In this section we will deal with plurals and the possessive.

Plural nouns denote a group of two or more items. The formation of a plural in English is extremely easy. Below are some simple rules for the formation of a plural.

• Add an "s" to the end of the word. (e.g. spider - spiders)
• If the word ends with a "y", remove the "y" and add "ies" to the end of the word. (e.g. fly - flies)
• Some words have divergent plurals - e.g. mouse has the plural mice; child-children; sheep-sheep; man-men etc.

A possessive noun is one that uses the apostrophe (e.g. The Grand Master's book). It is one of the only two situations in English in which you may use an apostrophe ('). The rules for use vary depending on whether the noun ends in an s or not. The rules are given below.
If the word does not end in s, add 's to the end of the word which is the possessor e.g.:

• sword - sword's: The sword's blade shone bright in the darkness.
• children -children's: The children's mother laughed.
• men - men's: The men's swords all fell to the ground.

If the word already ends in "s":

• >If the noun is singular (e.g. Thomas etc), then you have one of two alternatives. Either add ' to the end of your noun, or add 's. There is no grammatical difference. Usually ' only is used in writing and 's in speech.
• If the noun is plural, add ' to the end of the plural noun. It is grammatically incorrect to add 's.
  • Correct: The horses' saddles were heavy.
  • Incorrect: The horses's saddles were heavy.
• N.B. If the word ends in double s, add 's e.g. the princess's crown.