Many people have trouble distinguishing between possessive nouns and plural nouns.

Possessive
nouns and pronouns demonstrate ownership or some similar relationship over something else.
Plural nouns indicate more than one person, place or thing.
Look for the Apostrophe
Possessive nouns typically include an apostrophe. For example:
Jennifers imagination ran wild as she pictured the accident.
The kittens toy is a stuffed catnip mouse.
Think of the apostrophe mark as a hook or hand reaching out to take ownership of the object.
Without the little hook or hand grabbing onto the s or the next word, the noun is simply plural.
Possessive Nouns as Personal Pronouns
Some possessive nouns are actually personal pronouns. A pronoun is a word that can stand in for
the noun in a sentence. Pronouns are often used to keep sentences from sounding rambling or
redundant. Personal pronouns reflect ownership when used appropriately in a sentence, and do
not get the apostrophe + s added to them.
Personal pronouns as possessives look like this:
We decorated our house for the holidays with colorful lights.
My car is red.
Grammar Rules for Possessive Nouns
Five basic grammar rules cover the majority of instances where writers encounter possessive
nouns.
Rule #1: Making singular nouns possessive
Add an apostrophe + s to most singular nouns and to plural nouns that do not end in s.
Youll use this rule the most, so pay particular attention to it. English has some words that are
plural but do not add an s. Words like children, sheep, women and men are such words. These
plural words are treated as if they were singular words when making noun possessives.
Examples:
Singular nouns: kittens toy, Joes car, MLBs ruling
Plurals not ending in s: womens dresses, sheeps pasture, childrens toys
Rule #2: Making plural nouns possessive
Add an apostrophe only to plural nouns that already end in s.
You dont need to add an extra s to plural nouns that already end with the letter s. Simply
tuck the apostrophe onto the end to indicate that the plural noun is now a plural possessive noun.
Examples:
Companies workers
Horses stalls
Countries armies
Rule #3: Making hyphenated nouns and compound nouns plural
Compound and hyphenated words can be tricky. Add the apostrophe + s to the end of the
compound words or the last word in a hyphenated noun.
Examples:
My mother-in-laws recipe for meatloaf is my husbands favorite.
The United States Post Offices stamps are available in rolls or in packets.
Rule #4: Indicating possession when two nouns are joined together
You may be writing about two people or two places or things that share possession of an object.
If two nouns share ownership, indicate possession only once, and on the second noun. Add the
apostrophe + s to the second noun only.
Examples:
Jack and Jills pail of water features prominently in the nursery rhyme.
Abbot and Costellos comedy skit Whos On First is a classic act.
Rule #5: Indicating possession when two nouns are joined, and ownership is
separate
This is the trickiest of all, but thankfully youll probably need this rule infrequently. When two
nouns indicate ownership, but the ownership is separate, each noun gets the apostrophe + s. The
examples below may help you understand exactly what this means.
Example:
Lucys and Rickys dressing rooms were painted pink and blue. (Each owns his or her
own dressing room, and they are different rooms).
Senator Obamas and Senator Clintons educations are outstanding. (Each senator owns
his or her education, but they attained separate educations).
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns never use the apostrophe to show ownership. Personal pronouns are words
like my, your, her, his, our, their and its. They already imply ownership within the word itself.
Examples:
Your cell phone is ringing. (Personal pronoun possessive)
Robs cell phone is ringing. (Singular noun possessive)
It and Its
One of the biggest sources of confusion to writers is the difference between its and its. Normally
the noun possessive is formed by adding apostrophe + s. However, we just mentioned that
personal pronouns never take the apostrophe + s. It is a personal pronoun used to describe things.
Its is a contraction between the words it is. Contractions are two words shortened into one.
A good rule of thumb to check your own writing is to try to substitute the words it is every
time you use its." If the sentence makes sense, youve used it correctly. If the sentence does not
make sense, reach for the possessive case and use instead its