Do you know what a possessive noun is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on possessive nouns, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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December 2, 2021
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What is a possessive noun?
According to Your Dictionary, possessive nouns show ownership of a person, place, thing, idea, quality or action by adding an apostrophe, an “s” or both. This varies with whether you are making a single noun possessive or plural noun possessive, and if that word ends in s. There are many different types of possessive nouns including singular possessive nouns, plural possessive nouns, indefinite possessive pronouns, hyphenated or compound words, compound possessive nouns, and more. These are sometimes different in American English and British English. The indefinite possessive pronouns are listed here:
- Each one – each one’s
- Someone – someone’s
- Something – something’s
- Somebody – somebody’s
- Nobody – nobody’s
- Another – another’s
- Anybody – anybody’s
- No one – no one’s
- One – One’s
- Each other – each other’s
Many different languages also contain words that mean noun. You may notice that some of these translations of noun look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of noun is provided by Word Sense.
- German: Dingwort (neut.), Gegenstandswort (neut.) (ambiguous), Hauptnennwort (neut.), Hauptwort (neut.), Selbstwort, Substantiv (neut.), Substantivum (neut.)
- Bulgarian: съществи́телно и́ме (neut.)
- Indonesian: kata benda, nomina, kata nama, substantif
- Swazi: libito
- Belarusian: назо́ўнік (masc.)
- Bokmål: substantiv (neut.)
- Danish:substantiv (neut.), navneord (neut.)
- Zulu: ibizo (noun class 5) (noun class 6)
- Southern Altai: адалгыш
- Walloon: no (masc.), kimon no (masc.), sustantif (masc.)
- Urdu: اسم (ism), سنجنا
- Marathi: नाम
- Tok Pisin: nem bilong samting
- Dutch: zelfstandig naamwoord (neut.), substantief (neut.)
- Turkmen: at
- Slovene: samostalnik (masc.)
- Maltese: nom
- Slovak: podstatné meno (neut.), substantívum (neut.)
- Korean: 명사 (名詞)
- Welsh: enw (masc.)
- Malayalam: നാമം
- Lithuanian: daiktavardis
- Pashto: اسم
- Oriya: ବିଶେଷ୍ୟ
- Occitan: nom (masc.)
- Macedonian: именка (fem.)
- Tatar: исем
- Cornish: hanow (masc.)
- Finnish: substantiivi, nimisana
- Estonian: nimisõna
- Aragonese: sustantibo (masc.)
- Navajo: yízhí
- Galician: substantivo
- Tagalog: pangngalan
- Malay: kata nama, kata bilang
- Northern Sami: substantiiva
- Arabic: اِسْم الذَّات, اِسْم (masc.)
- Ido: substantivo
- Czech: podstatné jméno (neut.), substantivum (neut.)
- Polish: rzeczownik (m-in)
- Latin: nomen positivum (neut.), nomen substantivum (neut.), substantivum nomen (neut.), substantivum (neut.)
- Maori: kupuingoa
- Thai: นาม, คำนาม
- Swahili: nomino, jina
- Ukrainian: іме́нник (masc.)
- Limburgish: zèlfstenjig naamwaord (neut.), zèlfstenjig naomswaordj (neut.), zèlfwaordj, zèlfswaordj, söbstantief
- Sicilian: sustantivu
- Greek: ουσιαστικό (neut.)
- Turkish: isim, ad
- Tibetan: མིང་ཚིག
- Uzbek: ot, ism
- Volapük: subsat
- Vietnamese: danh từ (名詞)
- Hungarian: főnév
- Armenian: գոյական
- Burmese: နာမ်
- Upper Sorbian: substantiw (masc.)
- Mongolian: нэр үг
- Hausa: suna
- Franco-Provençal:
- Lao: ຄຳນາມ
- Luxembourgish: Substantiv (neut.)
- Ewe: nuŋkɔ
- Russian: и́мя существи́тельное (neut.), существи́тельное (neut.)
- Basque: substantibo, izen
- Interlingua: substantivo
- Sorani: ناو
- Esperanto: substantivo
- Swedish: substantiv (neut.)
- Yiddish: סובסטאַנטיוו (neut.)
- Lower Sorbian: substantiw (masc.)
- Cherokee: ᏚᏙᎥᎢ (dudovi)
- Egyptian Arabic: اسم
- Interlingue: substantive, nómine
- Bashkir: исем
- Kannada: ನಾಮಪದ
- French: nom (masc.), nom substantif (masc.), substantif (masc.)
- Azeri: isim, ad
- Spanish: nombre substantivo (masc.), nombre sustantivo (masc.), substantivo (masc.), sustantivo (masc.), (Venezuela) nombre (masc.)
- West Frisian: haadwurd (neut.)
- Breton: anv-kadarn
- Scots: noun
- Cyrillic: именица
- Afrikaans: selfstandige naamwoord
- Erzya: лемвал
- Telugu: నామవాచకము
- Catalan: substantiu (masc.)
- Bengali: বিশেষ্য
- Shor: небелик (nebelik)
- Romanian: substantiv (neut.)
- Nynorsk: substantiv (neut.)
- Irish: ainmfhocal (masc.)
