92 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 4 Grammar Skills possessive noun signifying ownership of books by one girl. In the second example, manager’s is a possessive noun showing ownership of the attribute of friendliness. In the third example, Gloria’s is a possessive noun indicating ownership of a bracelet. The apostrophe and s are added to the final word in compounds words, as shown in the last example. The girl’s books were placed in her locker. My new manager’s friendliness was reassuring. The lost bracelet was Gloria’s. My sister-in-law’s garden contained many types of flowers. For most plural nouns, an apostrophe is added to form the possessive noun. In the first example that follows, girls’ is a plural possessive noun indicating the ownership of jackets by two or more girls. When a noun has an irregular plural that does not end in s, an apostrophe and an s are added to form the possessive, as in the second and third examples. The girls’ jackets were neatly stacked on the bleachers. The women’s dinner was held in James Hall. The children’s games taught them math skills. Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Figure 4-5 This is an example of an online dictionary entry. Notice the icon that can be clicked to hear the pronunciation of the word. city (‘si-t ) n. pl cities 1. A population center larger than a town. 2. A municipality incorporated in the United States. 3. The inhabitants of a city as a group. Possessive nouns indicate ownership. “Alex used the library’s books to write his report.” wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com