" or "can't". Okay, you know that one. But this lesson is specifically about possession.
If we look at single possession, that means one person owns something, we actually have the thing, the noun (in this case, John), and we add the apostrophe plus "s". This doesn't make it plural. It means, in this case: "John's hat is red." The hat belongs to John. So, by adding this apostrophe "s" it tells us: Not plural, but it does belong to John. Simple enough, right? Add an apostrophe "s", you know it's belonging. This is James' book, and this is actually a really good one because some people will say you can't say: "James'" or "Charles'". If you go to England, you can. Check it out; we have another lesson on that, so do so. But the apostrophe "s" means it belongs to a singular person. Okay? So, when I said: "Mr. E's sock".
Next one, let's talk about plurals with "s". Well, okay, we understand what a single thing is with "s", right? But what happens if we have something like a plural, we have two boys and they have red hats, how do we discuss that? Well, simple. Because "boys" has an "s" already, we don't need to add another apostrophe "s". We simply put the apostrophe after the "s". That indicates to us that you can imagine... There's an imaginary "s", if I could. There's an imaginary "s" that goes here, but it's not necessary because we know it's already plural here and it's belongs to. So: "The boys' hats are blue." There are two boys and the hats belong to the boys, so: "The boys' hats are blue." Cool? All right.
Let's move on to the next one, and what I want to talk about here is compound plurals. Now, you might be saying: "What's a compound plural?" Well, in this case, we're taking two objects and putting them together. And maybe these two objects share the same thing and maybe they don't, and we can show the difference by how we use our apostrophes.
Now, in this case, we're going to look at, well, Bill and Hillary. Okay? Bill and Hillary have a house together. So, if you want to talk about both of them and you don't want to say: "Bill's house is nice. Hillary's house is nice", you can actually say... One and one is the same, if it's the same: "Bill and Hillary's", okay? So: "Bill and Hillary's house is nice." In this case, we're saying these are compounded, this is a conjunction, they're together, that's why it's compound. It's a compound noun; they go together. We put the apostrophe "s" to say it's one unit... Okay? Because it's a compound. And because of that, this one unit has a nice house. Cool? All right.
I know, you're smart and you're going: "But James, what if what they have is different; they don't share the same thing?" I'm glad you asked this, grasshopper, because what we're going to look at is an opinion. Opinion, like shoes or socks, can be different. And I'm going to show you that example here, because in this case, we do have a compound. These two things are together, but they are different; they don't share the same thing. In this case, we can see that Barbara is saying: "No", while George is saying: "Yes". We can't say they have the same opinion; we have to say it differently. […]
DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE! Using the apostrophe incorrectly is a mistake that even native English speakers make frequently, but you shouldn’t make it. Should you write “my parent’s house” or “my parents’ house”? Is it “Barb and Bill’s house” or “Barb’s and Bill’s house”? It is time to clear this up and learn the possessive form once and for all! In this lesson, I will teach you where to place the apostrophe with an S when using the possessive form. First, we will look at the single possessive form, as in “Sue’s book”. Then, we will move on to the plural form. Also, we will clarify the two compound plural forms depending on context: “John’s and Lisa’s” or “John and Lisa’s”. Lastly, I’ll list the possessive forms that don’t use any apostrophe at all. This is an essential lesson that everyone needs to watch, even if you are an advanced English speaker. Be sure to do the quiz at engvid.com/apostrophe-how-to-show-possession after watching so you can solidify what you’ve learned. Never get caught misusing the apostrophe ever again!
TRANSCRIPT
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. Hey, E. I think these are Mr. E's socks or his sock. E, is this yours? Hi. James from engVid. Today I'm going to do a lesson on the apostrophe, specifically about possession. And actually, this sock is mine and I want to thank Giovana, Nathanial, J2 (Joal), and Izis from Brazil because I taught them, and they bought me these beautiful socks. So, give me a second; let me put them on. [Whistles]
Speaking of belonging, I want to go to the board and I want to do... We'll explain a couple of ways we use the apostrophe to show possession in three different cases. Okay? So, the apostrophe is used for many things. Contractions - when we say: "don't" or "can't". Okay, you know that one. But this lesson is specifically about possession.
If we look at single possession, that means one person owns something, we actually have the thing, the noun (in this case, John), and we add the apostrophe plus "s". This doesn't make it plural. It means, in this case: "John's hat is red." The hat belongs to John. So, by adding this apostrophe "s" it tells us: Not plural, but it does belong to John. Simple enough, right? Add an apostrophe "s", you know it's belonging. This is James' book, and this is actually a really good one because some people will say you can't say: "James'" or "Charles'". If you go to England, you can. Check it out; we have another lesson on that, so do so. But the apostrophe "s" means it belongs to a singular person. Okay? So, when I said: "Mr. E's sock".
Next one, let's talk about plurals with "s". Well, okay, we understand what a single thing is with "s", right? But what happens if we have something like a plural, we have two boys and they have red hats, how do we discuss that? Well, simple. Because "boys" has an "s" already, we don't need to add another apostrophe "s". We simply put the apostrophe after the "s". That indicates to us that you can imagine... There's an imaginary "s", if I could. There's an imaginary "s" that goes here, but it's not necessary because we know it's already plural here and it's belongs to. So: "The boys' hats are blue." There are two boys and the hats belong to the boys, so: "The boys' hats are blue." Cool? All right.
Let's move on to the next one, and what I want to talk about here is compound plurals. Now, you might be saying: "What's a compound plural?" Well, in this case, we're taking two objects and putting them together. And maybe these two objects share the same thing and maybe they don't, and we can show the difference by how we use our apostrophes.
Now, in this case, we're going to look at, well, Bill and Hillary. Okay? Bill and Hillary have a house together. So, if you want to talk about both of them and you don't want to say: "Bill's house is nice. Hillary's house is nice", you can actually say... One and one is the same, if it's the same: "Bill and Hillary's", okay? So: "Bill and Hillary's house is nice." In this case, we're saying these are compounded, this is a conjunction, they're together, that's why it's compound. It's a compound noun; they go together. We put the apostrophe "s" to say it's one unit... Okay? Because it's a compound. And because of that, this one unit has a nice house. Cool? All right.
I know, you're smart and you're going: "But James, what if what they have is different; they don't share the same thing?" I'm glad you asked this, grasshopper, because what we're going to look at is an opinion. Opinion, like shoes or socks, can be different. And I'm going to show you that example here, because in this case, we do have a compound. These two things are together, but they are different; they don't share the same thing. In this case, we can see that Barbara is saying: "No", while George is saying: "Yes". We can't say they have the same opinion; we have to say it differently. […]