- Buryat: юумэнэй нэрэ
- Tajik: исм
- Asturian: sustantivu
- Hebrew: שמא
- Chechen: цӏердош
- Gujarati: સંજ્ઞા
- Greenlandic: taggit
- Georgian: არსებითი სახელი
- Kazakh: зат есім
- Khmer: នាម (niem)
- Hebrew: שֵׁם עֶצֶם
- Persian: اسم (esm)
- Novial: substantive
- Icelandic: nafnorð (neut.) (abbrev. “no.”)
- Italian: sostantivo (masc.), nome sostantivo (masc.)
- Quechua: sutirimana
- Syriac: ܫܡܐ
- Kyrgyz: зат атооч
- Hawaiian: haʻiinoa
- Scottish Gaelic: ainmear (masc.)
- Faroese: navnorð (neut.)
- Alemannic: Substantiv (neut.)
- Latvian: lietvārds (masc.), substantīvs (masc.)
- Rwanda-Rundi:
- Crimean Tatar: ad, isim
- Low German: Substantiv
- Tamil: பெயர்ச்சொல்
- Kashubian: jistnik (masc.)
- Japanese: 名詞 (めいし, meishí)
- Bishnupriya Manipuri:
- Chuvash: япала ячĕ
- Portuguese: substantivo (masc.)
- Hindi: संज्ञा (masc.)
- Roman: imenica (fem.)
- Albanian: emër
- Sinhalese: නාම පදය, නාමය
- Amharic: ስም
What are examples of possessive nouns?
A possessive noun can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are many examples of possessive nouns from Your Dictionary that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Try to use the term possessive noun today or notice when someone else is using a possessive noun.
- Moss’s color
- Yellowstone National Park’s hours
- Additives and spices’ costs
- Feet’s toenails
- Tray’s usefulness
- Oil spills’ costs
- Its name is The Tower.
- Igloos’ construction
- Inventions’ popularity
- The grocer’s
- Violins’ melody
- Tree’s bark
- Garages’ fees
- Victor’s spoils
- Marble’s shape
- Deer’s antlers
- The Smiths’ house
- Formulae’s indication
- Unicorns’ power
- Cacti’s thorns
- Sonny and Cher’s fame
- Cat’s tuna
- The dentist’s
- Mice’s traps
- Month’s work
- Macy’s
- Senator’s vote
- Water-bottles’ shape
- Students’ grades
- Nuts’ saltiness
- Fish’s eggs
- Notre Dame’s tower
- Attorney General’s job
- Nuclei’s form
- Her diet is working
- U-boats’ stealth
- Five-year-olds’ excitement
- Hippopotami’s strength
- That is mine.
- Members’ votes
- Americans’ ideals
- Progress’s reward
- Eggs’ color
- It is all yours. (plural)
- Dillard’s
- Yokes’ material
- Cattle’s pasture
- Goddess’s beauty
- Fez’s size
- Changing-rooms’ door
- My car runs great.
- Lemons’ acidity
- Lawyer’s fee
- Man and wife’s vows
- Babies’ shoes
- Suspects’ fingerprints
- Birds and bees’ habits
- Oxen’s diet
- My sister-in-law’s advice
- House’s roof
- The house is ours.
- People’s ideas
- Domino’s
- Today’s newspaper
- Women’s clothes
- Juices’ flavors
- Charles’s house
- The animal’s fur at the zoo
- The kids’ toys
- The trees’ roots
- My mother in law’s recipe
- Jesus’ birthday
- Sophocles’ plays
- John’s car
- Apple’s taste
- Real estate’s decline
- The fault is theirs. (plural)
- Lice’s size
- Octopi’s legs
- Die’s roll
- Book’s cover
- Watermelon’s rind
- Diane’s book
- Recesses’ measurements
- Diabetes’s symptoms
- Ex-wives’ alimony
- Kites’ altitudes
- I see your coat. (singular)
- Frankie’s
- Computer’s keyboard
- Middle class’s income
- Teachers’ qualifications
- Hansel and Gretel’s adventure
- Jupiter and Saturn’s atmospheres
- Planets’ orbits
- Donors’ cards
- The bag is hers.
- Front-runner’s confidence
- Jam’s ingredient
- Bus stops’ repair
- The vet’s
- Florida’s climate
- T-shirt’s logo
- Geese’s eggs
- Saint Anthony’s
- Fungi’s location
- Owls’ eyes
- Six packs’ appeal
- Post Offices’ hours
- Half sisters’ bedrooms
- Quizzes’ difficulty
- Boss’s car
- His work is good.
- Saint Mary’s
- Salt and pepper’s flavors
- Frogs’ croaking
- Gym’s rules
- Sun’s rays
- Mid-June’s heat
- McDonald’s
- The chiropractor’s
- Laundry’s smell
- Wagons’ circle
- Their smiles are welcome. (singular)
- Children’s toys
- Cabbages’ nutrition
- Hampers’ conditions
- Full moon’s brightness
- Thirty years’ experience (i.e. years of experience)
- The farmer’s last word
- The cat’s toy
- The chickens’ eggs
Overall, the possessive noun explores the idea of possession and the possessive form in either an abstract or concrete way.
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